Let’s turn the page from 2021 by looking forward to 2022. And how setting lofty personal goals for yourself can lead to unbelievable results.

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For many, this year (2021) was a chance to recover from the maelstrom of absolute suck that was the tumultuous 2020.

Unfortunately for many others, 2021 turned out to be a continuation of the previous 365 days. It’s almost as if the year should be forever referred to as “2020 Won.”

Setting lofty personal goals seems pretty ridiculous in the grand scheme of just trying to survive the day. 

But, goal setting exercises are incredibly important. Perhaps even more so in the face of craziness.

Which is why I still cranked out a pretty robust list of objectives for myself just about one year ago in My Personal Annual Review of 2020.

Today we’re going to review what I was able to achieve. And no, I was not able to crush every single objective on my list. But, I did find that these last 12 months have led to some incredible growth––both personally and professionally.

As you read further, my hope is that it will inspire you to get into the practice of setting lofty personal goals for the New Year. And this article should provide the template to do just that.

Let’s get into it.

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The three questions I’ll be asking myself in this annual review:

• What went well this year?
• What didn’t go so well this year?
• What am I working toward?

Once I answer those questions, I’ll start knocking out where I’d like to go in 2022.

What went well this year?

I’m (still) breathing.

Yes … I mentioned this last year.

Of course, my hope was that things with this pandemic would ease up a bit in the New Year.

And they did, for the most part.

But, in many ways, we are simply becoming more accustomed to COVID-19 being a permanent part of our lives, rather than a short chapter in it.

Any day that you can say you are waking up healthy and happy and safe, that’s a win.

And when you can say the same about your kids, you are truly in the upper echelon of life goals on this planet.

Never lose sight of that.

It’s something that I’ve been working on quite a bit: being more grateful for the things that I tend to take advantage of because I’m in a First World country.

So, let’s celebrate that shit … I’m alive. My family is alive. We are all healthy. And happy.

By that measure alone, I’m winning.

If you’re reading this, and can say the same for your own personal life set up, you should consider yourself victorious, as well.

My health

The journey that I’ve had with my own mental health has been a winding road of introspective and reflection.

This year was trying for events and reasons that maybe I’ll share another day.

However, I did provide a glimpse into my battle with anxiety and depression with my essay from earlier this year.

But let’s just say this was the most trying year personally of my entire life.

As a result, I am super proud of the work that I put in:

• I connected with a new therapist to unpack some deep trauma that I experienced throughout my life. 
• My mental health practice expanded to beyond the daily meditations and journaling and evolved into my work with acceptance of myself and gratitude for my own journey.
• For the first time in years, I prioritized more rest and recovery and gave up the idea of non-stop hustle culture that plagues fellow self-employed business owners.

Business

Helping people is my goal. Duh.

And this year, I was able to help more people than ever before. My social media accounts (particularly on TikTok) saw pretty massive growth.

As a result, I was able to reach more people and touch more lives.

There’s a metric fuck ton worth of absolute nonsensical bullshit out there in the health and fitness realm.

Being able to cut through that noise with actual, sustainable, healthy approaches to fitness and nutrition can be difficult, to say the least.

But, it looks like my message is starting to hit the right note.

And as a result, I was able to bring on so many new members to the Lean4Life Academy.

Business is good. For that, I am grateful.

I’ve messed up a million different little things along my professional career. Building a business and developing a brand is no joke. It’s an absolute grind. 

And to be fair, I’ll likely make a million more mistakes over the next handful of years, too.

But, this was the year when things finally started to come together. 

And now I’m looking forward to seeing just how far I can take this passion of mine over the next 365 days.

Writing

I challenged myself to see how much content I could create for you. The goal was to provide one article to this website every single week.

My habit of daily writing was pretty firmly established.

So I figured it wouldn’t be the hardest task on the planet.

But, staying consistent with something like that is still a pretty big undertaking when you add up the other content that I create, mostly in the form of videos and my weekly emails.

So yeah … there were times when I wasn’t exactly inspired to write anything. Let alone information or motivational pieces of long-form content.

However, I pushed through.

This final article of 2021 marks the completion of my challenge. One article every single week this year. All of them loaded with the type of info and advice that would help you get into the best shape of your life.

Seriously. 

What didn’t go so well this year?

