THE ART OF INTENTION: NAVIGATING THE NEW YEAR WITH PURPOSE

THE ART OF INTENTION: NAVIGATING THE NEW YEAR WITH PURPOSE

Ana Gouveia | 31 January 2024

As January winds down, many people already have lost sight of the resolutions they set at the beginning of the year.
Gym memberships have been abandoned. Efforts to curb scree time have dwindled. And glowing ambitions to eat better… Or meditate daily…or recommit to yoga practice… Or learn a new instrument or language… Have dimmed.
This happens each year because it’s so much easier to forget your vision of the future than to remember it. But, it’s never too late to change. It’s never too late to choose you.
I would like to share with you a few simple steps:
  • Define Your Purpose
 One of the first things I learnt on my own journey was the importance of living with purpose. Purpose is what gives your life meaning and direction. And purpose is dynamic. It’s uniquely personal, it’s always evolving, and it’s never-ending. It’s an overcharging mission by which you set your course.
Conversely, a lack of purpose often is the main reason we lose sight of our goals – or lose our connection to a new future. Without a guiding principle or mission, how can you know if the choices you’re making are in alignment with where you want to be?
Take some time to reflect on your purpose. I find there’s no better way to do this than to sit down with myself, get quiet, and write.
Here some prompts you can journal about:
  • Where in my life do I naturally feel inspiration, curiosity, wonder, and motivation?
  • Where do I struggle to find a sense of meaning and direction?
  • Am I practising metacognition? Am I aware of my thoughts, feelings, and behaviours?
  • Do I have a sense of mission or vision? If not, can I remember a time when I felt connected to a higher purpose?
  • What would be a reason for me to jump out of the bed in the morning, excited for the day ahead?
  • What would be a good mission statement for this moment in my life?
It’s powerful to give words to the things we value and we’re working toward. And taking this time to reflect  on what matters most to you is a great way to choose you. You must know your purpose so well that it feels visceral – so it’s not merely words, but something that feels deeply true in an embodied sense.
  • Set Achievable Goals That Support Your Purpose
Once you’ve defined your purpose, it’s important to set goals that keep you moving in that direction. This is a simple exercise in terms of approach, but it takes some time to be discerning and set goals that are simultaneously challenging – that stretch you – and achievable.
  • In your journal, write down the purpose or mission statement you arrived at in Define your Purpose.
  • Under that statement, write down five or six realistic, achievable goals that support your mission .
 
  • Set the Intention to Make Different Choices
This may seem like an obvious step, but how may people are trying to reach a new  future as the same person they’ve been all along. They keep making the same choices – and are somehow expecting different outcomes.
But if you’re thinking the same thoughts, feeling the same feelings, and acting out the same behaviours as your past present self, that keeps you connected to only one place: your past. In other words, making the same choices each day will keep you in the same familiar, known life.
It makes sense, then, that if you want to connect to your new future, the only way to arrive there is as a new self. And that means making new choices. Thinking the new thoughts, feeling the new feelings, and acting out the new behaviours of your present-future self – all of this is what can lead you to a new life.
In your journal, spend some time exploring this questions:
  • What are some people or situations in my current life that often cause me to go unconscious?
  • What are the automatic thoughts and feelings that fuel my behaviours in that state?
  • How can I prepare myself to respond differently when those challenges arise? What would my future self think, feel, or do?
When you set the intentions to make different choices, it bolsters your resolve to align your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours with your purpose. So, when resistance rears up – as you know it will – you already have a plan for how you’re going to respond.
Setting an intention is a way to put meaning behind what you’re doing. And when you put meaning behind what you’re doing, you’re changing your energy.
Remember: nothing changes in your life until you change.

Ana Gouveia

February 2025
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