In January I wrote an article on choosing a Word of the Year in lieu of the dreaded resolutions. I am happy to report that my word, COURAGE, served as a guidepost for me throughout the year and I am proud of how that helped me to grow over the past 12 months.  

Hopefully you have also had a chance to read Ralph’s article earlier this month on the concept of a “past year review”. As I went through my own past year review, I loved how it flipped the perspective from the often-negative tone in resolutions to focusing on the positive.

How to Get Started

Wanting to keep this positive focus for 2022, I came across the idea of a “bucket list” for the new year. While a bucket list is traditionally a list of things to accomplish or experience during a lifetime (or before you “kick the bucket”), they work well for shorter time periods to put things more in focus. 

A New Year’s bucket list is a great way to stay focused throughout the year and get those items (small and large) checked off over 12 months.

Here are some prompts/ideas to start on your own list:

• Travel – where would you like to go in 2022?
• Experiences – do you want to attend a play, a sporting event or visit more museums?
• Learning – is there a new skill you’ve been wanting to learn?  or a class you could take?
• Family – do you want to start a monthly date night, family game night or start sending birthday cards to friends and family?
• Food – is there a new restaurant to try or do you want to learn to cook?
• Health/Fitness – do you want to start a new exercise routine or make healthier food choices?

The beauty of a bucket list is the items can range from something as small as trying a new food to a larger life change such as going back to college. I encourage you to find some time over the next couple of weeks to reflect on 2021 and intentionally plan 2022 to have more of what is meaningful to you. A new year is a wonderful opportunity to start a new chapter and focus on what matters most.

May the new year bring you peace, joy, and happiness!

Mary McCraw, CFP®

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