52 in 22 Challenge
I'm not big on New Years resolutions, but the calendar page turning to a new year feels like a great time to pause and consider the year ahead, and how I can be more intentional.
I took some time over the holidays to review my calendar and photos from the past few years—I like to think of it as a life audit. There were some experiences that really stood out and gave me a strong emotional response—either activities I'd like to do more of (hiking) and some, I'd like to never do again (meetings with no agenda).
Some of my favorite memories over the years have been on the trails. Exploring the outdoors is a life-giving activity for me. It allows me to tap into more creativity, soothe anxiety, feel strong and fall in love with the world all over again.
For the past two years, I've wanted to get outside and hike more—with hiking Mount Katahdin being at the very top of my list. And for the past two years, I've done a modest amount of easy to moderate hiking, but never made it to Katahdin, and more often than not opted for a cozy book on the couch when free time presented itself. Sadly, I was even invited to hike Katahdin with friends last year, and declined because I didn't feel up to it, didn't feel fit enough, and worried that my slow pace would be frustrating for everyone.
Taking the time to reflect on the past few years, highlights the obvious. Wanting to hike more does not result in me actually hiking more, much like wanting to get more fit, doesn't result in me waking up with a six pack.
I'm starting this year with more intention and setting myself a goal of 52 hikes in 2022, and to create sustainable habits to feel strong, capable and fit. 52 in 22 might seem arbitrary, and it will certainly be a challenge for me to get an average of a hike a week in. But setting that expectation with myself means that I have to actively plan, and not let things like bad weather or a stressful work week get in the way of something important to me.
I'm excited to experience 52 weeks of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, challenging myself and being more intentional.
If you have an ambitious goal for 2022, what habits are you creating to help you achieve your goal? Here’s my approach:
Plan the week ahead, block time each week for a scheduled hike, and set a secondary time for when things don’t go according to plan.
Make it real. There’s no one size fits all approach here. For me, naming the goal (52 in 22), creating a plan, socializing it and inviting others to participate helped make the goal less squishy.
Understand: it’s you. Change isn’t easy, and it’s difficult to tackle an ambitious goal. Keep your goal at the top of your mind and consider what kind of person you need to be to achieve your goal. For me, it means I need to work out regularly to feel strong; I need to make sure I have the proper gear to eliminate excuses in less ideal weather conditions; I need to put myself in conditions that challenge my comfort zone. I need to visualize not only how I’ll feel when I achieve my goal, but how I will feel doing the hard work even when I really don’t feel up to it.
