A Fun Way to Set Yearly Intentions
ByI don’t know about you, but I’m not big on goals or setting “New Year’s resolutions.” Somehow setting a goal the typical way, especially with a deadline, ends up being more stressful. (Life always seems to get in the way.) Then, too, it’s discouraging if I don’t meet the goal.
Instead I like to set intentions. Usually it’s just a word or phrase to set the direction, and then I try to stay Aligned and tuned in to God’s direction day by day as I go.
Being a word person, I like to set a little rhyme. Since I just turned ____-five, my rhyme for this birth year is “____-five, the year to thrive.” That is my intention—to thrive no matter what life throws at me.
You can use this approach to look back, or look ahead. ___-four was “the year for more,” and boy was it ever—mostly more stress. But also more insights, deeper ministry and growth; more ideas and plans. Just—more of everything. A full year of both challenges and blessings.
You can also make an intentional rhyme for each year. Though I wanted 2021 to be “the year of fun,” I doubted that would happen and instead dubbed it “the year to be done.” Done with settling my mother’s estate, done with certain dysfunctional relationships, done with my old patterns that weren’t serving me.
And you know what? I did get all those things done. (Though the “done with dysfunctional old patterns” is a work in progress, as that is something no one ever gets done addressing.)
I am dubbing 2022 as “the year to be true.” True to my deepest values, true to my “Touchstone to Alignment,” and dedicated to deciphering what is true about these unprecedented times.
2022: The Year to Be True
What was 2021 for you? What will 2022 be for you? The year for the new? The year to finally do (something you’ve always wanted to)? The year for few (as in, fewer things, commitments, responsibilities)? What about the birth year you’re in?
Set your two intentions, visit them often, and see if it’s easier and more effective than setting New Year’s resolutions. (Studies show people usually don’t end up keeping them past February.)
I’d love to hear what your intentions are! Post a comment. Declaring it publicly somehow gives it more power, so studies show.
And it you would like some help connecting with your Heart to set your intentions, and addressing the heart issues that would keep you from manifesting those intentions, check out my coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com.
My church had a Burning Bowl ceremony on New Year’s Eve. When I wrote down what I wanted to release and reviewed my list, I realized that on some level, I didn’t fully trust God! What a surprise! I’m meditating on “Trust” in the coming days, before I set any intentions. For now, I will state that the year 2022 is the year I trust God.
That’s certainly a good one, Bonnie! What helps me with trust is keeping a “gifts journal,” jotting down the things that felt like gifts, that felt like God was indeed active in my life. Then when it’s not so apparent that he is, I can go back to that. “Never doubt in the darkness what you learned in the light.” (I forget who said that.)