A Mini-Guide to Setting Intentions for 2021

You can choose an area of your life to work on – mind, body, spirit, work – or you may choose to pick one very important thing in one of these areas to focus on for a specified time.

Start by writing or recording a voice note in which you list all your potential intentions. Aim for 10 to 15 options (you may even have more).

Review your list and for every option, ask yourself:

• Would I enjoy the process and not just the end result?
• Once I get there, having reached my goal, what do I expect to feel?
• Who do I think this is going to impress?
• How do I feel in my body when I look at or envision this primary intention?
• What feels most important now?

After answering these questions, you may have found a clear choice. If there are a few that you’re still having trouble trying to decide between, ask yourself which one you’re most excited about and will have the biggest impact on your life – pick that one.

Then, find support. Often, we seek support only when we’re having trouble with something instead of when we’ve just set an intention to do something new and positive.

But talking about your primary intention and asking others for support strengthens your relationships, shifts you away from a tendency to self-shame or blame if things aren’t going well, keeps you accountable and increases the likelihood that your primary intention will come to fruition.

Identify how each person could support you (e.g., a monthly café date to check your progress, phone calls to stay in touch, regular feedback, going to exercise classes together). Now, ask these people to do those things.

Setting a primary intention, just for me, feels so nourishing.

As the year progresses, making progress toward my goals helps me be a better person and mother because I feel better about myself.

So… What is your primary intention for 2021? How will you get support?