Happy New Year, beautiful!
I want to talk about New Year’s resolutions today. Do you set them? Do you keep them? Did you wake up January 1 wishing you were skinnier and richer and more successful?
I used to be quite diligent with resolutions and goals, setting lofty expectations I would inevitably fail spectacularly to attain. Lose weight and work out every day and never eat sugar! Never speak another cross word to anyone, ever! Double my income! Run a marathon! Knit outfits for the cats and host a party for the queen!
Always. Never. Work harder. Achieve more.
These days, my approach is softer. A whole lot more ease, and surprisingly, a whole lot more success in sticking to them.
First off, I prefer to think of them as New Year’s intentions, rather than resolutions or goals. It signifies a more realistic approach to the way I wish to incite change in my life, not just at New Year’s, but always.
To form a resolution conjures up an image in my mind of a gavel slamming on a desk. It will be this way! It is resolved! There is no room for discussion or error! Now, start pushing!
An intention, on the other hand, feels more organic…it breathes with allowance, ease and heartfelt persistence, rather than pushing and striving and stress.
Maybe it’s just semantics. But then again, words matter.
The old ideas themselves had nice roots. Our New Year’s resolutions seek to make us better people, which means that we care about our health, our impact and our personal and professional growth. What I’m talking about today is perhaps a gentle spin on those old ideas. More ease, less effort. More allowing, less striving.
Care to brainstorm with me?
4 questions to infuse your new year’s intentions with ease
Use these questions to vet your new year’s goals or to create new ones, if you haven’t already. Use them to prompt your thinking, or even better, spend a bit of time journaling your answers.
- What simple, everyday changes can you make that will allow you to enjoy your life more?
- What didn’t work last year, and what changes could you make to help fix it this year?
- What can you do LESS of? What can you delegate, quit, or clear out of your life completely?
- What is your favorite part of your day? Can you amplify that element of your life?
Over to you—what would you like to be new, fresh and different this year? Have you set any intentions yet? Did you achieve what you aimed to last year? Leave a note in the comments!
P.S. If a tidier house is on your list this year, might I suggest Rosy Blu’s ever-so-reasonable cleaning checklist?
