Forget New Year’s resolutions — do this instead!

Setting myself up for success with intentions instead of resolutions

I’ve never been one for resolutions. Not because I don’t believe in them, but because I don’t stick to them. I’m better at intensely committed bursts instead of doing anything over a year. Instead, what I’ve been more successful at for the long haul, is creating intentions. I also share these with a couple of friends that do the same, which feels even more inspiring. This is only my third year doing this, so it’s new still…but I love it. 

How I set my intentions:
› I choose 3 words that summarize my intentions for the year
› Then define what that word means to me 
› Then write out how I will actualize the intention

This year, I added the stop, start, and continue model for the actualization piece, which I’ve always found really effective when revising a project with the team at the end.

Peace 
Make space to create peace in my body, mind, and heart.
Start creating time and space for meditation, walks, yoga, exercise, writing, art — anything that helps bring me peace. 
Stop prioritizing everything else over my own health and well-being.
Continue to work on living in the moment, being grateful for what the present brings, and not only focusing on the future. 

Courage
Find the courage to create the life I want. 
Start taking leaps of faith in myself to achieve my goals and desires.
Stop letting fear hold me back from doing what I want to do. 
Continue carving out a path that makes me happy. 

Commitment
Create disciplines or practices to help me stay committed to what matters to me most. 
Start sticking with the things I want to stick with, even when difficult. 
Stop making myself feel bad when I let go of the things I want to let go of when they are not serving me.
Continue finding ways to create healthy habits that help me stay committed to my goals.

Setting your team and yourself up for success is vital in feeling good about your work and keeping the momentum going. Instead of creating resolutions that I couldn’t stick to and feeling bad about it. This framework gives me guardrails to work within without adding another to-do list to my already very full plate.