Setting Intentions for a New Year
The end of a year naturally brings time for reflection and new intentions. Whilst I don’t think you ever need to wait for a new year to make changes, it is a time to look back on the last 365 days and not only decipher what patterns are not working for you, but also have gratitude for all the experiences that have shaped you this year (the amazing and the challenging).
I have put together some of the things I am doing to achieve this, and find them very helpful to reset and restrengthen, but they are just some ideas that may be helpful to others as well.
Look at what went right this year, to shift lack to abundance.
Sometimes when looking at past expectations, or new goals, we can feel disheartened that they have not materialised yet. This is why I think it is important to look at what went right this year. Further, look at the things that you personally did right this year - the times you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone, the times you made a positive impact on someone else, the memories made with people you love, and the good choices you made for yourself. What we focus on expands, which is why I think it is important to look at the good things first and foremost. Have appreciation for the good things and the lessons you gained this year to shift your perspective.
Use the hard times from the past year to empower you.
As much as I think it is so important to look at what went right first and foremost, I think it would be a huge disservice to ourselves to not look at the hard points of the year. Not to say we should feel consumed and defeated by them, but look at what we can gain from them. What is the point of going through a hard time or making mistakes if we can’t turn the pain into power? We are all whole people who are doing the best with what we know, so as you look at the hard times, see if you can find forgiveness for other people and for yourself. My nana always says to me the hardest points of your life can be the biggest periods of positive change in the end. Take the lessons as best as you can, and try and release the experience to make space for new joy in this new year.
I also think it can be helpful to look at patterns in yourself that may have held you back this last year. Becoming aware of these things is really so positive, even though it can feel confronting sometimes. Once you are aware, you can make changes, and make steps to new opportunities and the qualities that you want to uphold, so it is really such a positive and empowering thing. Remember, you can’t change what happens to you but you CAN change how you respond - and this is the bit to focus on moving forward into a new year.
Let go of limiting beliefs that have held you back this year.
I have a whole post on limiting beliefs with regard to body image that I would definitely recommend if you want something more specific, but I think this is an important and sometimes overlooked consideration when implementing new intentions (and one of my biggest passions).
When we are little (especially under the age of 7) our minds are like a sponge, absorbing all kinds of beliefs from others around us. An example of this is, if you grew up in a household very big on diet culture you may have heard a lot of “I can’t eat ___ because I didn’t exercise today” and held onto a belief that you can’t eat if you don’t exercise enough. From another perspective, if you grew up with very busy parents you may have felt overlooked when you were little and formed a belief that you need to fight for attention. This is never to blame the people around us - they are doing the best with what they know, but similarly to what I was saying before, once we are aware of these things we can shift them and take their power away from impacting ourselves and our relationships.
We form pictures of who are according to our beliefs… “The strongest force is the human need to stay consistent to how we define ourselves”- Tony Robbins.
Look at some limiting beliefs you may hold about yourself and how they may have played a part throughout this year. From here, start to practice challenging them. You can write them out, and then next to each one you have identified, challenge the belief by re-writing it using evidence if you can. Our minds love repetition, so as you notice these beliefs try and dictate your thoughts and behaviours, consciously come back to your re-wired belief. Truthfully, this is a never-ending process that I personally still have a long way to go with, because as we grow and change throughout our lives it is so normal to notice new patterns we didn’t see before… keep coming back to your conscious practice of re-wiring the beliefs and notice how thought patterns start to shift.
For example, when I started my business I held the belief that no one will come to my retreats, no one will enjoy what I have to share, people will judge me for trying to do this. Now when I have these thoughts I remind myself that I have value to offer, I am good at what I do and have good intentions to make a positive impact on people, and other peoples judgements are reflections of themselves, and the thoughts settle. It takes time, but you can do it!
Visualise this point in time next year and create measurable goals.
Take some time to visualise the end of 2025 - and be really specific about everything that comes to mind. I would recommend just writing down all the things that come into your mind, let it be a bit of a mess to start with. Think of all areas of your life - what job you are working, if you are in a new relationship, who your closest friends are, your health and fitness, your relationship with your family, where you are living, your daily routine, how you feel in your own skin, your hobbies and habits, your savings, your travels. Once you have jotted down all your different ideas, start to organise them into categories such as relationships, health, finances, career, self-development, and fun. Add to the categories as you go if more things come to mind, and eventually you will be left with a little mind map of your vision for the end of 2025, broken up into different categories. You can leave it here and create some intentions to start the year off, or go further and create specific and measurable goals for each category that align with the vision for the end of the year. Along with this, I really recommend brainstorming some of the daily behaviours and habits of someone who already has achieved these things. What I mean by this is, if I set a goal to expand my fitness by some measure, a person who already has achieved this would likely be consistently training in that area, drinking 3L of water a day, sleeping at least 8 hours, stretching for 40 mins a week, and so on (just as examples).
Thank you for supporting this little dream of mine this last year, I am so grateful to have met and worked with many incredible people and this next year is going to be so amazing and abundant (I just know it),
Mads xx
