There are many ways to start a new year with intention from setting a word of the year, to setting foci and many others. I personally like to set goals (which you will see not all of them are SMART) to help me focus on making incremental changes throughout this upcoming year.

Below are my goals for 2022 and part of the reasoning why I found these to be the most important to me. I hope by writing about my goals, it will inspire you to set goals of your own!

5 goals I want to reach by the end of 2022:

1) Take and pass the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Exam. Obtaining a professional registration is a pivotal milestone in one’s career journey and 2022 is the year of the PE Exam for me. Although I had completed my four years of progressive engineering experience post-EIT certificate issuance needed to take the exam in my state by the October deadline, I elected to wait until the exam goes computer-based (also known as CBT). I personally took the FE Exam as CBT so I am familiar with the general setup for that, plus taking that last chance at the paper and pencil exam would be mean buying and/or printing all the reference manuals I would have needed which I didn’t want to do. For folks who are reading this who will also be taking the Civil Transportation PE Exam, feel free to reach out to and I would love to create an online study group!

2) Write a blog post at least once a month. While this is a repeat goal from 2021, I think this is a great goal to keep because I have so many ideas for future topics that will help both STEM students and new grads. This past year I even posted a few personal finance topics which I am happy to continue if folks find these interesting. Plus these ‘bookend’ posts of goals in January and a recap in December since 2019 have been also like a short diary in terms of being able to see my personal growth throughout the years.

3) Declutter a room in our apartment each month. My partner and I will be moving in July, so this will be helpful to cut down on the stuff we no longer use or need. To prevent future clutter, I will also be implementing the ‘one-touch rule’. This means if I pick something up, I need to put it where it belongs (rather than what I often do is just move it out of the way which really just doesn’t help to declutter). This will also incorporate my value of learning to live a more sustainable life as when I decide that I no longer need something, I will need to learn how to properly recycle, dispose, or another outcome for each item.

4) Focus more on my relationships and building an online STEM community. Relationships are what drive us and motivate us. While this will also be focusing on making time for family and friends, I will also be working on building the only community through this blog and associated social media. The online STEM community is awesome and I hope to plan more collaborations with you all throughout 2022! As you need 1,000 followers on TikTok to go live, I am setting this a subgoal here so that I would be able to go live with you folks and answer any questions you may have about being an early career civil engineer and a woman in STEM.

5) Over 80K in Investments. I am defining investments as my 401k, ESOP, Roth IRA, and also through my brokerage account (stocks, ETFs, crypto, etc.). My long-term goal is to have 100k in investments by the time I am 30, so this is a great short-term goal to keep me on track!

What are your goals or intentions or other for 2022? Please leave a reply below with either your response or questions so we can discuss further!