Looking back on 2021 and my goals for 2022

Hi friends! How’s the year going so far? 😉 The kids are back at school this week, I’m back into teaching and training clients, and it’s FREEZING here. It’s like all of a sudden Tucson got the memo that it’s winter. The past week was absolutely lovely, with lots of time outside (before it turned into an arctic tundra), sleeping in, and get-togethers with friends. It feels good to get back into a routine but man, we all loved winter break. 

For today’s post, I thought I’d do a recap of the past year and share some of my goals for 2022. I always love talking about goals and sharing my personal ones in this space. It’s nice to have a little accountability out there, and I always love to hear about what you’re looking to achieve, too. Please chime in with any insights from this past year and what you’re working on for 2022! I’d love to cheer ya on.

So I chatted about this in the podcast, but in some ways 2021 felt just as hard as 2020. It flew by in a blur and portions of the year shrouded in uncertainty, fear, frustration, and lots of tough and complex emotions. In other ways, it felt so much better than 2020. 

Looking back on 2021 and my goals for 2022

I’m focusing on the good spots of this past year (one of my main goals this year is to emphasize gratitude!) and here are some of the highlights:

We got Maisey!

This dog is just a furry ray of sunshine. She’s a true dog-dog (loves fetch, toys, walks, water play, bones) and always has tons of snuggles and kisses for everyone. She such a smart and snuggly girl, and we’re all obsessed with her. Maisey has been a huge bright spot in 2021, especially since I was so heartbroken over losing Bella. (I still think about that amazing girl every.single.day)

We got to travel to quite a few fun places with friends and family.

We did Disney World twice, Sedona, Las Vegas, Austin, San Diego, and small staycation type trips to Scottsdale. (The girls LOVE Great Wolf Lodge.) I hope that travel is another theme this year because it’s one of my very favorite things.

We also finished our pool, which was a HUGE project.

They did an incredible job and I’m already looking forward spring and summer pool days.

I feel like we truly found our tribe here in Tucson.

We have such an amazing group of friends that are more like family, and I feel so blessed to be able to hang out with so many people we love. The girls have such wonderful friends – the kindest, most supportive, and funny little crew – and we’re lucky that their parents are also pretty cool 😉 I also feel thankful every day that we get to live here in Tucson where so much of our family is located! Our family weekly taco nights are some of my favorite memories from 2021. 

Health-wise (knock on wood), 2021 was a good year. 

Teaching-wise, it felt so great to get back to leading in-person classes. Finally, for me, I’ve been focusing on my strength training split with heavy weights and Fit Team workouts.

I’m still focusing in the habits that make me feel great: treating sleep like it’s my job (the Oura ring helps so much with this), sauna blanket, eating lots of fresh veggies and produce, daily walks, spending time with friends and family, reading instead of watching TV, minimizing alcohol, and *trying* to manage stress. 

On the professional front, everything felt like a scramble this year.

The year went by SO quickly and I often found myself wanting to do all the things but not having enough time. Despite it feeling like a challenging year professionally, I beat 2021’s revenue and growth numbers, continued to hit Senior Director with Beautycounter (a huge milestone in the company), grew our Fit Team community by 350%, and feel proud of the content I created over this past year. I also produced and launched Barre Bootcamp 2.0.

It was my first year working with a business coach in a mastermind and I had the honor of learning from Jill Coleman. She really helped me to change the way I run my business, get the Fit Team membership site rocking and rolling, with launches, emails, strategy, and accountability. I was so thankful to be invited back for this year, but have some other things in the pipeline (more details below). I really want to work on implementing the strategies I’ve learned along with growing the Fitnessista team. 

In the past, I’ve been asked for a revenue breakdown of my site, and there was a lot of interest when I shared this information in my post about what it’s like to be a Beautycounter consultant.

Here’s how everything was distributed for 2021:

It was pretty insightful to look at end-of-the-year numbers, particularly when it came to affiliate income (something I do for fun and just share things I genuinely love) and Beautycounter. I feel like I didn’t have the bandwidth to dedicate as much to BC this year, but I LOVE our products, mission, and our team, so it’s definitely something I’ll focusing on going forward.

