It’s become tradition to make New Year’s resolutions each year and so 2020 won’t be an exception!  New hope of creating change in the coming year.

In theory, it’s a good idea, but it often leaves many people feeling like they’ve failed by the time February comes around. I believe that by setting intentions for 2020 instead of resolutions, you’ll achieve the outcomes you seek.

What are New Year’s resolutions?

The Oxford Dictionary defines New Year’s resolutions as, “a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the New Year.” When people decide to take action and work towards a goal. Some of the most popular resolutions are to:

• Lose weight
• Exercise more
• Eat healthier
• Stop smoking
• Drink less

While it’s good to have goals in life, there are a few reasons why resolutions don’t work! The first is that many people struggle to know how to set proper resolutions and goals. So they choose something they want to do, but they don’t have a plan on how to achieve it and this can lead to failure.  The second is that we tend to view resolutions with an all or nothing mentality. That means the first time we blow our diet or miss a workout we throw our resolution out the window completely; believing we’ve failed, so what’s the point in continuing.

How are intentions different than resolutions?

Unlike resolutions, intention-setting focuses less on goals and more on the journey which leads to certain outcomes. Intentions focus more on internal power and long-term change, whereas resolutions focus more on external—and sometimes, short-lived—rewards.

For example, let’s look at how this works for one of the most commonly set resolutions—losing weight. If you are setting a resolution to lose weight it might be something like, “lose 20 pounds”. However, if you choose to set an intention the weight loss might be a result, but it’s not going to be the main focus. The intention might be something more like, “I’m going to take better care of my mind and body because I’m worth taking care of myself”.

This might mean that you incorporate changes to your eating and exercise habits. The focus is therefore not on losing weight, but becoming fitter and healthier, which will result in weight loss!

Intentions are about reconnecting with our authentic selves. It enables us to reconnect with what we need — mind, body, and spirit.

How to Set Intentions: 

1. Spend time in self-reflection and dig into your why.

The first step to set intentions for 2020 is to spend some time in self-reflection. Your intentions will only come to reality if it’s something that truly matters to you. Think through what areas of your life are the most important to you along with what your priorities and passions are. Your intentions need to align with who you are. What do you want your life to look like and why? What would life be like if those things came to be?

2. Create a statement for your intention.

Once you know what your intentions are going to be you should create a statement around each of them that you can focus on throughout the year. Your thoughts hold a lot of power over what outcomes you will experience in 2020 and beyond.  Once you have your statement, make sure you spend time thinking about it for a short time each day. Focusing on what you want to happen.

3. Release your doubts and negative beliefs.

Once again, your thoughts are powerful. Therefore, it’s important that you work on releasing any doubt or negative thoughts that you have about your intentions. This can be tricky, especially if it’s an area that you set resolutions for and failed in the past. You need to let go of the past and remind yourself you are focusing on intentions, not resolutions now. Again, focus on what you want to happen.

4. Allow your intentions to guide your plans.

Once you have intentions set in place you can use them to determine what actions you want to take in order to achieve them. When you use the intention as the focus it allows you to keep going even if have trouble sticking to the changes or actions you are working on incorporating in your life.

If you need to help to let go of past events, or want help with motivation and a self-esteem/confidence boost, call me Sophia on 07391 295766 for an informal chat

Happy New Year everyone

Wishing you all lots of happiness and health for 2020!