New Year Intentions

According to USA.gov, the top resolutions year after year are:

• Drink Less Alcohol
• Eat Healthy Food
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Lose Weight
• Manage Debt
• Manage Stress
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Save Money
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others

Even though I am a girl who finds Silver Linings (pretty much everywhere!), it seems as if many New Year’s resolutions are flawed from the start, destined to fail. The resolutions are too enormous, the behaviors too ingrained, the thinking too negative. I’m just sayin’…

I am, however, a person who loves new beginnings and clean slates. I tend to look at them proactively rather than defensively which is why I prefer setting intentions for a new year rather than resolutions. Potato – PotAto, I know. But I believe in the power of a word and  I find the word “resolution” to be somewhat pejorative and/or slightly defensive whereas “intention” seems to be motivating and inspiring. It’s just how I roll.

So, the HOTY (still the Husband of The Year…3 years running!) and I decided to set our intentions together because a) whatever we do individually will impact us as a couple and b) there is more accountability when we set intentions together.

I also believe that if an intention is too vague, it is hard to measure whether you’ve been keeping it. In other words, I like to set an intention and then identify the measurements by which the intention will be met.

When it comes to setting intentions, I like to document them. Good ol’ fashioned pen and paper. When I was in nursing school, one of the things that was ingrained in my training was that “If you don’t write something down, it didn’t happen.” So, the HOTY and I went to the beach and wrote. And wrote.

And can I tell you what a Silver Lining it was to the start of the new year? We all have an incredible opportunity to create a life for ourselves that only we can design. I hope that you are able to fulfill whatever dreams and wishes that you have for this new year.

Our intention creates our reality.

-Wayne Dyer