My Goals for 2022

Salam friends,

and welcome back to my blog! It has been a minute, but I am back, and I thought there was no better way to start the new year on this blog than to share some of my goals for 2022. 2021 was a hard year– one with some unexpected hardships that we could never have been prepared enough  for. If it taught me anything, it was that we can plan all we want, but Allah is the best of planners, and we may not understand why a thing is bad or good for us in that moment, but one day we will understand it, and maybe even appreciate it.

As hard as it was to go through my husband’s accident, Subhanallah, it led to more than one good thing, like him finally being able to renovate his barbershop, and more importantly, it brought him closer than ever to Allah. Mashallah, he doesn’t miss a prayer now, listens to more Islamic lectures, and reads the Quran when he can. His perspective on life completely changed for the better, and I can see it in every aspect of his character and life.

While I wish it didn’t take such a traumatic accident for that to happen, I am definitely proud of him for how far he has come, and for being able to grow through it in such a positive way. He inspired me to want to work on my own deen and strengthen my connection with Allah, iA. We’re still waiting to see what the light at the end of the tunnel is for our house that burned down, but Inshallah we’ll hear good news soon.

Going through these hardships not only made me more grateful for what I have, but it taught me to not take anything for granted because you truly never know what the future holds. I want to stop putting things off for tomorrow, and actually take the necessary steps now to build healthy habits and change my life for the better, iA.

That’s one of the reasons I didn’t wait for the new year to start my blog, when I could have easily used that excuse to put it off, yet again. I decided I was ready to publish it in December, and so I did, and that’s how I want to approach the rest of my goals for this year. I don’t want to just plan to do them, or set the intention for them, even though that is important. I want to actually do them, no matter how gradual the process may be.

So without further ado, here are some of my goals for 2022 and how I plan to achieve them.

Be sure to read to the end to find out where I will be traveling to this summer, iA!

1. Pray More Consistently & Read More Quran

I want to make it a priority this year to learn more about Islam and strengthen my connection with Allah. I have a bad habit of being super motivated in the morning, only to fall short by the end of the day. I tell myself that I am going to pray all my prayers, make wudu, pray dhuhr as soon as the Athan comes on, and then I get caught up the rest of the day and end up not praying the rest of my prayers (I know, astaghfirallah, it’s bad).

From now on, I am going to do the best I can not to postpone any of my prayers until after I finish this or that, no matter how urgent what I am doing may seem, because praying on time is definitely more urgent and important. At least, that’s how it should be.

I am not proud to admit that it has been coming second, third, and maybe even fourth sometimes, if I am being completely honest, with everything else that goes on in my life, but I want to do better.

So, Inshallah, I will be able to keep up with my prayers moving forward and make more time to read and actually understand the Quran as well. I think some of my disconnect with the deen has to do with the fact that I don’t fully understand what I am reciting when I pray. So,  I want to make an effort to learn it so that I can appreciate it more.

My goal is to also memorize, interpret, and fully comprehend at least one or two more small surahs this year so that I can recite them in my prayers.

I purchased this Muslim planner to help me stay on track, hold myself more accountable, and to really engage with the various aspects of our deen, like making dua every day, reflecting on the Quran, and practicing gratitude. Here are a few other Islamic planners I was considering as well.

2. Manage My Time Better

My family will tell you–I am constantly carrying my laptop. No matter where I go, I have my laptop with me just in case I can get work done, and I tend to be “working”  almost all day long on most days.

I may take a break here and there to do things around the house, make food, etc., but other than that, I am always plugging away on my laptop doing something. And the reason is because I am not as productive as I need to be when I am working. You’ll find me “working” all the time, yet actually working for maybe half of the time at most.

I admit that I am really bad at managing my time; I overwhelm myself with too many things on my to-do list, and by the end of the day, I’ll have only finished a few things, and won’t even know where the time went.

I think part of it has to do with the fact that I start my days without a real plan. Even though I make a list of to-dos, it’s unorganized, and I end up barely looking at it as I get my work done, so I’ll flip-flop back and forth between things without really thinking about which tasks I should prioritize first.

I also think it has to do with the fact that I get easily distracted by social media, or I’ll get caught up with things going on around me since I work from home most of the time and don’t have a designated work space.

My husband and I are staying with my parents while we figure out the house situation, and since we’re seven people living together, there’s always something going on or needing to be done. Social media is part of what I do, so as I get tasks done, it can be hard not to mix work with play. I’ll go to post something, then I’ll start browsing for 10 to 15 minutes and forget why I was on the app in the first place.

This year, I am hoping a few changes will help me manage my time better. One being, that I am going to try and use my planner more effectively to make sure I have a solid plan, not only for the next day, but a general plan of things I want to accomplish over the entire month, so that I can set deadlines and goals for myself, and make sure I organize my to-do list accordingly each day.