(Almost everything I do with Beautycounter is behind the scenes of the blog! I share a couple of posts or links here and there, but I really enjoy connecting with clients and helping with skincare recommendations through email and Zoom calls. If you’re curious about aligning with Beautycounter, please send me an email and I’ll hop on the phone with you to answer any questions. If you know you’d like to join our team – its filled with so many inspiring ladies, including Ashley and Heather – all of the details are here)  

Some of my goals for the upcoming year:

Health

Healthwise, I want to keep working on the key pillars I focus on each day. More veggies, movement, time outside, hot yoga (the best), and hydration. I don’t have any huge fitness goals for the upcoming year, but just want to continue to stay consistent and progressively lifting heavier weights.

Professional:

Professionally, I have some huge goals for 2022. I want to continue to grow Fit Team because our community is amazing, the workouts are fiiiiiiiiire, and I want to  continue to improve the Fit Team platform. 

We’ll also be expanding our 1:1 nutrition offerings, because I’m so thrilled to welcome Mia to the Fitnessista team. 

(Pic of when she talked me off the edge and showed me how to attach my Nutrisense sensor)

She’s a Registered & Licensed Dietitian, professionally-trained chef, and has a background in health and fitness. She believes in whole foods-based nutrition and determining the root cause of issues, plus a strategic action plan for each individual. She enjoys helping individuals with digestive health, food allergies and intolerances, autoimmune conditions, insulin resistance, infertility & PCOS, kids’ nutrition, women’s hormones, and treating those with chronic inflammation. 

Mia is a personal friend of mine and I was beyond pumped when she said that she’d work with me with our 1:1 clients, Fit Team members, and here on the blog!

Here are some of the things she’ll be doing:

– Working with 1:1 clients under our Upscale Nutrition program

– Offer testing as needed, which include: hormone testing (DUTCH test) and GI tests (GI MAP, IgE Food Allergy Test, Mold IgE Allergy Test, Vitamin D, OAT, Heavy Metals, etc.)

– Create customized packages and action plans for accountability to meet your goals! 

I’ll share more details about all of this soon, but if you know you’d like to get on the wait list, email me upscalenutrition@gmail.com with the subject WAITLIST

– Weekly live calls with me in our virtual workout community

– Blog post recipes and hot nutrition topics (everything from “How to Add Veggies” or “Learn How to Spatchcock a Chicken” to “deep dive science-y” topics related to muscle protein synthesis, how to become metabolically flexible, vitamin & mineral status, supplements for a strong immune system and more!  

If you have anything you’d like her to cover in an upcoming post, please let me know! Please welcome her to the party in the comments section 🙂 

Personal

I set a goal to read 3 books each month during 2021, and am going to continue this into 2022.

I’m still working on the great recap post and final tally, but I ended up reading around 40 books last year, and I enjoyed it so dang much. The goal encouraged me to make reading a priority and make time for it each day. feel like I’m a better writer when I’m consistent reading, and I sleep so much better at night when I read instead of watching TV. I pretty much stopped watching regular TV in January (with shows or occasional movies with the family here and there) and don’t miss it at all. (I’ll definitely be watching the new seasons of Emily in Paris and Queer Eye though!) 

Gratitude, patience, presence.

These are things I’m always working to improve, and I feel like I’ve sucked at a couple of these over the past year. I was often two steps ahead of myself, and having a really hard time enjoying the present moment. I’ve started a gratitude practice that’s been such a beautiful addition to my daily routine. (I simply think about 3 things I’m grateful for when I wake up and when I go to sleep.) Meditation has been hit or miss, so I’m trying to add it in when I can. 

I’d love to get back into a couple of hobbies, especially singing.

My singing pretty much came to a screeching halt when the symphony canceled the second season, but I’m hopeful that it will make a comeback in 2022. Singing in a choral environment made my soul so happy and I’ve missed it  a lot over the past couple of years. I listened to Messiah over Christmas and kept trying to visualize a real season next year!

Home improvements!

We didn’t get the chance to rip out our upstairs carpet, but it’s happening this year for sure. 

Gratitude, patience, presence.

These are things I’m always working to improve, and I feel like I’ve sucked at a couple of these over the past year. I was often two steps ahead of myself, and having a really hard time enjoying the present moment. I’ve started a gratitude practice that’s been such a beautiful addition to my daily routine. (I simply think about 3 things I’m grateful for when I wake up and when I go to sleep.) Meditation has been hit or miss, so I’m trying to add it in when I can. 

Continuing to enjoy these little babies.

They crack me up and amaze me every day, and I’m excited to see what 2022 holds for them, too.

So tell me friends: did you set any goals for 2022? What’s on your personal, health, and professional list?

And a huge hug and a high five if you made it through this super long post 😉

xo

Gina