Personal goals: A look back at 2022 and ahead to 2023

I almost didn’t make time for this, but I’m so glad I did — because looking back at my goals from 2022, it’s easy to see just how much has changed.

Here’s something that didn’t change though: Last year I wrote, “I am tired. Managing energy has to be my first priority this year.”

I laughed reading that, because after the Fall of Illnesses in 2022, having the kids home for weeks and not enough quiet, alone time to think, I’m feeling pretty depleted going into 2023. 

I’m hopeful a healthy January with lots of school and rest will restore my usual optimism.

Looking back at 2022 personal goals

Here’s what I set for goals in 2022 and how they panned out:

1. Prioritize energy management

To preserve energy, I’m focusing on: 

• Minimizing commitments (saying no to opportunities) ACHIEVED
• Keeping my expectations low (focusing on what really matters) PARTLY ACHIEVED, BUT IS ON MY LIST AGAIN FOR 2023
• Staying relaxed in the face of unexpected challenges PARTLY ACHIEVED

2. Reach profitable with They Got Acquired

Milestones:

• Launch: in Q1. Our website will launch in the first few weeks of the year, and the podcast will follow soon after. ACHIEVED
• Monetization: By the end of Q2, I’d like to see us test our monetization hypothesis. This gives us time to regroup and shift focus by the end of the year if we decide to take a different approach. ACHIEVED
• Revise plan by end of Q2: It seems futile to plan beyond summer when so many things could change based on feedback after launch. Instead, we’ll draft a plan for the second half of the year by the end of Q2. ACHIEVED

By the end of the year, I want the brand to bring in enough money to cover expenses and my salary. DID NOT ACHIEVE, BUT CAME CLOSE. I WROTE MORE ABOUT THIS IN MY TGA ANNUAL REVIEW, COMING IN FEBRUARY 2023.

3. Take care of myself by eating healthy. SEMI-ACHIEVED, BUT NEED TO DO BETTER. THIS REMAINS ON MY LIST FOR 2023.

Other happenings from this year that I want to celebrate

A few more things worth remembering from 2022:

• We attended Founder Summit as a family this fall in Asheville
• Spent nearly three weeks in the UK over the summer visiting family
• Lots of impromptu mini-trips and adventures with our boys
• My parents moved closer to us (30 minutes away compared with 6 hours and 30 minutes), which has brought more ease and joy into our life
• I had surgery on my foot in July, was on crutches for weeks, then spent the rest of the year rehabbing. I can’t wait to get back up our neighborhood mountain again
• I survived a month of being on-call for jury duty
• Visited my old stomping grounds at Medill for my entrepreneurship fellowship

Personal goals for 2023

Here’s what I’m focusing on this year. This feels a bit like a list of things I didn’t do well enough in 2022… but here goes.

1. Health: I think of the physical health trifecta as: movement + sleep + food. I focus naturally on movement and sleep, and the part that needs more intentionality is food. Like last year, I’m working on reducing processed foods and sugars.

2. Keep adjusting expectations: This is a constant work-in-progress; I always want to do more (especially with my work) than is actually possible with my time and energy. I’ve made some improvements over the last few years, yet even so, I ended 2022 feeling pretty demoralized over how little work time I had in Q4. I need to adjust expectations yet again for 2023, and expect to reset them throughout the year as things change on the home front.

3. More quality time with my spouse: I spent a lot of time with my kids in 2022, but not enough one-on-one time with Ben. Because I had surgery on my foot halfway through the year, we missed our weekly Genius Hikes. (That’s what we call the hikes we do together, because we end up talking through business and life challenges.) We’re bringing these back in 2023 and also hope to get away together for a short trip.

4. Strengthen in-person friendships: I often feel like I don’t have time for this, but I know it’s important to my happiness. We threw a small New Year’s gathering, including a 7pm countdown, with a few friends in our neighborhood, which was a great kickoff to a year where I make more time for friends.

I don’t have any specific kid- or full family-related goals this year, and I think that’s a sign that I feel good about how we’re making memories and supporting our kids as they grow. This feels naturally prioritized and mostly baked in now that we’re seven years into parenting, and we have several family getaways on the calendar for the coming year to foster new experiences.

Happy New Year!