Hello, and happy holidays to all of you reading! I hope you are taking this time to reflect on this past year and be truly present in your life, as well as getting some much-needed rest. It’s truly such a joyful peaceful time, so try not to let all those little stressors get in the way of the true meaning of this season.
As a little holiday gift, I wanted to give you guys a step by step guide on setting intentions so you can enter this new year feeling inspired to be your best self yet.
Reflect
I’m a strong believer in reflection as an integral part of wellness. Eating healthy, working out, and sleeping are all amazing but they are definitely not the whole picture.
A huge part of feeling happy and healthy in your present moment is feeling like you are exactly where you need to be. My favorite way to take inventory of just that is to settle down with a journal, a pen, and maybe a candle and a cup of tea and get to reflecting on the past year.
I see what changed, what worked and didn’t, what growth I’ve gone through. It’s also pretty remarkable to look back on everything you’ve accomplished in the past year!
Pick a word
This has been a favorite thing of mine in the past couple years. Oftentimes a word, or a few, just floats into my mind right around the new year, and it becomes the guiding word of my year. Last year, my words were Trust and Flow, and this year Adventure is feeling really right.
Explore some areas of growth
None of us is perfect; we all have things we want to work on. The new year is the perfect time to commit to making some changes. You can’t expect to fully change your entire identity or go from 0 to 100 in any one area, but perhaps there are things you can implement in your days of your weeks to help move you toward your goals.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn Italian; download duolingo and set an intention around prioritizing practicing. Maybe you feel you need to be more patient with loved ones; set an intention around trying to take a few deep breaths before saying something you don’t mean.
Explore what is going well
Some things probably went really well in your past year. Maybe you’re really happy with your current level of fitness, or your social circle, or your romantic relationship. See what intentions you can set to make sure these things stay at this optimal level. It’s easy to neglect what’s going well and put all your energy into what’s not, but if these things are currently bringing you lots of joy, keep prioritizing them!
Focus on intentions, not goals
The difference here is goals are measurable and quantifiable, things like losing 10 pounds or reading for an hour every week. Intentions are more like general lifestyle shifts that you can gently and intuitively move toward. Things like doing more varied movements each week based on what your body is craving, eating more whole foods and finding healthy recipes to experiment with.
You never really ARRIVE with an intention like you do with a goal, but that’s the beauty of it because there is always room for more growth!
I hope these tips inspire you to kick off 2019 with some intention, purpose, and passion. Wishing you the most joyful New Year!
Cheers!
Your wellness pal,
Nicole
