Hello, and welcome to this brand new year. I think this year has a certain unique advantage of being automatically loved and glorified simply because all of us have faith that it will bring a very necessary reprieve from the heaviness of the past year. Though there is certainly something to be said about the fresh start of a new January and the inherent hope this brings for a bright new beginning, I think it is so important to enter a new year with consciousness and purpose. Always, but especially in 2021.   We don’t want to enter the new year with our eyes closed, our arms raised, and hoping for the best. Instead, we want to arm ourselves with some tools and practices that will help us stay afloat even if the waters get deep again.

2020 probably surprised you with how resilient and strong you actually are; don’t let that become a distant memory or something you reserve for the truly terrible times. If you entered 2020 with certain practices and self-serving systems in place, you probably at one point in the year felt deeply grateful to your past self for integrating those into your life when you did; they likely felt like your anchors at times. And if you did not, you probably noticed how challenging it was to choose the right thing and take care of yourself the way you truly needed to when you weren’t used to doing that.

Having a self-care practice or a creativity practice or a joy practice is infinitely more powerful and beneficial when it is a part of your life always, not just when things are falling apart.

And so, intentions. For me, intention setting is my way of taking inventory of the past year, taking an honest look at what worked and what did not, and then seeing how I can integrate these lessons into the new year. It’s a sacred practice and something that helps me enter the new year feeling grounded and stable. Intentions won’t help you control the events of your life or guarantee you will never face a struggle, but they will hold and guide you. They will lead you back to center when you inevitably get knocked off balance. They will be a constant reminder that you can always choose again, start again.

Each year, I look forward to sitting down with my journal on the first of January, lighting a candle, playing some gentle music, and choosing my intentions for the new year. I invite you to make your intention-setting as special and as personalized as possible; it is not just something you *should* do because the wellness community does, but rather an offering from yourself to yourself. Only you know which specific intentions will best serve you in the coming year, and I encourage you to dig deep and choose ones that your heart calls you toward, ones that something inside of you knows you would benefit and grow from.

Before I share my 2021 intentions with you all, I want to quickly touch on my top intention-setting tips, as I do have many years of experience with the practice. These tips will not only help you choose the intentions that will truly serve you and contribute to your most positive evolution in the coming year, but they will help you keep those intentions in your mind and heart throughout the entire year. Intentions only work when you consistently check back in with them and remain honest with yourself about where you aren’t honoring the commitments you made. 

I should also note that throughout the year, our intentions may shift. Sometimes we think an intention will serve us, and it does for a while, but then we discover that we need to modify that commitment if we want to actually stick with it. This is not a set it and forget it process; it’s a dance that requires, first and foremost, a willingness to listen to yourself and honor what comes up.

Even though we’re a few days from January 1st now, it is never too late to set your intentions. Sometimes we need a few days to settle into the new year and allow for some residual processing of the old year so we can let it go and move confidently ahead. So whenever you are feeling ready, grab your journal or a pen and paper, settle in, get comfortable, and connect.

 

How to Set Intentions That Will Serve You and That You’ll Stick To

Look back on the previous year

I know, I know, many of us probably want to totally forget 2020 existed. In fact, I’m seeing a new cultural/social media trend of basically “canceling” 2020 and refusing to talk about it at all. And I have many thoughts on cancel culture, but here’s why I think this is particularly detrimental to setting the right intentions for 2021.

You must take time for reflection on the past so you can integrate the positive growth aspects and release what no longer serves you in the new year. By simply “deleting” 2020, you risk missing some truly valuable seeds for growth that are planted in every challenging time. And I know it can be extremely painful to linger on some of those memories; 2020 was a HARD year, no doubt about it. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that it was also full of opportunities. For growth, for change, for learning. Take the time to answer these questions about 2020, either in a journal or just in your mind. Don’t skip this step; it is absolutely crucial for moving on and not staying stuck in the past.

 

1. What did I learn about myself in 2020?

2. What did I learn about others, about my friends, family, community, or environment?

3. What did 2020 teach me to be grateful about?

4. What lessons do I want to carry with me out of 2020?

5. What do I want to release and leave behind in 2020?

 

Set Your Intentions

Now that you’ve given 2020 its due diligence, you are ready to move into 2021 with an open heart and a fresh perspective. The questions you answered about 2020 will guide the intentions you set for the new year, ensuring that you are constantly evolving and that the lessons of the past year are not forgotten and left in the dust.

