Happy 2023 🎉

It’s been a little while since I’ve been in this space, but it’s good to be back. 

November and December were busy months at The Mindful Gingernut HQ, but I’m back and raring to go. 

Before I get carried away with 2023 antics, here’s a little roundup of where I got to with my 2022 Goals. 

As a reminder, these were the goals I set for myself last year:

• Walk an average of 10,000 steps per day;
• Track my refills;
• Increase my income;
• Read at least 12 books;
• Take a minimum of 20 days of annual leave.

Here’s a look at how I got on.

Walk an average of 10,000 steps per day

I had so many issues with this goal in the end. 

My calves finished the year with zero fat on them. But I’m not sure the rest of my body really got a workout. 

I didn’t schedule any rest days. And some days, my legs just really hated me for dragging them out for yet another walk. 

My target didn’t allow for days when I couldn’t get out for my walks, including things that were out of my control, such as being ill or days when I was travelling.

December is a massively deceptive month in my year as I spend so much time outdoors. But, despite being outside, I’m often standing around talking to people rather than doing any walking.

Despite the setbacks, I still managed to walk more than 3 million steps over the year, with a daily average of 8852.

Whilst I may not have quite achieved my target, I wasn’t far off, and it’s a significant improvement from 2021. 

My exercise goal for 2023 will look considerably different, so keep your eyes peeled for next week’s blog post to find out more. 

Track my refills

As I become more and more environmentally conscious, and after discovering my local refill shop, I wanted to see how much plastic I could avoid throwing into landfill. 

Refill stores are not always that cheap, depending on where you do your regular supermarket shop for comparison. There are occasional bargains, but I paid significantly more for some products. 

However, when I look back at the amount of plastic I avoided buying over the year, it was worth spending the extra pennies. 

In total, I made 104 purchases from the refill containers in 2022. That’s 104 pieces of plastic I prevented from being recycled or going to landfill. Can you imagine how much we could reduce the production of plastic by if we all did the same?

I also started to find ways to recycle more, such as taking plastic bags from bulk buy vegetables or online orders to dedicated recycling points and recycling old clothes and shoes which are no longer fit for charity shops or to giveaway on Olio. 

I love visiting my local refill shop. I get to chat with the lovely people who work there whilst also doing my bit to protect the environment. I see that as a win-win.

Increase my income

Business went a bit wild in 2022, and I’m pleased to say I successfully increased my income over the last 12 months. 

I took on more clients and found that word of mouth really does work!

However, the one big realisation I had, was that I was doing a lot of work but not necessarily getting paid enough for the volume of work I was doing. 

Moving into 2023, I will be looking at raising my rates and working on new ways to diversify my income. 

Read at least 12 books.

I’m so pleased I set this as a goal in 2022. I’ve read some great books, ranging from fiction to non-fiction, across different genres. 

Although I missed my target by one book, I’ve loved carving out the time to get back to reading.

Reading has become part of my bedtime ritual, although some nights I’d rather stay up reading than sleeping!

Santa brought me some lovely books for Christmas, and I can’t wait to start reading them. 

Take a minimum of 20 days of annual leave.

I’m annoyed that I had to put this down as a goal in the first place, but after nearly causing myself to burn out in my first year being freelance, I needed to do something to make sure I gave myself enough time to catch my breath. 

Over the year, I took around 30 days of annual leave (on top of bank holidays), and I felt loads better for having those scheduled breaks. 

It also enabled me to make up for lost time on the travel front, and I enjoyed trips to Swanage, Ibiza, Italy, West Bay, Shropshire and Dartmoor. 

I also trialled a working holiday which was also a great success. 

I’ve already scheduled my first week off in 2023, and although I may reduce the number of trips I take this year (as I have lots of other exciting things planned!), I’m looking forward to lapping up those staycations a bit more. 

That’s a Wrap

In a year where my business grew, I battled with anxiety and started therapy, I may not have smashed all of my goals in 2022, but I’m really pleased with the outcomes.

I’m taking a slower approach to the beginning of 2023, but I’ll be back next week with an update on how I’m getting on with setting my goals for the next 12 months.