Intention Check In

Let me start by saying I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. To those of you who are, nothing against it. I believe if you catch momentum in October and start a project because you’re ready and able, don’t wait for January to start. However, I do look at the new year as an invitation to take inventory, reflect on the last 12 months as a whole. Taking inventory is where I pause and take a look at my life. Am I living out the things that matter most to me? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to be? Do I like the way my life is going, do I have peace, do I have joy? I go through the different areas of my life like mental and physical health, financial, relationships, spirituality, and life’s work. Then I rate on a scale of 1-10 where am I in my categories? What areas of my life could use a little more/less of my time? 

Part of taking inventory is checking in on my intentions. Why am I doing the things I’m doing?

Checking in on my intentions has been a huge help for me because I used to get so stuck in setting goals. But oftentimes I would get stuck because I had vague goals. For example, a goal like ‘make a certain amount of money because I would be happier or “better off”’. It wasn’t until I started asking myself, “what is my intention?”, that goal setting became more desirable. 

The word intend means to “direct one’s attention to or to have a purpose” 
May I invite you to do a check-in on your intentions? Sometimes we get so caught up in routines that we forget why we started to begin with and then years go by and we realize we haven’t actually put time into the very thing we “intended” to. Checking in with our intentions helps to set clearer, more defined goals which then leads to execution. 

For example, If I had an intention to be of service to families experiencing confusion about the changes the pandemic has caused in their lives, I can set a goal to contact one family a week and personally check- in with them by making a call. 

Intentions are powerful, so as I said personally, I’m not here for big New Years’ goals, what I am here for is useful tools. Intention check-ins have been a great tool for me to keep in tune with what I want and who I want to be in this life. Circumstances may not be always ideal, but with clear intentions, new creative ideas will spring forth to manifest the very thing your heart intends to. I did a reset upon approaching the new year and cleaned up some of my intentions for the next 12 months, set some new ones, but mostly brought clarity to my mind on where to focus my attention in the year ahead.

Cheers to clarity and honest intentions. We got this, one step at a time.