(2 minute read)
With the start of 2021, and following an uncertain 2020, many people decided to make some form of New Year’s resolution.
Popular resolutions include eating healthier, exercising, losing weight, or reading more. As identified in these examples, resolutions usually target one element of your life and aim to address a flaw or undesirable behaviour that you see in yourself – something that requires repair or removal.
In direct contrast to this, an intention is a holistic idea of how you want to live. Intentions can be viewed more as a quest for living a life that aligns with your values. In this manner, intentions can initiate and drive actions and decisions in chosen aspects of your life.
While a resolution can make a change in one aspect of your life, an intention can create a larger, and longer lasting, impact to your whole self.
The process of setting intentions can be achieved via journaling or dedicating time for planning and exploring what you’d like to achieve in the coming month/year ahead. The upside here is the opportunity to align the thoughts from your head with the desire of your heart. (Among other things, it is the proactive nature of setting intentions that sets them apart from a more reactive process of setting resolutions.)
Applying your Intention.
Intentions should not be viewed as a replacement for goal setting. They can complement your goal-setting process, allowing you to have more ambitious and meaningful goals.
An example of an intention could include a commitment to more discretionary effort – doing the extra things which can make a big difference. When applied to your career, this can allow you access to opportunities you may otherwise overlook. In a family situation, you may take on the role of coordinating key family functions and keeping connected with distant relatives. Where your health and wellbeing are concerned, your intention of discretionary effort can encourage you to tackle more challenging exercise routines and make healthier dietary decisions.
Setting intentions can prove to be the blueprint we all need to act with greater purpose and intent – and you won’t need to wait for the New Year to begin.