What You Should Know About “Intentions”!
Intentions vs Resolutions
While resolutions are usually smaller goals that you can check off or achieve, intentions are broader and can encompass multiple areas of your life. Examples are to focus on and prioritize your family, focus on your health, spend more time in nature, form better connections with other humans, to be more creative etc.
The purpose of an intention is to focus your behaviour on achieving what you really want or desire, what you want to be like as a human being, what gives you joy and fulfillment. These intentions can be anything related to love, family, relationships, career, emotional and physical wellbeing.
The advantage of intentions over resolutions is that they don’t necessarily need to be strict or very specific, which gives you more room and the freedom to figure out how to achieve them in a way that is enjoyable to you. Whereas with resolutions, you often start tracking them, you get frustrated when they don’t work out as planned and they start to feel more like tiring work. With intentions that’s not the case. For example you could try different ways of exercising, including yoga classes or other activities that you might turn out to enjoy, in order to achieve more focus on your physical health.
Intentions should act as a gentle and positive reminder for what you want to achieve. Setting intentions can include the process of identifying your purpose in life and clarifying your major priorities. Working towards these intentions can have a powerful effect on mental health and depression and lead to a more fulfilled life.
How to set intentions?
☐ Reflect on your purpose, define an intention and write it down
Think about what makes you feel really happy, what fulfills you in life, what you would like to be like, what you would like to achieve. Choose a broader, not too specific goal (for example: improving health, lowering stress, finding inner peace)
☐ Identify your challenges
Identify fears or doubts you have that can interfere with your intention. This will make you more aware of your obstacles that will hold you back
☐ Specify ways to achieve the intention
For example: Spending more time meditating, working less, spending less time on your phone
☐ Create a supportive strategy
Create an attitude you can have that will strengthen your commitment to stick with your intention. Eg. being encouraging
Helpful actions: Eg. a few minutes daily meditation with setting your intentions
☐ More concrete steps:
Studies have shown that people who specify their plans on how to achieve their goals are two to three times more likely to actually succeed than people who merely set goals. This is true for more abstract goals or intentions as well as concrete ones. (1) (2)
☐ Say and repeat your purpose or intentions everyday out loud.
This will help you memorize it
☐ Apply your intention daily in your life
If however you really feel like you are struggling, you can reach out and speak with a qualified psychotherapist. Online consultations are as effective as in person.
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