How to Set New Year’s Intentions

Have you made resolutions in the past – or even this year – that have quickly fizzled, or worse, made you feel like a failure? If so, you may want to consider setting intentions; it’s not too late.

This is because intentions don’t tie you to a specific outcome – and there’s no timeline or deadline to meet – so you’ll eliminate any feelings of failure. In short, intentions simply require that you’re mindful and present as you go through your day, hour-to-hour. Intentions invite you to be your personal best and can serve as a map for your goals and visions.

“Intention is the starting point of every dream,” Deepak Chopra, MD, best-selling author, physician, and founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, CA, told MindBodyGreen.com. “It is the creative power that fulfills all of our needs, whether for money, relationships, spiritual awakening, or love.” 

Here are a few tips, adapted from the experts at MindBodyGreen.com, for setting an intention in the New Year: 

Tap into your inner voice. Take some quite time or even mediate and ask yourself: What gives you passion and fills you with a sense of purpose? 

Some examples: 

• I intend to manifest happiness naturally.
• I intend to respond first, and then react.
• I intend to be open to success and abundance.
• I intend to stop taking things personally.
• I intend to forgive others, and myself.
• I intend to love unconditionally.
• I intend to make meditation a more important part of my lifestyle.
• I intend to make someone smile every day.

Keep it positive. An intention should not be negative, nor should it be in the past or future tense. So, for example, if your intention is to de-stress, say something like: “My intention is to invite peace and calm within myself during today's meditation," note experts at MindBodyGreen.com. 

Hold yourself accountable. Many people, like blogger Jessica Hagy, say that it’s helpful to check in with yourself daily. “Every morning before I wake up, I place my hand on my heart for just a few seconds or a few moments, and I breathe, connect to myself, send love to myself, and send love to the day. Then I set an intention for my day,” she writes. 

Be grateful. Take a few moments to be grateful for the intention you have set. And don’t be afraid to adjust your intention after a few days. For example: If your intentions is "to invite peace and calm in,” you can change it "to enjoy the peace I create in myself.”

Finding Holistic Treatment for You
At Complete Harmony, we encourage the use of many different cutting-edge techniques to help clients heal the mind, body and spirit. To learn more about our treatment center and our approach to addiction recovery, call today: 866-930-4673.