Energy 2022: My Annual Theme and Manifesto

Jan 30, 2022 · Comments Annual Theme

I’ve never enjoyed new year’s resolutions. Not only are they challenging to stick to, but as the year evolves, I believe your goals and motivation evolve too. This year, inspired by Trevor McKendrick, I’m creating an annual theme and manifesto instead.

Upon reflection, 2020 and 2021 felt incredibly draining. The global pandemic, becoming a father, weight gain, work stress, and more contributed.

However, life was at its best when I had the energy to enjoy it. Since lack of energy leads to being tired, sick, and stressed, it was easy to come up with a theme for this year.

My 2022 theme is Energy!

Here’s the manifesto:

The Energy 2022 Manifesto

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” - James Clear

• With enough energy, I can accomplish anything.
• By building proper habits, I can lose weight and keep it off.
• Good health is the only thing that matters.
• Long-term thinking over short-term thinking.

What does this theme mean?

With more energy, I can:

• Be more productive and less stressed at work. When I don’t have the energy to focus, it takes me longer to get tasks done, making me stressed, which leads to longer hours to make up lost time. It’s a vicious cycle that I have to break.
• Work on fulfilling side projects and enjoy more time with friends/family. They expand my skills and bring me joy. Most evenings, I feel too tired to work on projects, do adult/life stuff, call a friend, etc., so I end up doing passive activities like watching TV instead.
• Be a better father to Henry. I’ll have more patience, be able to keep up with him physically and emotionally, and be better able to give him the attention he deserves.
• Maintain and improve my relationship with my wife. Work and baby life felt like a hamster wheel grind in 2021, leaving little time for us to connect. More energy equals more quality time together and helps us thrive as a family.
• Add more exercise to my routine and be mindful of my eating habits. These are critical to my goal of losing weight this year.

How will I make this theme successful?

“Back to basics. What do I want? What do I want to see in the world? Create that.” - paraphrased from Seth Godin’s book “Linchpin.”

Energy 2022 encompasses many goals. They include:

• Sleeping more. Being a parent now means I only have evenings to relax. I love “free time” so I’ll often stay up too late to maximize it. Of course, that means I begin a new day tired, leading to a low energy cycle. I feel best when I’ve slept over 7 hours. I’ll use a Fitbit to track my sleep and aim for seven and a half hours every night.
• Mindful eating. I exercise regularly but have an unhealthy overeating habit which negates any progress I make. I’ll use noom to track my calories, weight, and mindfulness. I will be reminded to make healthy choices upfront by tracking my meals.
• Growing relationships. I feel happy when I connect with others. Intentionally making time to call friends and see them in person is the way forward here. Also, my wife and I will continue to have monthly date nights.
• Choosing creation over consumption. It’s always easier to pursue passive activities over active ones, like watching TV instead of building a new app. However, I feel most fulfilled when I create instead of consume. By Q2 2022, I will ship the Dolly app project.

Cheers to an Energetic 2022

I’m excited (and energized) to focus on a theme this year! I’m off to a good start and feel great one month into the new year. What is your 2022 theme?