Welcome to this blog on our reflections on 2021!
1 year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. Who knew that 365 days could go by so fast?
It’s the start of 2022: A whole new year filled with new memories, new experiences, new goals, and a new you.
This past year, in 2021, all of us have been through highs and lows, successes and failures, and so much more. Since it’s the start of a new journey, it’s important to reflect on the past one so we can make the following one much better, which is exactly what we’re going to do in this blog.
The Teen Financial Freedom team presents this special article on each of our reflections for this year and goals for 2022. Each individual has their own experiences of 2021, and we can’t wait to share them with you. Along with our personal goals, we aim to inspire you to also reflect on this year and make goals! So, read on about three individual reflections and goals to set them up for success for the coming year!
Personal Reviews
Without further ado, here are our personal reviews of 2021!
Jacob
My favorite way of evaluating my personal progress in life is a metric I refer to as YoY RoI (Year over Year Return on Investment). While this would normally be used in finance to measure how an investment performs on an annual basis, you can apply the same concept to your personal life. I like to think about the progress I’ve made over the last year based on the work I put in. Basically, how far have I come since this time one year ago.
When I use this metric to evaluate 2021, I can honestly say that this year was my best year yet. I can look at any area of my life and see that I am way ahead of where I was last year. In January of 2021, I was in a completely spot in life than I am in now. My businesses have made several advances, my experiences and perspectives are way different, and most of all, I have made tremendous strives for personal growth.
While I had way too many 2021 accomplishments to list in this post, I’ll list a few of the big ones. Most notably, this year I went from applying for colleges and having no idea of where I wanted to go to making my college decision. I finished my senior year, graduated high school, and headed off to start my first semester of college in the fall. College has been incredibly fun and life changing so far. The best part is, I developed a plan to graduate debt free.
Besides college, I’ve made quite a few changes in my businesses as well. The first big changes was selling the custom t-shirt business I ran with a friend. As high school was coming to an end and we were heading our separate ways, we knew we needed to sell the business and move on. Luckily, we were able to wrap things up and find a buyer that paid our full asking price, which was amazing. Besides that, TFF made a lot of advances this year as well. We started the podcast and published over 70 episodes and we also doubled our team size to 6 new people which is exciting. Finally, this last year I got really interested in real estate. Real estate was always something I wanted to get into eventually, however I didn’t have a desire to get started at a young age until this year. Therefore, I can’t wait to get into real estate more in the coming year.
Finally, 2021 has been a year of personal growth. Self-development is a tough thing to measure, but I can confidently say that I grew more this year than ever before. Across every area of my life, I pushed myself harder than ever before. I took huge steps to be more disciplined, to develop more self awareness, and to be a better person overall.
Which brings me to my goals of 2022. Once again, I have way too many goals to list in this post, however I’ll share a few of the main ones. Most importantly, as a Christian I want to prioritize my relationship with God over anything else this year. I know that if I can maintain that as a priority, everything else will fall into place. I’d also really like to be better about my sleep schedule, as that seems to dictate my success with everything else. Finally, one of my main business goals is to buy my first real estate property with my dad.
To conclude, 2021 was full of so much growth and so many changes. I wouldn’t change anything about 2021 and I feel incredibly blessed about everything that happened to me in 2021. This next year, I’m going all out. I’m going to push myself further than ever before and I am going to accomplish more than ever before…mark my words. Now you’ll just have to wait around and see!
Dani
Honestly, I have no idea where to start when reflecting upon 2021. This past year was full of so many new experiences, from starting high school to going on a one-week family reunion to getting a job. I started 2021 with much positivity and motivation to make it my best year yet, and I have the same attitude going forward into 2022.
2020 was a year of big changes for me, as I joined TFF and another organization, and in 2021, I continued those endeavors. With that being said, I had some major successes in 2021, such as:
- Getting a job
- Joining the JV tennis team at school
- Being promoted to a higher role with the organization I’m part of
- Making my very own vision board!
