Happy First Tuesday of 2023!!

I have a question for you. Do you set intentions for the upcoming year OR do you like to make resolutions?

Why am I asking and what is the difference?

Intentions are a focus for your energy and growth for the year. It might be something you want to learn or perhaps what you would like to experience more of. You might set an intention for experiencing more joy. It is a very broad possibility and could apply to any and all areas of life.

Resolutions tend to be focused on resolving a breakdown or stopping a bad behavior, something that hasn’t worked in the past year. You might have noticed in 2022 a habit of sleeping in and skipping your workouts. So you set a resolution in 2023 to become fit and an early riser. See more specific and measurable.

I tend to do a combination of setting an intention by choosing a word (or words) for the year and then doing a bit of goal setting. The one distinction I make from simply making resolutions is that my goals are focused on the intention I have set.

I would love to share with you a simple exercise for discovering your intention for the upcoming year. If you are game, read on.

Take a moment to get comfy. Get your journal handy. Relax and get ready to visualize.

Take a moment to picture yourself in your happy place. Take some deep breaths and allow yourself to sink into the picture in your mind. Your happy place might be somewhere you have been only once. It might be a place that you visit every day. It could be your favorite spot to relax in your home or it might be about the person sitting next to you. Allow yourself to be transported mind, body, heart, and spirit to that place right now. See what you see. Feel what you feel. Hear what you hear when you are there in that place where you feel most at home and happy.

How is your body responding to being in that place? What emotions do you feel being in that place? What thoughts or lack of thoughts do you have when you are there? Soak it up and take it in.

Now bring yourself back to the present moment. What if I told you that the special place you visualized and the experience you have there is more about the energy you generate than the place itself? Just imagine that perhaps you could recreate that energy in any moment in anyplace, so you could transport your being to that experience. I want you to take a moment and ask yourself the following questions about that energy:

  1. What is a word to describe how you felt there?
  2. What is a word to describe how you relate to yourself there?
  3. What is a word to describe how you relate to the world around you there?
  4. What are words that you could use to describe having more of this energy in your life on the daily?
  5. From all of those words, what words feel, sound, or written down look most aligned with you for an intention worth setting for the new year?
  6. YOU HAVE AN INTENTION
  7. Last step – what are some goals could you create that would support you fulfilling that intention? They can be in any area of your life that is important.

Now to connect the dots. What if you could create an intention to have more of that energy in your life on a regular basis versus having to wait to be seated at the beach?

Here are the notes from me doing the exercise:

My happy place is seated watching and listening to the ocean crash while my hubby and I just be together. I feel relaxed and happy. I am present. I am open and curious about the world around me.  If I choose words to describe having more of that energy of my “happy place” present in my life, the words would be magic, presence, gratitude, love, joy, and peace. The words that felt, looked, and sounded most aligned were Magic and Gratitude.

Goals that feel most aligned with my intention and that would support fulfilling my intentions.

  1. Invent and Plan out 5 Creative Projects for the year (Fun stuff)
  2. Date Nights with people I love (Hubby and others)
  3. Use time off for nurturing my health, wellbeing, and joy
    • Yoga at least once in my weekly movement plan
    • Body Work monthly
  4. Delegate small tasks to my team and focus my energy in Simple Spirit on content creation, working with my clients, and finishing the book.

The list above is not exhaustive by any means, but I wanted to share what I created so you could see an example. Please feel free to comment below and let me know how the visualization goes and what you learn.

A Bright New Years Blessings to You!