Setting Intentions For New Year

Long ago I became aware that making New Year’s resolutions restricted my free spirit within! Intentions keep me focused and empower me to act upon them . Even with my best intentions I have found myself distracted unless I can find ways to maintain my focus. I do use many things that help. I always create a Vision Board in which I draw symbols, words, phrases, and objects with various colored pens, markers, pastels what I desire to surrender (on full moons) and set intentions I wish to manifest (on New Moons). I never make my boards by cutting out pictures from magazines. I find drawing images accesses a different part of my active brain power and works better for me! Vision Boards need to be kept simple…if we put too much on one board our brain sees cluttered ideas and the focus or intent is much like chatter boxing ! I keep my created Vision Board where I will see it frequently and daily..in this way my brain receives the intended information and can actively create specific actions bringing intentions into fruition.

Sometime back I heard about picking a word of the year as a better substitute for resolutions. I tried it and fell in love with the idea! Now every year I pick my signature Word of the Year. Here is how I do it…Between around Christmas and the first of the year I go into my Quietude space and reflect upon the expanded Me I want to become more of for the year. I write many words that come up that will characterize who I want to see as my authentic self by the end of the year. This is not about accomplishing anything..rather it is more about how I would like to evolve to be a better version of myself.

If none of the words on my word list seem to resonate within myself, I do not put pressure that I must have the perfect word! I leave it alone and come back to it in a few days or even a week later.

Once I have my word of the year, I put it on a vision board, write it on sticky notes, put it on the outside of my current journal and my dream journal book. I write my word frequently, repeating it . This word of the year becomes a single word mantra! It serves to ground me into a calm focus and reminds my brain who I truly want to become in the manifestation of my amazing life!

In case you are at a loss for your own word of the year, here are some examples: Resilient, Health, Abundance, Humble, Gratitude, Strength, Joy, Forgiving, Listening, Creative. There are thousands of choices!

My word for 2022 is HOPE. Intentions instead of goals or resolutions work so much better. As evidence I have experienced opportunities and manifested areas of my health, relationships, career, fun, and travel! To know if something works I look at the outcome. Does it bring me closer to being the best version of myself or does it take me further from it?