The first day of the year is the best day to start fresh with a clean slate, embracing habits that will help you win big in 2022, and let go of those that are hindering you.

I originally began the annual practice of blogging on January 1st, 2011, as I was in the midst of a long divorce, and my work was suffering because of it. I had not been online teaching at the level I should have been, and I wanted to let everyone know why. Now I think it’s just good practice to look back at the previous year, review your goals and determine what you can do to improve your goals, practices, etc., for the upcoming year. This dovetails into your sweepstakes hobby because it needs to fit your life and lifestyle.

2021, Old Slate

I didn’t accomplish all that I wanted in 2021 (I always set the bar so high!), but I did pretty well, both personally and professionally.

Here is what I put on my TO ACCOMPLISH list:

  1. SELF CARE! Let go of 30-40lbs. Exercising daily. Meditating daily. Drinking lots of water and eating better. More vegetables and fewer carbs. If 2020 taught us anything is that our health is paramount.
  2. Publish three books. Two of Helene’s and one of mine. Maybe start a fourth. We shall see.
  3. Better my video production game. New everything! Laptop, camera, lighting, microphone, table, chair. (Did I forget anything?)
  4. Balance content and social posts for both Contest Queen and Idea Majesty.

How did I do?

  1. The weight stayed, so back on the goal list for 2022.
  2. What was I thinking?! Write and publish three books?! The amount of work involved is astronomical. I wrote part of one and published another (Confessions of an 83-Year-Old Sage). Since I wrote part of one, I am going to finish that first for 2022 (Prizes, Prizes, Everywhere!) and then republish Helene’s last book (A Man Called Friday). That feels doable.
  3. I did up my video production game, and in 2022 I am going to hone it. Still working on the new laptop and camera, but I have a new phone, microphone, and office chair.
  4. Virtually zilch was done for Idea Majesty (my sweepstakes marketing company). I bought a large format desk calendar to create a master marketing plan for Contest Queen, Idea Majesty, and my clients (mainly Robert Ohotto, as I manage 5 of his Facebook Groups).

Clean Slate, Start Fresh

Now is your chance to look back at your hobby, what worked, what didn’t, and what you won in 2021. It’s only then you can stay the course or pivot for 2022.

What worked for me was PIN Code Hunting, as I won my biggest instant prize yet, a hot tub. The second best was the radio giveaways. I won $800 playing Beat The Bank.

What didn’t work was the dailies, as I have been focusing on marketing my business. Creating social media content takes a lot of time, and I am posting to six channels.

This is where looking at your overall life, lifestyle, and personal goals come into play. What can I shift or improve to maximize my hobby and, therefore, what I win?

Tracking Your Wins

One strategy is to track. I used to track my wins all the time. I stopped when I was going through my divorce as I wasn’t winning much and was generally sad. In 2019 I won heaps of instant prizes. Especially during the summer while I PIN Code Hunted. Although I did not win a grand prize, I wished I knew how much I really did win. Then I started tracking in 2020. I gave up when the lockdowns started, and the sweepstakes started disappearing. Let’s try again this year!

Here is the link to my annual Track Your Wins spreadsheet. Scroll down to download your FREE copy.

The Journey

If you are new to me, you can read previous annual posts to see what goals I set, what I achieved, where I fell on my face, and, most importantly, how I picked myself up and kept going:

What are your 2022 winning goals?