Set your own intention for the year!

Happy New Year! 😊 I celebrated and rang in the new year out in Nashville and have just now finally gotten over the hangover. I know, I know what that sounds like…I blame it on the moonshine 😉

I hope that your New Year went well as well and I know that you've been being bombarded with messages everywhere about making this year the best, most productive, insanely joyful year and I almost want to do the opposite in this email. I do want you all to have a productive and joyful year that you feel was your best year yet - but I don't want you to focus on it.

For me, New Year's resolutions and goals have never worked and although I love ringing in another 365 days - nothing changes for me when the clock strikes 12. If I haven't set myself up to achieve the goals I set out to in the previous year, I'm not convinced I'll do anything different once we enter a new year.

For that reason, I started setting intentions for each year. A word or phrase that allows me to make up the decisions that go along with the goals I set out to achieve, but brings an overall vibe for how I want to look back at the year.

I started the trend in 2018.

In 2019, my word for the year was ACTION. I wanted to get my ideas out of my head and execute and in my personal life - I wanted to make decisions that served me even when I was the only one rooting for me.

In 2020, I choose JOY. I was reading a book at the time called Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee and it was all about finding joy from external experiences and environments as opposed to from within and I found the concept fascinating. I felt compelled to find ways I can bring myself joy whether through sensory, atmosphere or just simple things like reading or learning to cook and it was perfect for the theme of what was happening in the world.

In 2021, it was GRACE. I've always felt like I was hard on myself and that I was in a time in my life where I was learning how to handle things with grace and so this year was particularly moving for me. It was a year of recovery and learning to start over and over again.

Last year, 2022, I wanted to take everything I learned all these years and put it together to pave my path forward and so the word I chose was ALIGNMENT and I feel I accomplished just that. The idea was to figure out how to use what I already learned and have been through so that I can build I foundation for where I wanted to go and what I want to do for the rest of my life.

This year I'm setting the word lighter as my intention. To me, it means feeling burdenless and not worried about what I can't worry about or control. To not judge myself for choices I made previously and choices I will make. To allow myself to be and feel light on a day-to-day basis. To let life surprise me and I hope that's what happens by the end of the year.

📩 ACTION ITEM: Are you thinking about setting up an intention for the year? Do you already have one? OR are you starting the year with resolutions and goals? Comment and let me know. You'll be making it official by sharing!

With love,

Zobia