By Anne Peters, LMFT
It’s time we welcome 2021 with open arms and open hearts! It’s no secret 2020 has brought new worries and stress to us. The gift of a new year is a wonderful time for us to reflect on our own goals, passion, and motivation. I wanted to share with you a family tradition we started a few years ago. My mom came up with the idea for each of us to set an intention going into the new year. With that, a word to represent our intention. This can be done individually and/or as a family.
New Year’s resolutions are a wonderful concept – a way for us to set goals. Did you know more than 80% of New Year’s resolutions are not achieved? Here’s my challenge for you: Set an intention instead. If your goal is to get into better physical shape, set your intention for “perseverance.” If your goal is to make strong gains professionally, set your intention for “determination.” If your goal is to connect with your loved ones more frequently, set your intention for “family.” The options are nearly endless!
Once you’ve chosen your intention word, put it somewhere easily visible – on your bedside table, on your refrigerator, or on your mirror. In my family, we each get our word on a piece of jewelry to wear as a reminder of our intention. I noticed over the last couple of years, on days when I had an important work meeting or event I was anxious about, that would be the piece of jewelry I would reach for. It’s a piece that brings comfort.
I chose “self-care” as my intention word for 2020. Boy, I didn’t know just how fitting that would be! You’ve heard it here first: my intention word for 2021 is “soar.” I’m hoping to use my experiences and lessons from 2020 as a jumping off point into 2021 to soar – to build myself professionally, personally, and spiritually. It seems so fitting. I would love to know: What is your intention for 2021?
See a list below of different ideas for intentions from the MyIntent website to spark some ideas for you!
Happy New Year from all of us at LSI!
- Adventure
- Balance
- Be Kind
- Be Present
- Be Still
- Beautiful
- Believe
- Blessed
- Brave
- Breathe
- Compassion
- Confidence
- Courage
- Create
- Determined
- Enough/You are Enough
- Faith
- Family
- Fearless
- Focus
- God has a Plan
- Grace
- Grateful
- Grit
- Hakuna Matata
- Happiness
- Hope
- Inspire
- Integrity
- Joy
- Just Breathe
- Kindness
- Let Go
- Love
- Passion
- Patience
- Peace
- Persevere
- Purpose
- Resilient
- Serenity
- Strength
- Surrender
- Survivor
- Today
- Trust
- Unbreakable
- Unconditional
- Warrior
- Worthy
- You Got This