Writing

“Wait. You said ‘writing’ was one of your accomplishments this year. What gives?”

Well, last year I mentioned that I wanted to make a dent in my side project of writing a book.

My ultimate goal is to craft a memoir that goes into some of my personal experiences. Instead, this year has simply added more stories and anecdotes to eventually write about.

However, I’m still sitting on blank pages.

That needs to change in 2022. 

Fun

I write a lot about enjoying the journey. Yet, I often fall flat in my own practice of this life pillar.

To be fair, it can be difficult trying to have fun in the face of a global pandemic that rages on through a second year of suck.

I’m one that enjoys travel and experiencing fun nights out with my beautiful wife. Those things haven’t been quite possible just yet.

But, that needs to change.

I need to get a little more creative and more assertive with how I approach my down time. And make that down time a priority in the new year.

What am I working toward?

As 2021 finally comes to a close, let’s look forward to a fresh start in 2022.

A chance to build upon the personal and professional momentum that I’ve established over the previous 12 months.

Which is why I’m setting lofty personal goals for myself.

As I’ve mentioned before, you should have some form of process to create goals for yourself. And here’s my guide to creating attainable goals so you can finally crush it in the New Year.

It begins with a pact that I am making with myself.

Have more fun

Last year, I was celebrating that I managed to finally back away from working seven days per week. I cut it down to six days of checking in on my business. 

Gross.

This year, I managed to take the next step and take weekends off. And now I want to make better use of that time off. 

Instead of allowing myself to get into work FOMO and feeling guilty for not doing something to “move my business forward,” I am going to prioritize rest and recovery.

Just like with your fitness, it is important to take a day off from the gym. You’ll come back refreshed and ready to crush it when you return.

The same can be said for your business.

But only if you truly use the time to rest and recover.

I plan to spend some more time doing some of the things that I love:

• trying new foods
• playing video games
• chasing my kids around the house, playground or park
• and hopefully getting back to traveling once again.

Make a list of the things you really like to do. And actually take the time in 2022 to do them.

If you make something a priority, you will find the time to do it. 

Enrichment

I’ve had a goal of learning to speak Italian for years.

Years.

Yet, 2022 is the year when I’m finally going to embrace the idea of prioritizing more time for enrichment in myself. And that includes finally making my Italian practice a daily habit.

Will I be able to speak fluently by this time next year? Probably not. But, I’m going to set myself up to be a pretty decent second language speaker if I practice what I preach:

Start small. Build momentum. Never miss twice. And just keep getting up if you fail down.

This applies to health, fitness, language learning, business and even relationships.

Keep learning, growing and expanding your mind. Stagnation is slow death.

Create

I enjoy the process of content creation.

It’s what I used to do as a TV sports anchor and it’s now what I do on a daily basis with this website and my countless posts on your social media drug of choice (which is a friendly reminder for the shameless plug to follow me on Instagram).

But, I want to also create for myself.

Which is why I am committed to actually making a meaningful dent in my book writing process.

By this time next year, I hope to have a solid structure and outline in place.

Along with a few pages.

Final thoughts on my annual personal review for 2021 as I look ahead to 2022

My goal for you is to realize that life is far too fucking short and you need to take a minute to think about how you are living it.

Look, I totally understand that sometimes we are dealt with an absolute bag of shit from time to time.

But, you do have more control over your journey than you likely want to admit.

Whether that be losing weight, getting a promotion, writing a book or starting your own business, you can make this happen. Despite even some of the shittiest of odds.

You just need a measured and practical approach that works for no one else but you.

While I am not by any means where I’d like to be personally or professionally, this year taught me how to finally chart my own path to get there.

It’s not what some self-help book author did. Nor is it what some social media influencer sells in a 90-day program.

Sure, I have a business coach and even a fitness coach. And I obviously encourage that you do the same. But, even when you bring on that hire, here’s the deal: You’ve got to put in the work.

No one else is going to do that, but you.

So unless you are ready to sit down and figure out how you’re going to get the work done, you’re going to be right back in the same place next year.

Start small. But start.

And it starts by being bold enough to jump into this practice of setting lofty personal goals for yourself.

Here’s to a robust and fucking amazing 2022. Cheers.

Let me help you learn the art of setting lofty personal goals to crush it in the new year … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Setting lofty personal goals” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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