Happy New Year!
We’ve made it through the Christmas madness and a fresh year lies ahead of us. You’ll hear me talk a lot about intentions, especially at this time of the year. So, I thought I would discuss why I prefer to focus on intentions rather than resolutions at the start of a new year.
For me, intentions are much broader, they reflect the life you want to manifest and live by. Intentions are softer, often come from a place of kindness, and tend to be something you want to work towards and cultivate.
For example, an intention could be to cultivate more joy, or to allow yourself more rest, to make self-care a priority or to find more balance in life. Intention setting is generally done in a much more mindful way, often after a period of reflection, which can make them be more personal.
Resolutions on the other hand often are hard and fast goals that are either achieved or not. The definition of resolution is ‘a firm decision to do or not to do something’. That doesn’t exactly feel very warm or welcoming does it! Resolutions tend to be focused on the things we don’t like, which often is something about ourselves. And because of that our resolution can easily be turned into fuel for negative self-talk.
I prefer to focus on what we can cultivate and do more of to make us live happier, more joyful and balanced lives. Resolutions, goals and change mean nothing if they are not true to us.
So, I will keep talking about intentions and encourage you to approach them from a place of self-kindness and ease. It might be that as you work towards you intention, it changes slightly or even it’s no longer relevant. And that’s ok! We are wonderful, unique beings so what we want from life will be different for us all!
So, how can you approach this new year with more intention, rather than resolution?
Maybe consider 1 or 2 intentions you can take forward into the new year that will help you live more true to you.
New Year Journaling Prompts:
What do you want to cultivate more of in your life?
Is there anything you want to let go of?
What do you want to do for joy this year?
What one thing will you focus on positively changing over the next 12 months?
