NEW YEARS INTENTIONS VS RESOLUTIONS
Sooooo, we are officially into the year of 2023… and for some it may feel like you have just entered, and for some, I am sure you are already planning on where to out the Christmas tree this year. Irrespective of either category, I am sure most of you reading this have either entertained or implemented some form of… (insert drum roll here)… New Year’s Resolution…?!
How’s that going for you???
Did you know that research shows that only 10% of people successful stick to their New Year’s resolutions? YIKES.
Which begs the question, why set them at all? I tend to agree. I would like to reframe this then as New Year’s intentions. You see, a resolution is, more or less, a statement to change something you want to fix about yourself or your lifestyle, suggesting that something is negative or faulty. As a result, resolutions tend to inspire negative thoughts about your current situation or place a question mark relating to personal value. An intention is more focused on creating abundance in your life and inspires motivation for change, which inherently provides space for growth.
To summarise, resolutions are rather definitive and rigid and offer little room for flexibility. In contrast, intentions inspire exploration and curiosity which promote improvement and transformation.
A wonderful South African Psychologist by the name of Jeanie Cave, speaks of resolutions as paradoxical in nature, which essentially means they carry contradiction. This leads to carrying internalised judgement which activates the dorsal vagal (shut down) response, which ultimately precipitates the very behavior or habits contrary to the likely resolution we chose in the first place.
By reframing these as intentions you can:
· Create those you can carry with you throughout the year and into the years to come. When you set intentions, you choose to live more mindfully and open to new outcomes, rather being defined by only one end result.
· Connect to who you are, get familiar with your central nervous system and the underlying mechanisms behind the redundant non-serving patterns you wish to change. Support yourself rather than police yourself.
· Chronicle your experiences and learn from and with others about theirs. Personal growth means you create space for new and different ways of being allowing you to cultivate what really works for you.
Continue being curious and open to the adventure that is life. For is it within these constructs that desire is born, and desire fuels our drive to exist, joyfully and abundantly!
By Abby Doubell