Reflecting Back On 2022 And Setting Goals For 2023

The year 2022 is coming to an end. Like many people, I like to reflect back at the past year to appreciate the achievements and learnings 2022 has given me; both professionally and personally. I usually look back at the goals I set the year before to see how far I’ve gotten. 

This year has been a year with a lot of change, challenges, hard work, but also a year where I took things into my own hands and created opportunities for myself. Sitting here a few days before new years looking at my goal list from last year I realize I have reached many of my goals; and also, that some of my goals and dreams have changed since I wrote them down last year! 

The Christmas holiday has become my chance to stop up, reflect and look forward towards new goals. For me, it is important to write down my goals, say them out loud and make a plan - sharing the process with the people around me gives me some kind of accountability that helps keep me motivated. 

I believe setting goals is one of the most powerful tools to gain clarity about what you want, how to get there and to keep motivation high. Sometimes our daily routine can keep us in a vice grip; we forget to slow down and be mindful about what we are doing and if it is contributing to our long-term goals, or if what we are working towards is still our dream. Even though I’m not that good at taking a break, I have learned that if we do not take time to pause every once in a while to reflect, we can discover too late that we have lost passion for what we are doing and that we might need to follow a different path. 2022 became the year where I decided to follow a different path; a longtime passion that I think I always knew I wanted to follow. 

Delivering my Ted Talk in Aachen, Germany.

Setting goals can also help you realize that all your hard work has paid off and that you are on the right track. Three of my biggest goals this year were to deliver a Ted Talk, follow my passion for sport, and to spend more time with my family and friends.

Giving a Ted Talk is something I have been dreaming about since I shared my story the first time five years ago. It has been a long journey and at first I thought “okay, I have shared my story, I did two films about it, now a Ted organizer is just gonna call me and I will do my Ted Talk?!” But NO, no Ted organizers called, so I decided to take things into my own hands. I signed up for a speaker course, I hired a speaker coach, and I spent countless hours practicing before giving my first keynote in Oslo last year. And at the end of last year I started applying for Ted Talks, I filled out forms, wrote different pitches and even though I got a few rejections I didn’t give up and I kept going. In February I finally got the email saying I got accepted to give a Ted Talk. I was so happy, but it was now the hard work really started. I hired my speaker coach again and had to dig deeper into my story than I ever did before to draft the talk of my life. And then the countless hours of practicing and memorizing a 16 minute talk wasn’t all fun and games, let me tell you. But it was all worth it when I stood on that red dot in June earlier this year and accomplished my biggest goal for 2022. 

Interviewing Filipe Toledo during Surf City El Salvador Pro Presented by Corona.

Right after my Ted Talk I jumped on a plane to El Salvador where I got to cover the World Surf League on behalf of Corona, who was the title sponsor. Interviewing world class athletes was like a childhood dream coming true. I always knew that I wanted to work with sport and follow big sporting events, but the path to getting there hasn't been straightforward. It has taken me a master degree and many years of work experience inside and out of the industry before I was able to create this opportunity. This year I have worked with Corona, WSL and Red Bull which recently led me to leaving my job as a marketing manager in the fashion industry to go all in on following my dream working with sport and my talks - my big goal for 2023. 

Summer in Denmark with my brother.

I also got to spend lots of time with my family this year. For the first time since I moved to Portugal I spent a whole summer month in Denmark where I had the chance to spend lots of quality time with my family, connect and reconnect with old friends. 

I encourage you to grab a pen and paper and reflect a bit over the past year and write down your goals for 2023. Look at them every once in a while to check in with yourself, share it with a friend and keep each other accountable.

I hope this article can help motivate you to find out what makes you happy and follow your dreams. I would love to hear from you - let me know how you reflect upon the past year and if you set goals for the new year?