Why You Should Go Slow In 2022
We all must be sick of New Years Resolutions by now, right? I can’t think of one person who has managed to keep there’s past January — they’re completely unattainable, so why bother?
I’m unsure why, but nobody in my home town were particularly big on resolutions either. Sure, you’d have the odd middle aged parent vowing to lose weight or cut down drinking, but they very rarely saw it through.
In fact, research conducted by Strava using over 800 million user-logged activities in 2019 predicts the day most people are likely to give up on their New Year’s Resolution is January 19. (Strava calls it “Quitter’s Day.”)
At this point, New Years resolutions are simply wishful thinking and an answer to a small-talk question.
Surely, we can think of something better.
Lockdown took a lot from us
For the last two years, we’ve been forced to go slow and appreciate the smaller things as well as the home comforts. We thought the time we had in lockdown would be brief, so we set small lockdown goals to work towards before Boris next addressed the nation.
We joined Joe Wicks workouts, in an attempt to lose some chub.
We learnt healthy recipes.
Or we worked our way through the reading list, in an attempt to normalise the chaos.
We set small achievable goals, and it felt bloody great to do it. So why shouldn’t we continue that? We’re still Yo-Yoing in and out of lockdowns with very little idea as to what the next year will hold — there’s no need to push yourself into being the next Elon Musk or small business success of 2022.
Lockdown has taken two years away from us, two years from family and friends, but that doesn’t mean we should go sprinting off into the new year like Usain Bolt at the olympics.
Take it slow in 2022
2022 has all the potential to be a great year for us, but there’s also a good chance it might be a bit rubbish. Take the strain off yourself and go slow this year. Don’t aim to break the glass ceiling, just build the ladder to reach it.
We’ve been forced to go slow for long enough, we should know by now that it’s a smart choice to continue the behaviour a little longer.
To be honest, everytime this awkward limbo between Christmas and New Years comes round, I start to think more about what I want to achieve in the year to come. In 2022 I’ll be turning 24, I’ll have been living in London 2 years, and my Blog will be 2 (rapidly approaching 3). It’s a big year, and I’m starting to really feel old.
But I know I’m one for zooming through life. To adapt that one Mean Girls quote “I’m a rusher, Katie. I rush things”. I definitely don’t feel like I’ve suffered as a result of rushing through life. To be honest I always feel cocky saying it, but I think I’ve done pretty well for myself.
But perhaps it is time to take it slow, to focus on learning and growing rather than sprinting to the next milestone?
As we step into the new year, I for one will be writing a lot more — taking the time to find my voice in casual writing again (It’s something I definitely feel like I’ve lost over the past 8 months). But I also want to invest more of my time learning and developing a passive income. Both of which were pretty high on my priority list for 2021, but I definitely overestimated myself in the start of the year. I just wasn’t able to focus on things the way I had in the first lockdown or when I returned to some sort of normalcy.
Ultimately, I think 2022 it’s going to be a quiet year. Hopefully for all of us, not just me. Some people may rush to get outside as quickly as possible, but I feel most people might choose the slow path this year. Focus on development, health, and wellbeing rather than smashing the next goal.