Once the work that is being done on our house is finished, I will finally have an office space where I can work, and hopefully that will help me be more focused when I work. My goal is to finally have some work-life balance. I want to be more productive when I work, so that I can feel good about stepping away from it to do other things I enjoy.

3. Let Go of Perfectionism

This goes hand-in-hand with #2. Part of the reason that I don’t manage my time well is because of how much time and effort I spend trying to make things “perfect.”

It is so hard for me to step away from something until I am absolutely happy with it, and the littlest details will bug me so much if they are even slightly off. Even when it comes to following a recipe or instructions for something, I feel the need to follow it to a “T,” and get so anxious about just winging anything.

I take a lot of pride in my work, especially since I think it is, in a lot of ways, a reflection of who I am, but I am trying to learn to shift away from a “perfectionist” mindset to a “good enough” mindset, because I know that the things I focus on most people probably don’t even pay attention to.

With everyone showing their best selves, their best lives, and their best things all over social media, it can be hard not to also want to put the absolute best out there either. But I know that’s unrealistic, toxic, and exhausting both mentally and physically.

So now, whether it’s a design I create, an article or blog post I write, or something I post on IG stories, I am trying not to overthink things, just be myself, and do the best I can. And whatever that “best”  is, whether it’s perfect or not, will just have to be good enough from now on.

That means stopping myself from retaking a photo or rerecording a video a gazillion times, or fine-tuning and aligning the heck out of a design. Let’s just hope I put my words into action and actually follow through on this.

4. Wake Up Earlier

I have been trying since last year to become a morning person, but it is SUCH a struggle. I can’t get myself to sleep earlier than like 1am most nights (it’s bad I know). I’m convinced that being a night person is just naturally an Arab thing. Am I wrong though? At first I thought it was just my family, but whenever I meet another Arab person, or especially when I go back home, it’s the same thing. If you are an Arab or Middle Easterner, let me know if it’s the same for you or not.

But really, our fun actually begins after dinner. We’ll have some tea, make dessert, maybe play some cards, even visit family on some nights. This makes it hard for me to get up early, but I know that’s really the only way I can get more work done. Even though working is usually why I am up late anyways, I just feel like getting up early will help me avoid working into the night when I’d rather be doing other things, as I mentioned in #2.

I also just want to have a better morning routine, where I start my day by praying, reciting dhikr, reading Quran, journaling, doing some skincare, and just enjoying a cup of coffee before getting jumpstarted on my work.

As of right now, I am usually rushing in the morning to get started, and will jump right into checking emails and whatever it is I need to work on for the day before my eyes are even fully open yet.

So I want to use the morning to not only to get ahead on the things I need to do, but to also start my day on a more relaxing note. Plus, I usually don’t have time to get ready in the morning, and as much as I enjoy working in PJs and loungewear, I know I’d feel better and have more energy if I actually got ready for the day.

What I’ve been doing so far, is I put my phone far away from my bed so that I can’t just hit snooze and fall back asleep when the alarm goes off.  When I do it, it usually works, so if you’re struggling with this as well, I would definitely suggest trying that!

5. Be More Consistent with my Blog

My goal is to be able to publish at least one new blog post a week. I am hoping that putting that out there will make me hold myself more accountable to actually follow through on it. So far, I haven’t been very good at posting consistently. It’s already been three weeks since my last blog post, and even though I just started it last month, I want to make sure that going forward, I will be more consistent, publish on time, and get myself into a routine so that I can gradually put out more content.

I’ve already enjoyed blogging so much; it feels like a form of therapy where I can express myself–kind of like an open journal. So, I definitely want to make sure I stick with it and make it more of a priority. I also want to be more active on social media, and more present on my stories both on my personal page and AM Women Magazine’s page because I know how important that is, so I am trying not to be as shy or particular about it either. I am hoping that doing #2-#4 will help make these goals more achievable.

6. Go to the Gym More Often

Going to the gym was another thing I started last year that I want to keep up with. I used to think it wasn’t important to make time for the gym. Any extra time I had in my day, I wanted to use to finish up my work. I didn’t understand the benefits it would have (other than the obvious, I mean) until I actually started going and felt that it really helped ease up my stress.

Other than the waking up extra early part, I started looking forward to going. I got some new modest workout gear and started going to a lot of the classes, which were really fun and helpful. I feel like I make the most out of my time at the gym in the classes, and that I actually get a full body workout, too.

Otherwise, I’ll be wandering the gym from machine-to-machine kind of aimlessly, without a real sense of what I should be doing. I am the girl that struggles to figure out the machines and probably uses them wrong most of the time, if that is even possible, haha! In the beginning, I would play it safe and just alternate between using the ones I knew like the treadmill, elliptical, bike, and the StairMaster.

