New Year New Intention
As the new year starts many people make resolutions that may or may not stick. Instead of a list of rules and restrictions, I prefer to reflect on what my intention might be for the year. An intention is ‘an idea you plan to carry out.’ It feels a bit more fluid and forgiving and less punitive if I don’t follow it perfectly. An intention can be a reset that helps remind me what’s important, what I value, and what I want to continue to stand for and pursue in the coming year. James Redfield, author of ‘The Celestine Prophecy’ was quoted as saying, ‘Where attention flows, energy goes.’ That can be said as intention as well; where intention goes, energy flows. It is noted that it can be helpful to not focus on the outcome. Getting out too far ahead of an intention (or even a goal) can feel intimidating and overwhelming whereas keeping the idea in mind with smaller actionable steps may help move the needle farther and with less friction than trying to make leaps and bounds.
In setting an intention, there are some interesting and helpful practices out there that can remind someone what is important and keep them focused on how to spend their time and energy. Jo Saxton, a leadership coach among many other titles, has a yearly practice of ‘hello/goodbye.’ She has a framing of looking back on the previous year, the good and bad and seeing what one needs to let go of, say goodbye to. In the practice of this release, it can allow a person to free up space that can create opportunity for the things one truly values. This can help a person prepare to look forward to the possibilities of the new year and be intentional about what they may want to ‘say hello’ to .
Brene Brown has a values exercise that I find as a useful tool to refresh myself in what is important to me as I set my intention for the year. There are many things that we value, but when setting an intention that will give shape and meaning to how we live out the next year, reviewing what is important to us can remind us of our foundational beliefs. And making a point of setting an intention (for the day, month, year) can help ground us in a reminder of what we value, what’s important and send us on a more direct path of where we say we want to go, with purpose.
Once I’ve completed my ‘hello and goodbye’ exercise and I’ve reconfirmed what values are top of mind for me at this stage in my life, I’m ready to set my intention. I choose a word that encompasses my intention. It tends to be a word or phrase that resonates with what I’m experiencing in my life and where I want to put time and energy to create change. This year my word is ‘persevere.’ It is a reminder that whatever I am facing or when I come across a road block in the goals I have set for myself, that I can persevere and keep going. The path may not look like what I thought it would, but as long as I continue to put energy towards what I have defined through my practices, then I am still on the right track. It’s when we go through life on autopilot, without intention that we can drift from our values, our goals, our purpose.
When doing these exercises and setting an intention, the act of working things out through writing can be a useful tool. It is a grounding practice that allows us to get out of our heads and put our thoughts down in a tangible way that helps shape and organize what we say is important to us. Writing our goodbye from the previous year and hello to the new as well as putting down on paper what we know in our minds to value help to solidify what’s swirling in our brains and bodies. Also, having a physical symbol of what our intention is (written word, a charm or anchor item such as a rock or piece of jewelry) can help remind us throughout our year the hope and commitment we made to ourselves to start the year. Creating the connection to our intention that is authentic to each of us will ensure it’s strength on impact.
Whether the intention is to persevere or rest, play more or heal, knowing what we value and where we want to go will help us to live each day more fully and on purpose. Here’s to an impactful 2025!