It’s almost the New Year. You know what that means… blah blah blah resolutions, blah blah blah get healthier, blah blah blah.

For a long time, I was resistant to making New Year’s resolutions. It was mainly because I don’t love doing things that everyone else is doing. Ha. So I just did my own thing and didn’t set resolutions.

But in the past two years, I’ve really focused on setting regular intentions. I usually do this monthly, on the new moon (although I’m human—I miss like every other moon cycle or just don’t do it because I’m too busy). So even just taking time to set intentions about six times a year has been hugely transformational.

And it’s so yummy and exciting to set intentions for the new year! I don’t set resolutions. I set intentions.

What Is The Difference Between An Intention And A Goal?

I often get asked what is the difference between an intention and a goal or a resolution. Honestly, it’s whatever works for you. For me, an intention is a way that I want to BE, not a thing that I want to achieve. Therefore, it’s completely within my control.

For example, losing 10 pounds is not necessarily within your control because you can eat healthy and exercise and you still might not lose that weight. So if weight and body issues were something I wanted to set an intention around, I might say: “I will ask myself what would make my body feel good before I eat.”

I also like to think about how I’d like to show up. What kind of person am I? How can I express this to the world? For me, this is something that I can’t really pull up with words. I need to meditate on it, almost like I’m watching a movie in my head. In this movie, I can separate the part of me that is the outside observer—the “Me” who is always alert whether I’m awake or sleeping, the nonjudgmental “me” who simply exists without opinion or power or fear.

And then I can bring up the part of me that lives in this world, that reacts to emotions, that is full of insecurities yet full of power. And I watch her as she takes shape and shows up as the woman who she is supposed to be.

These are the steps that I usually take when I set intentions for the new year:

  1. Brain dump some thoughts about my desires (using my Intention-Setting Journal)
  2. Meditate on how I want to show up
  3. Brainstorm some more (working through the journal), coming up with a clear intention
  4. Write some mantras surrounding that intention

What Can Happen For You If You Set Intentions For The New Year?

Setting intentions is more than a way to work toward your goals. It’s a way to:

  • Tap into your deepest desires
  • Explore your fears and bring them to light (which helps release them AND prevent them from blocking your intention)
  • Align your subconscious with your conscious thought so that you’re not fighting against yourself to get what you want

Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail (And Why You Should Start An Intention-Setting Practice Instead)

New Year’s resolutions are notorious bummers. Something like 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. Honestly, I think we’ve gotten to a point where we’ve subconsciously linked the term “resolution” with the word “fail,” and we’re subliminally sabotaging ourselves from the get-go.

But another reason why your New Year’s resolutions don’t often pan out is because you don’t believe them. We feel like it’s important to create grand, sweeping goals on the new year. After all, we’re setting our sights on an entire 12 months of time. This should be big, right?

And dreaming big IS hugely important. We need to use our imaginations more often and meditate on the big picture because we really can have anything that we want.

Except we can’t just jump into it without practice. Would you hang glide off a cliff without taking some practice jumps first? Nope.

Intention setting works the same way. If you jump past the baby steps and set a grand intention, you’re not going to believe that you can achieve it. You’re going to constantly feel friction, you’ll live out of alignment, and you’ll feel icky. And you’ll be disappointed when your intention doesn’t pan out.

So how the frick do you create intentions that stick, that resonate, that are in alignment, and that help you FLOW?

Set Intentions For the New Year With Me As Your Guide

This Sunday morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’m going to be jumping on Facebook Live in the MYP Powerhouse Collective group to go through an intention-setting process with you. Bring a paper and pen, because we’re going to create YOUR intention. Together.

And then I’m going to talk about how to baby-step your intentions so that you have a regular practice that shifts you into alignment ALL THE TIME. I’ll use the intentions that YOU CREATE in real time to help you figure out how to break your overarching vision into smaller pieces that you actually believe in.

And then I’ll set you free to ring in 2019 in total alignment with who you are and who you want to be.