New Year's Intentions

With every New Year, we can be tempted into rushing into it with new goals to bring out the “new me”. Here’s the thing though. Absolutely nothing is wrong with the old me. I do evolve year over year and hope that I do in fact get better. And me being me, and being a person who likes to grow and get better, I tend to not set resolutions, but rather set an intention or intentions for the year.

I also resist the resolutions because as we all know they are notoriously difficult to maintain or sustain. But like all goals, if there is not action behind them, it often doesn’t happen. So, yes, I do have big goals, yes, I do have action steps I’ve outlined, but for me, I’ll do that in January or June, or October - it’s whenever I need it. 

How I Set Intentions

This starts in December usually for me, where I’m starting an internal reflection process on the year, the lessons I’ve learned, the kind of year it has been. What's lovely about this is that it is truly me focusing on me - my internal guidance and what and how I'm feeling about it all.

I start to think about what I want to shed in the upcoming year, like a snake shedding its skin, and what I want to focus on in the coming year. I start to keep a note on my phone about the words that are resonating with me. Words that I’m thinking about as a focal point for the upcoming year, ways to ground me, ways to guide my actions, and any goals I do set. Below is my phone note from my thoughts for 2023.

I've included some questions below that really help guide me as I reflect and consider the upcoming year as well. 

Questions to Guide Me

1. What do I want more of in the next year?
2. What do I want less of in the next year?
3. Why do I want more or less of these things?
4. What lessons have I learned in the past year?
5. What am I proud of from this past year?
6. One year from now, what is one thing that I want to say, wow - I'm proud I [insert word here] did this. [Examples of words: accomplished, completed, did, did not do]
7. What words resonate with me right now - that give me power or that ground me, that just feel good.

How about you? Have you tried “intention setting” for a year, rather than setting resolutions? What were your results when you did that? As we move into this new year, how can you be kind to yourself and set intentions and focal points to guide you throughout the year as a leader, as a worker, as a CEO, as a parent, as a friend, as an aunt/uncle, whatever roles you have in your life - to help guide you as you move forward. But remember, it’s not a new you. It’s just you being more of you over time.

For me, as you can see, I landed on the phrase, "Health, wealth, happiness & peace." This has resulted in some BIG goals for my 2023. Goals that I have broken down into quarterly and monthly goals, with weekly actions and tracking to help me stay on track. Goals that I am focused on in order to help me achieve great health, wealth in all its forms (family, friends, financial, freedom, health, a life that serves others and myself, etc.), happiness and peace. I look forward to sharing more about these goals over this year.

Wishing you a healthy, happy 2023 where you know more joy and fun, you realize that you are amazing (if you don’t know it already), and you create a life you love. Reach out to me if I can be helpful to you in any of your endeavors!

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