I went on many trips this year, like to Yosemite and Hawaii, but I would say that my most memorable trip was a week-long family reunion in Portland and Seattle. I got to spend quality time with my cousins, and we had a blast. Each time I remember something from the trip, I end up with a smile on my face and laughing out loud.
If there was one thing I could change from 2021, it would be nothing. Each experience, good or bad, has made me a stronger and more resilient individual, and I am so thankful for every second of the year.
In 2021, I started waking up earlier, working out more consistently, and putting myself first. I’ve definitely become more disciplined and resilient than I was at the beginning of the month.
As for 2022, I recently wrote a blog on my new year’s resolutions so be sure to check it out! I list out my goals for 2022 that I’m going to work very hard to accomplish in the following 12 months! Along with waking up early and exercising, another habit that I want to add to my lifestyle is journaling. So, I bought this journal from Amazon and am going to start using it at the beginning of the year.
For 2022, I’m going to make it an effort to increase my sense of self-awareness as well as worry less. I find myself worrying a lot about the future, when in fact, there’s nothing to worry about. So, I’m going to just live in the moment and have faith in what’s to come.
Overall, 2021 has been an awesome year but I can’t wait to make 2022 my most productive, fun, and successful year yet!
Ian
2021.. year two of the pandemic.. a year of hope.. has come to a end. 2021 has treated me like crap but also with great opportunity. At the beginning of the year, I was wrapping up the first season as a podcast editor and executive producer. By the next month, it got cancelled then I lost my god father to cancer, he fought a long battle. Online school isn’t going so well around this time also and I was about fed up with it. The business was holding strong but my hope was slowly going away. By the spring, I applied to join my city’s youth commission, this paid off for me, it was a great opportunity. I went into the summer with great hopes, spending time with friends and having fun, returning to our new normal from the pandemic. Around this time I joined TFF, one of the best opportunities I had in 2021. Once school began, it was finally in person, after a few bumps in the road, I started my own club. I was also on the board of officers of another school club, the environmental one. This one lead me to a major political project which I will refrain from taking about to not get political but involves climate change. Cross Country starts off and I’m kicking butt, breaking my records a few times and one of the top contenders for most improved JV runner. But I was suffering in my Pre Calc class but excelling in everything else, after dropping AP world. As winter approached, so did Finals, this was my first finals season. It was not fun too say the least. Now that we are in the mist of a repat of 2020, I can only reflect on the roller coaster year we had in 2021. I wish y’all a good 2022 and shall the only negativity in 2022 be in your covid tests. Stay safe!!
The Takeaway
All of us are thankful for every single moment we’ve experienced in 2021, for all the opportunities we’ve been given, for all the hardships we’ve faced, and for all the memories we’ve created.
We hope this article inspired you to contemplate on what you did this year, including your successes and failures, and to make goals for the next year on what you can do better. Through this article, each of us has been able to reflect on the past year and see how we’ve grown, as well as plan for the next year to continue growing towards our best self.
Just like how we did in this blog, we encourage you all to take the time and self-reflect on this year and think about
- Your best moments/memories
- Any obstacles/hardships you faced
- Goals you’ve accomplished
- Habits you started
- Ways you’ve improved
Along with this, we encourage you to plan for next year so you can continue your journey of success, personal development, and self-growth. Be sure to include:
- New goals for 2022
- Habits you want to start
- Things you want to improve on
- How you’re going to make 2022 your best year yet
We have no idea what 2022 has in store for us, so all we can do is stay positive and look at the bright side. Have an awesome new year, and we hope you read our upcoming blogs in the new year!
We hope 2022 is your best year yet, and we wish you tons of happiness and success! Continue to both have fun and hustle!
Let us know how this article influenced you, as it has touched us greatly. If you have any comments, questions, or would like to share your own reflection/goals, drop us a comment down below! Be sure to contact us on our website as well. We can’t wait to hear what you guys have to say!