Intentions For 2020 Versus Resolutions
Do you usually make New Year resolutions to improve your life? Resolutions are linked to achieving specific goals such as eating healthier, losing weight or saving money. They’re often about something that is missing from your life and at the very least, they tend to focus on what you feel is wrong in your life and how you’d prefer not to feel. Make intentions for 2020 instead.
Why Intentions?
On the surface, intentions may seem similar to resolutions as they’re all about intent to become the best possible version of you. There are some big differences too though. Intentions are internal and unlike a resolution, there’s no end goal with an intention. Think of it more as a journey towards a certain way of being and what you need more of in your life. It’s much more likely to involve a part of your attitude or mindset that needs to change to bring out the best in yourself and change how you feel.
Let’s take weight loss as an example. With a New Year resolution, you might resolve to lose ten pounds. With a New Year intention, you might put the focus on eating nutritious, healthy and nourishing foods that feed your body from the inside out. Weight loss might happen in both scenarios but with an intention, your self-care eating habits will continue as a lifestyle and not just a short term goal.
Examples of intentions for 2020
These include happiness, self-compassion, gratitude, simplicity, embracing life, self-love, courage and being open to new experiences. If you’re prone to being self-critical and always on the go, you may choose self-love and simplicity as your New Year intentions, for example.
There’s none of the pressure that often comes with resolutions, which is one reason why setting intentions is a lot more likely to be successful compared to resolutions. Are you super excited to get started on setting New Year intentions for 2020?
Find Your Intentions For 2020
We are kicking things off with finding your intentions. You may know exactly what you want to set as your New Year intentions but don’t worry if you don’t. You can tap into your mind to guide you in finding your intentions and this is a good idea even if you think you already know what intentions you’ll be setting for 2020.
To do this effectively, you need to quieten your mind so that your intuition can speak to you. Get this right and your intuition will tell you exactly what intentions you should focus on for the coming year. You might be surprised at the results but trust your intuition to let you know what your true intentions should be, even if they’re nothing like the resolutions you might have set yourself.
TASK TIME! Meditation can help you to find your passion if it doesn’t come to mind easily. Sit up straight and spend a few minutes checking in with yourself and your breathing. Once you feel ready, ask yourself what you’re motivated to change in the coming year. Whatever answers your mind throws up, just let it wash over you and ask yourself for a second time. I’d love to hear what direction your mind guides you in!
Visualise Your Intentions
Now we’re going to look at how to visualize your intentions. The basic idea here is that you “see” yourself as you hope to be in 2020.
Doing this can be very powerful for aligning yourself with your intentions. You don’t need to limit this to just a one-off visualisation … make visualisation a daily ritual that helps you on your way to making your New Year intentions a reality.
Here are some tips for visualising your New Year intentions:
Find a quiet, comfortable place and sit with your eyes closed.
Spend a little while clearing your mind of any thoughts. Deep breathing exercises can help with this.
Say your intention out loud.
Visualize one of your intentions and imagine yourself putting it into motion. Focus on how it makes you feel and other effects on your senses. Drill really deep down into exactly how you’ll be and visually walk yourself through what you’ll be doing to meet your intentions. Don’t be afraid to get super specific with the details of your visualization.
As you visualize, allow yourself to feel thankful and grateful for the life you’re living.
Try to keep your breathing even throughout. Imagine that every single breath is acting as fuel for making your intentions happen.
If you’re setting multiple intentions, you might find it easier to visualize them one at a time so that it’s not as overwhelming.
TASK TIME! Set aside a few minutes to do some visualisation work for each of your New Year intentions.
Affirmations For Your Intentions
Now we are talking about positive affirmations for your intentions. These can be incredibly powerful for helping your unconscious mind to start to turn your intentions into reality.
What goes into creating an affirmation? They’re in the present tense, very clear and always positive. “I will” and “I am” works a lot better than “I should” or “I’d like to…”, for example. Keep it simple and fairly short for impact.
An affirmation isn’t something that you will do at some point in the future; it’s something that you’re doing right now. The present tense is super important for helping to create a behaviour.
For example, let’s say you’re trying to express gratitude. Your affirmation may be along the lines of “I feel blessed for all of the good things in my life.”
Affirmations work best when they’re repeated on a regular basis.
Come up with some ideas for affirmations relating to your intentions.
TASK TIME! Remember to keep it positive and super clear. Pick a time of day to dedicate to affirmations and it can quickly become a habit. You might decide to say your affirmations first thing in the morning or while you’re brushing your teeth, for example. The exact timing isn’t so important … just as long as you get yourself into the habit of repeating affirmations at least once per day.
Vision Board For Your Intentions In 2020
Now we’re looking at creating vision boards around your intention. This can be super important for helping to reinforce your intentions in your mind. And once you’ve finished creating your vision board, put it up somewhere prominent to keep reminding you of your intentions.
A few things you’ll need for creating your vision board:
- A4 paper (or a poster board, if you want to go all out!)
- Magazines that cover the kind of areas your intentions fall into so you can use images from them
- A printer to print out any pictures on line which resonate with you
Once you’re ready to get started, don’t dive straight in. Spend some time on mindfulness or meditation, with your attention on your breath. Immerse yourself fully in the present moment before you start setting your intention out loud and starting to select your images and try to stay in the present.
It’s super important to go with the images you’re drawn to, even if your inner critic tries to guide you in another direction.Top tip – If you don’t find images in magazines or on line that truly represent your intentions and you’re feeling creative, have a go at drawing your own images.
TASK TIME! What kind of images represent your intentions? Start collecting some of the images that will easily remind you of your intentions and put together a vision board that you can put in a prominent location.
Have fun working out what intentions will set you on the way so you can have an amazing year. Let me know how you get on.
For more ways to have an amazing 2020 see my blog ‘2020 Make It A Year Of Happiness’. https://www.lynleyclarkwellness.co.nz/2020-make-it-a-year-of-happiness/
