My 2022 Annual Review

Dec 31

Another year in the books. 2022 was perhaps one of the most pivotal years I’ve lived through, but also one of the most rewarding.

Just like last time, the questions I’ll be answering in this review are:

What went well this year?
What didn’t go so well this year?
What did I learn this year?

This year, I’m adding a new section- the highlight reel. Time flies by and it helps to look back on the brighter moments of the year.

1. What went well this year?

Academics. I feel great knowing this chapter of my life is wrapped up (at least for now). I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.00 GPA with a double major and it’s amazing to just step back and see how 4 short years at ASU helped me change for the better.

Career. I interned with CSAA last year, and I’m happy to say I’ve continued on my journey with them as an Insurance Analyst full-time this year. I’ve learned a lot so far and am looking forward to getting more experience this next year.

Spiritual Life. I committed to reading the whole Bible front to back in January, and I just finished up Revelation. I remember being a bit intimidated by how long and detailed the first few books were, but everything started to come together and make more sense as I pieced different sides of history together and understood The Word from a more wholistic perspective.

Relationships. I started dating my best friend this year, which is pretty cool :) I’ve also reconnected with and made some new friends this year!

Style. It’s nowhere near perfect, but boy oh boy, my sister has taught me a lot about how to match outfits. Turns out high-waisted jeans might be my thing… and hoop earrings?

Personal Fitness. I went to the ASU gym for about a month and then got my membership with the gym earlier this year and have been going consistently ever since. I have gained quite a bit of muscle (although I’d like to put on a lot more next year) and am constantly trying new workout routines and classes. I’ve heard that women tend to prefer leg day over arm day though, which I don’t really understand because I DREAD leg day. Arms for the win.

Dance. I’m actually really proud of this one, and it’s because I’ve always been so intimidated by dance to even start learning. I went to my first Mixxedfit (dance) class in April, and was way too terrified to go back. I finally talked myself into coming back a month later with my sister and it’s been uphill ever since! I’ve learned how to coordinate my limbs and I feel a lot more confident with everything.

Travel. I went on my first (and second) solo flight this year! I visited my best friend Nate (now boyfriend) in Tennessee, and then flew to Washington to see him again. We experienced so many fun adventures on both of those trips and also saw Post Malone live in concert which was incredible.

Comfort Zone. In Tennessee, I rock climbed for the first time, which requires a lot more upper body strength than I initially imagined. Nate also talked me into singing harmonies for a YouTube video which is WAY out of my comfort zone as I’m not quite good at singing, but after reassuring me with his abilities to autotune my voice, I did it. I was crazy nervous though.

2. What didn’t go so well this year?

Spending Habits. This may have to do with me going to the gym a lot more, but I’ve spent way more on fast food (particularly post-workout snacks). I think I’ve eaten out every single day this week and my wallet has definitely seen the consequences of that.

Creative Projects. It didn’t go badly, but it could have gone better. I’d say my creative expression on YouTube hardly scratched the surface of where it could have gone potential-wise. I prioritized a lot of things over YouTube this year though, so I’m not surprised.

French. Ha ha, I practiced some French in January and February but that was about it. I need to keep speaking French if I want to retain everything I’ve learned.

Music. Similar to last year, I’ve plateaued and haven’t given much attention to instruments like the trombone, piccolo, and cello.

Mindless Screentime. This is also quite similar to last year; but it’s slightly improved. I’ve spent most of this year with social media apps deleted from my phone so I can only access them on my laptop. With the blowup of YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, it’s become a lot more difficult to resist the temptation of instant gratification and entertainment.

3. What did I learn this year?

Tracking my sleep is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I love data and the fact that my Fitbit tracks my sleep stages and quality of rest has helped me better understand and improve my sleep schedule.

Consequences help me understand. I’m pretty sure this is a basic psychological concept, but I don’t tend to realize the consequences of my actions until I’m actively suffering the consequences. Example- overeating BBQ chips. It’s taken me a bit of discipline to learn when to stop, and I’m trying to figure out where the line is before the pain starts hitting from eating too many chips.

There’s a bigger picture that I don’t fully understand. I’m a pretty philosophical person and subconsciously build out thorough principles on why people feel or act the way they do, including myself. I try to jot these patterns down in my mind. However, I fail to account for the margin of error and can become so certain in my theories that I forget to look at the big picture and account for my blind spots. I’ve gotten better at becoming less certain in my theories and allowing a greater margin of error in my thought.

Learning from others is great. When I was younger, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to be when I was older (AKA, my “big life goal”). Most people said that they just wanted to be happy and I resonated with that. But at the time, I looked at happiness as something that would just fall over me- something that just “happens” to people. It isn’t. A large piece of happiness is one’s outlook on their circumstances.

The more difficult something is, the less competition you have. This lesson has been pretty encouraging to remember when I’m struggling on something difficult.

The unfortunate side effect of gratitude. I’m really happy where I am now, and I’m genuinely grateful for everything in my life. The unfortunate side effect of immense gratitude is the constant looming fear of losing everything since realistically, I know life can’t always be this good. However, I’d rather suffer this consequence than deal with the worry of comparing my image to other people’s and not being grateful for what I have.