But recently, I have been venturing out, and it’s been going good so far! It’s also a chance for me to catch up on some podcasts, which I don’t always have time for, but really enjoy listening to. It’s been a few weeks now since I’ve been to the gym, but I am hoping to get back into it as part of my morning routine when I finally start to get up early enough.

7. Spend More Quality Time with Family & Friends

I am actually pretty good about this, but there are times when I find myself working on my laptop or being on my phone when I am with family and friends, so I want to try to avoid doing this as much as I can. I think in our current social media crazed age, we really take these moments and experiences for granted. We neglect and ignore the people physically around us to pay attention to people online that we barely know.

It’s really sad when you see family members or friends sitting together, and yet each person is just glued to their phone doing their own thing. Like I said, I am definitely guilty of this, too, so I want to make it a point this year to actually spend quality time with the people I care about when I am with them.

Especially because adulthood is busy. Weeks or even months go by before I can even see some of my friends and family (which I also want to be better about this year, too), so I definitely don’t want to waste any part of it by being on my phone. It just isn’t worth it.

8. Eat Healthier

Says the girl who’s munching away on some puffy Cheetos as we speak. Snacks are my ultimate weakness, and once I get started, oh boy is it hard for me to stop! Instead of grabbing a bag of chips when I am hungry or craving a snack, I am going to try and reach for some fruit and/or veggies instead. I am hoping it won’t be too hard since I enjoy making things like fruit smoothies and parfaits, or dipping veggies into some hummus, yum!

I know there are also healthier snack options available at the grocery store too, I just never used to really care to look out for those things. So, I want to start shopping with more intention, too, and that probably means not going when I am hungry or have a bunch of cravings! I think it’s still okay to have the real snacks (if you know what I mean) every once in a while, but just not as often as I have been.

I also want to get in the habit of drinking more water because I don’t drink nearly enough. I’ll sip on coffee throughout the day, have a cup of tea here and there, juice or soda with dinner, and by the end of the night, I will barely have had one cup of water, if that. I need to invest in a good water bottle, like this one, to keep me motivated and on track to drink the amount of water I should be drinking every day.

I downloaded an app called the Drink Water Reminder App that tells you how much water you need to drink according to your weight. It lets you input the bottle size you are drinking from, and will remind you when you need to take a sip of water in order to reach your drinking goals by the end of the day. It’s actually really helpful, especially if you also own an Apple Watch, so even if you aren’t paying attention to your phone, you’ll get the notification no matter where you are or what you are doing. You’ll just want to make sure you always have a water bottle in arms reach as well!

9. Get Back into Reading & Writing for Fun

Luckily, this blog has already helped me write for fun more often, like I am doing right now, but it feels like I haven’t read in ages. I used to read a book before going to bed every night, after school, or on the bus.

Whenever I had a free moment, I was reading, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I did that. I miss getting lost in a good book, the feeling of not being able to put it down, and the excitement of picking up where I left off to find out what happens next.

Now, it seems like any free time I have goes to watching Netflix or Hulu, and while I love getting caught up in a good show as much as the next person, it just isn’t the same. This is the year I plan on reading more, even if it’s just a few pages before bed or in the morning. If you have any good book recs, I’d love to hear them!

10. Travel More

The last time I travelled anywhere was to Mexico for our honeymoon almost four years ago now. Wow, I still can’t believe it has been that long! I am in desperate need for another vacation, especially after the challenging year we just had.

I feel like there’s so much out there I haven’t seen or experienced yet, starting with the state I’ve lived in my whole life, as sad as that is. I really want to venture out this year, even if it’s just for small weekend trips and getaways to have new experiences and see more of the world around me.

Working from home for so long has definitely made me more of a homebody, but I want to break away from that. The pandemic hasn’t really helped either, though. Once it’s safer to travel and when the weather gets nicer, I definitely want to start planning more trips and staycations.

We’re planning on traveling to Palestine this summer, and I literally CANNOT WAIT for that! The last time I was there, I was caught up in planning my wedding, and as fun as that was, I didn’t get to really enjoy or see much else. I didn’t eat nearly as much knafeh, falafel, and msahab as I would have liked either, and I consider that to be a major Palestinian trip fail. Ugh, it seriously cannot come soon enough!

One of the reasons why I wanted to start a blog is for the opportunity to one day be able to work from absolutely anywhere, to be able to experience more of life and document it, and Inshallah this year will be the beginning of that–so stay tuned for more travel blog posts and vlogs!

P.S. I plan on sharing some updates at least once a month to let you know what kind of progress (if any) I am making on reaching these goals. What are some of your goals for this year? Can you relate to any of mine? Let me know in the comments below!