Robyn is the CEO & Founder of HER. Find her on Twitter.
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Jan 19, 2022
We think it’s safe to say we’re all ready for a fresh start in 2022. It’s been a rough couple of years for everyone, but we have the power to turn things around, and there’s no better time to start than now! The new year is a good time to reflect and grow, reassess your past year, and decide what you want to do differently to bring in more joy. In order to make this new year the best one yet, let’s make some mindful intentions together and start off strong.
Download HER appIt’s that time of year again when many people attempt to kick off their years with New Year’s resolutions, ranging anywhere from saving money to running a marathon. Many of us feel energized during this time to set these kinds of goals but often end up falling short in reality. Stressing ourselves out with strict goals that we need to reach often does more harm than good. This year, instead of pressuring ourselves with strict goals, we recommend rather setting New Year’s intentions.
Whereas New Year’s resolutions often end up failing due to too much pressure, starting off too hot, etc., New Year’s intentions hold no pressure and are much easier to manage. Instead of specific goals like, “I’m going to run 5 times per week,” intentions are more broad statements such as, “I’m focusing on my health and feeling good on the inside this year.”
This more gentle approach allows for more ease, less stress, and freedom to find new habits that actually work for you. With intention-setting, we are figuring out what we want to cultivate more of in our lives, and we are more likely to create long-term habits. Let’s do ourselves a favor and allow freedom for finding what truly works for us to make this next year full of growth, peace, healthy relationships, and whatever else our hearts desire.
To start setting your intentions for this next trip around the sun, make a list of what’s truly important to you. What are your values in life? What in your life do you want to look different? What in your life do you want to cultivate more of? When we get clear with ourselves about what truly matters to us, we can then set healthy intentions that align with those core values.
In addition, it’s important to understand why we are striving to reach certain goals. What is the root cause of these desires? How will reaching these goals make us feel? Will accomplishing them really make us feel fulfilled? Are we doing them for the right reasons? With this clarity, we can be sure our list of intentions is truly for ourselves and our highest goods. Some examples of New Year’s intentions include:
To go even further, we can use the present tense to bring our intentions closer to our realities by attempting to feel like we are already accomplishing them. For example:
We can already start to see how much more forgiving New Year’s intentions are. There’s no need for pressure or deadlines; we are simply thinking of mindsets to align us with our best lives!
In addition to creating these New Year’s intentions, we can also simplify them by summing them up with one word or short phrase we want to carry with us throughout the year. For example, perhaps you want to be strong, brave, ambitious, grateful, or compassionate. Try to think of a theme you want your year to embody, and carry this word at the forefront of all your actions.
To help focus on your theme for the year even more, write your word or phrase down on a piece of paper or somewhere you will look at every day. Then, every single time you see this word, you will be reminded of what truly matters to you and what you are working toward throughout the year. This will help bring positive energy to your journey of embodying your intentions, keep you on track, and remind you to practice what is truly important to you!
When working toward our intentions, we start with smaller, reachable goals first. Make a list of actionable steps you can take that bring you toward those intentions. This list is intended as options– not things you must accomplish. For example, if one of your intentions for the new year is focusing on mental health, some possible actions you can take to work toward that are:
As you can see, intentions are broad and allow room for error – they are much easier to stick with in the long term, and actually show an impact on our lifestyles. With intentions, even completing one of these small actions means you’ve successfully worked toward that goal! There’s no added weight of fear of failure, just small steps of heading in the right direction and making positive changes.
Only you truly know yourself, so do what you know works best for you. As you start working toward your intentions, recognize if you are setting goals that bring any feelings of stress or pressure, and reframe them into something new until it feels positive.
One intention you can make this year is to put yourself out there! There are many ways you can work toward this intention such as,
Getting out of your comfort zone allows you to make new memories, discover new things you enjoy, find new communities, and create new amazing relationships. Although putting yourself out there can sometimes be scary, taking chances and making true connections with others is always worth the risk.
Be open to new possibilities and opportunities, like finding love or your person with HER. Good things come when we open ourselves up to new opportunities for connection. If you are looking to connect with fellow LGBTQIA+ women and individuals, one simple actionable step you can take today is downloading the HER app. Find your person with HER and create a year full of amazing experiences.
Remember that intentions are about finding small ways to align yourself with the life you desire. Some tips for actually carrying out your goals in the new year include:
We hope this article helped guide you to creating healthy intentions to make 2022 your best year yet. To connect with like-minded LGBTQIA+ people this year, download the HER app. From the HER family to yours, we wish you a healthy, happy, and aligned new year!
Download HER app Robyn is the CEO & Founder of HER. Find her on Twitter.
