Happy 2024! We are well on our way, and I am already feeling the days slipping by too fast. How about you? Did you set any New Year resolutions? How are you doing? Already blown that diet? Rain or snow forced you to rethink the daily workout you promised yourself? Finding it difficult to fit meditation or yoga in with family demands? You are not alone! No matter my resolve, my New Year resolutions rarely make it past January.
Intention Instead of Resolution
A friend recently sent me an article suggesting that instead of setting New Year resolutions, set New Year intentions. What’s the difference? Intentions, the article explained, “are broader and encompass multiple areas of life”. For example, instead of resolving to walk 10,000 steps every day, set the intention to live a healthier life. That might include exercise, but it certainly could also include eating habits, time with family and friends, and meditation or whatever you do to recharge.
An intention to advance your career might start with an evaluation of what excites you about your job. What do you value about what you do? Then you might decide to find a mentor or expand your network, attend seminars to broaden your knowledge, or volunteer to lead a project. On the other hand, you might decide it is time to make a career change.
How to Set Intentions
Since intentions may be a new concept, the article suggests a good place to start is to make a list of your top five values and five things you enjoy. For example, these are five things I value:
- Family and friends
- Spirituality
- Health
- Helping People
- Nature
Five things I enjoy:
- Getting together with family and friends
- Spending time in nature
- Expanding my knowledge
- Listening to music
- Writing!
Now think of ways that you can combine your lists. The article suggests that you write a few sentences using the present tense as if you’re already doing these things. For example:
- I am sharing time in nature with friends/family.
- I am finding new ways to stimulate my mind.
- I am taking time to recharge.
Before I retired, I would have focused on ways to value “helping people” through activities for and with my clients. Now I write blogs and promote my book, a beginner’s guide to investing. I combine helping people with my passion for writing.
Keep your lists in a place where you can see them regularly and remind yourself of your intentions for 2024. I really like the idea that intentions help to “guide actions from a gentle, compassionate place — instead of a place of enforcement.”
Beverly J Bowers, CFP®
