Progress Update: 22 for 22
As the academic school year begins, I'm updating my intentions
👋🏻 Helen here and a warm welcome to our 30 new subscribers this week! Mind The Beet is about sharing our slice of life as two working parents raising two young kids. 👨👩👧👧 We explore what it means to be 21st-century grown-ups and since we are both product leaders, we talk about that too.
If you are here for the product stuff, here are posts specifically on the art and science of building product:
⌛ How does a product leader manage their time? Thoughts on time & task management and what’s worked for Adam
💎 From Product Manager to Product Leader: A career guide with a focus on the most important inflection point.
🛠️ Honing my skills as a product manager: Helen’s journey to transfer into the profession.
📣 My 10 Favorite Productisms: Pithy sayings with pearls of product wisdom behind them
🔗 The People Angle: How to build x-team products
This week’s post is about personal goals and self-accountability.
On January 9th, I posted my 22 goals for 2022 based on Gretchen Rubin’s practice of setting goals for the upcoming year. We are just over 2/3rd through 2022, and on the eve of the new school year, so I am taking stock of where I am, what new routines I want to start, and what existing ones I need to tweak.
Below is my list that I wrote out in early January and my progress against it:
Get kids’ passports - Done
Get my Enhanced Drivers License (EDL) - Not started
Redesign our coat closet - Not started
Move for 20+ minutes every day - On track - between Peloton outdoor app, the Peloton Bike and my F45 studio, I feel like I am doing a decent job hitting this goal
Monthly date night - On track
Take a trip as a family - Done - We are exceeding this as a family with trips to Denver, Hawaii, and London in the books as well as a planned trip to Disneyland later this year. We’ve also had to roll with the punches and cancel some trips as life is not as predictable as we’d like.
Ski - Done - This was a big one for me post ACL and I wrote about it here
Family photoshoot - Not started
Make the Book of Now (a photo book to capture the now - picture of a gas station, a grocery store isle, etc.) - Not started
Organize holiday cards - Done
Celebrate Adam’s milestone birthday - Done
Read every day for 22 minutes - On track
Try to reverse my PCOS - Work in progress. I wrote a post called Sugar, weight loss and PCOS earlier this year where I discuss my journey with health that I’ve been on. I’m glad that I have been able to be very active with my Signos subscription (monitoring my glucose levels) which I hope will help me continue on this path.
Build healthy eating habits - On track. With my work on my blood sugar, I am eating a ton more green food and have been really leaning into making interesting salads which has been a joy (especially in the hotter summer months)
Take a baking class and bake something new - 50% done - I did bake a fondant cake for a birthday but I have not taken a baking class as I had hoped yet.
Prioritize a girls’ trip - Done - had a fun trip with my girlfriend from business school to NY. It was much needed.
Make mood music lists - Done - In addition to a pre-meeting list, I now also have a mood booster, book club, and team retrospective list.
Be in bed by 10pm - this one is not going well. I’m hoping with the start of the school year, I can try to reset
Plan a volunteer event for our family - now that everyone is vaccinated, I hope to make progress on this one
Go to a tea house with my daughters -Done
Try a new tea a month - On track. I have been exploring Republic of Tea as well as new loose teas wherever I go.
Create a Memories jar - Done
Bottom line - I’m done or on track with 68% of the items I picked
Overall, I’m feeling pretty good about my list. If I’m honest, I am not sure if I will get to redesigning a coat closet this year or really figuring out how to be in bed by 10pm. However, I am glad to see that as COVID has become part of life, we have gotten back to travel and adventure. I feel the investment in my health is paying off this year as well - and while this one definitely continues to have its ups and downs, I have been able to stay focused on it.
Positive affirmations for the upcoming year
I have been reflecting on what I wish for myself as the school year begins and I listened to a podcast by Dr. Becky Kennedy with Emily Oster: Emily Oster on the Real Data Parents Need. The one big reminder that I loved was:
So let’s give ourselves and each other grace as we embark on this school year.
Thank you for reading and if you are interested in our other top posts, check these out:
🤝 Building strong relationships at work: Helen’s story through multiple careers.
🏖️ Adam's Field Guide to Happiness: The Secret to Amazing Paid Time Off
👨🍼 My First Year of Fatherhood: Adam’s polished memories from that crazy, sleep-deprived first year.
🎁 The Gifts We Hope to Give: Learn a bit about how we approach parenting and leadership
🥱 Burnout & Boredom: A Manager’s Pandemic Retrospective on Mental Health: Learn about Flow and other tips for managing burnout
👶 Advice on Hiring a Nanny: Practical tips for working parents
🎙 The Studio: A product guide to building a custom telepresence room
📚 Information Diet: Recommendations for news outlets, analysis, podcasts, and newsletter subscriptions from an information junkie
👨👩👧👧 Brave Parenting: It’s OK to not be perfect. It’s OK to be scared as a parent - even in the everyday moments.
🏄♀️ Why New Grads Should Surf, Not Climb: The #1 piece of advice for new grads.