At the suggestion of a good friend, I decided to try an exercise to set an intention for the New Year. I don’t typically do New Year resolutions, but the last two years have changed how I view them. Historically, I considered them:
- Grandiose
- Unmemorable
- Trivial
- Unrelated to what is actually important day-to-day activities
- Fade over time
- Annoying
- Useless
(I invite you to add to this list…😄)
Last year, I went through a coach-led workshop that had us look at different areas and aspects of our lives. We were challenged to write down our current status and choose an area of focus based on where we wanted to effect change. We were then asked to name a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) goal, AND the way(s) of knowing that the goal was achieved.
Next, we were asked to break down the steps to achieving the goal, list potential roadblocks, and were given tools to work through these.
I just looked at my notes from that workshop and couldn’t believe my eyes – I had achieved both goals I had written down!
And these were stretch goals for me! I was pushing myself hard
- Build a circle of friends that I could turn to in time of need
- Play music with others (I had been learning drums on my own since 2021 and wanted to play in a band)
And I am astounded to say that these goals have been met! I am now going to regular band practice sessions every Sunday night and have a wonderful circle of dear friends – some new and some old and most importantly, friends I can count on when I am in need.
So, for this year, with a bit of coaxing, I agreed to another New Year’s exercise.
It was very different from last year’s exercise. This year’s exercise was an intention setting exercise with a more spiritual nature.
- Write down 13 intentions on small slips of paper and fold them up
- Burn 1 to 2 a day ahead of New Year’s Day (ideally start Dec 20th and burn one slip per day).
- Then, on New Year’s Day, read the one that is left. This is the one that will need your attention and energy. The others will be left in the trust of whatever spiritual entity you believe in (I will call it the “Universe”)
I love that word “intention”…I asked chatGPT to give me the dictionary meaning of the word. It defined it using the word “resolve” or intend. Clearly not what I was “intending” ;). But then the summary, which I liked, is as follows: what someone means to do and the mental purpose guiding their actions. But it takes the absoluteness away and gives you a direction to follow rather than a declaration to live up to.
I think it is more than just mental purpose. It is the emotional motivation behind that purpose. It is the intrinsic desire to reach for a particular goal without the judgement of failure.
Digging deeper, the term “New Year’s Resolution” fills me with anxiety…What if I fall short? What if I can’t keep the resolution, or fail to achieve it? This would make me a failure…wooof. Why would I ever want to make and state a resolution? I may as well admit defeat at the onset!
While “resolution” is inflexible and sets a high bar, “intention”, on the other hand, well that’s a softer more forgiving concept…OK, so I set a target and work towards it? I can make progress and that’s good enough? I can handle that!
So I decided to participate in the exercise.
On Dec 20th, I wrote down my 13 intentions on individual slips of paper. I carefully took these hand-written slips and folded them so that I couldn’t tell them apart and placed them in a bag. I reached in and pulled the first one, placed it on foil paper on a dish, and put a lighter to it. It took a couple of seconds and the slip of paper was reduced to ash.
I did this same thing for the next 11 days through New Years Eve and on the morning of New Years day, I eagerly pulled out the last of the pieces of paper.
In order to make this feel a bit more spiritual, I took a moment to thank the Universe for accepting and taking care of the intentions that had been sent up and I no longer needed to worry about. And I unfolded the paper in my hand to reveal the one item that I needed to put my energy and focus towards – “Making Todo Lists for my day and week”!
So why am I so excited about this outcome? A week before I started the intention exercise, I was sitting with a friend and colleague discussing what 2026 will look like for our businesses and what challenges we have. He mentioned how much he relies on lists and uses them effectively to communicate with his business partner. My reaction was to describe how much I have disliked personal todo lists and how resistant I am to trying them out, yet again. After a 15 minute conversation, he convinced me to give the process another try…and so I added that item to my list of 13. And here I am, staring at the slip of paper with the Universe calling me to adopt a renewed commitment to lists! If you want to hear more on my past challenges with lists and my process of re-introducing them into my workflow, please look for my next blog article! I hope you find my journey useful…let me know in the comments!