Now different people set different kinds of intentions; some like more concrete, actionable goals, while others (like myself) more so prefer guiding principles. I love having certain mantras or words that I choose for the new year, as these end up guiding my decisions and actions and allow me to ensure my reality is in alignment with my desires. So here are some questions to help spur on some intentions.

 

1. What words do I want to guide this year for me? Take some time to meditate on this question, and just see what comes up. We’re looking for words such as abundance, passion, love, trust, surrender, release, integrity, balance, flow, etc. Listen to your heart, and come up with 1-3 guiding words.

2. What new habits do I want to integrate into my life, and how will these serve me?

3. What practices or commitments will support me in reaching all my goals and dreams this year?

4. What habits, people, situations do I want to guide myself away from?

5. Who do I want to be, and what do I want my life to look like one year from now? (This is the heart of manifestation. You want to visualize the reality you desire, know that it IS possible, and FEEL what this reality would be like. From there, you can figure out how that person you are visualizing is living their life on a daily basis. What are they doing? What are they not doing? How do they react and respond to tough situations? How do they make time for what’s important? Feel these answers, and build your intention around what comes up.

 

Make Your Intentions Stick

Now that you hopefully have some ideas for your 2021 intentions, it’s important to ask yourself if you can really see yourself sticking with these intentions. Get really honest; this isn’t the time for BS. By setting intentions that aren’t actually right for us or that don’t support our vision for our evolution, we self-sabotage ourselves and ensure that we make commitments we will not honor. This can lead to debilitating feelings of guilt and inadequacy that will rock your faith in your ability to follow through. In reality, you had simply set the wrong intentions and just need to reassess and pivot toward a truer place. Sometimes we write down things that we *think* we *should* because it’s what we’ve seen other people say, or it feels like the kind of thing people start their year off with. This is okay, but start catching yourself when you are not being true to yourself and are catering to expectations or pressures outside of yourself.

Trust that by setting intentions that are right for YOU, you will be an infinitely more powerful force in your own life and in the world.

So look at each of your intentions, and ask yourself these questions about each one. Remember, an honest assessment is key.

 

1. Is this intention for my highest good? Is it in alignment with who I want to be a year from now?

2. Am I setting this intention for ME or for someone outside myself? (Listen to your heart on this one)

3. When I imagine my life following this intention, do I feel a sense of freedom (an openness and expansion in my body) or do I feel stifled (a constriction and closing in the body)?

 

After asking yourself these questions, it should be quite clear which intentions are the winners and which need to be modified or scrapped entirely. With time, you can become so attuned to your inner voice that you get your intentions just right from the first attempt. But for now, it’s okay if you need to refine and edit your list 3, 4, 5, 10 times. It is the very practice of consistently honoring your truth and getting back to what feels right that builds your relationship with your intuition and inner trust.

My Intentions for 2021

I will now share some of my personal intentions for this new year with you. I won’t go too deeply into them, as I think intentions are meant to be quite personal, but I think it’s helpful to give you some examples of true intentions that came straight from my heart after dedicating some time to reflection and dreaming.

 

1. Follow Your Joy – This lesson consistently echoed back to me in 2020 (as I talked about in my 2020 recap post), and I know it will serve me in the new year. I want to be more unapologetic in going after what makes me happy and trust that using my joy as a compass will not lead me astray.
2. Practice compassion toward yourself and others – 2020 taught me some valuable lessons about relationships and the importance of showing love and compassion, particularly in challenging times or when conflicts emerge. It also taught me the importance of being gentle with myself and giving myself authentic self-love that comes from truly tuning in and feeling out what I need in each new moment.
3. Seek alignment between my goals/dreams and my reality – This means only taking on opportunities or doing things that are in alignment with what my ultimate goals are. It means not settling for less than what I feel I deserve and listening closely to my heart when it’s gently urging me not to go down the comfortable, well-paved path. It means taking some risks, getting a bit uncomfortable, and trusting that the universe has my back.

 

And that’s it! I really hope this post will inspire you to set some (true and right) intentions for your 2021, or to reassess the ones you might have already set. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments (or shoot me an email!). I love you all, and I wish you a most magical and beautiful 2021.