Resolving Resolutions

It feels like only yesterday we were sharing our views on intentions vs resolutions for the year ahead.

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With another year gone faster than you can say Corona (quite a bit faster), here are a few reminders of how we can move through the year more stoically with a few focal shifts: from outcome to process, incident to reaction, and resolution to intent.

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Putting pen to paper

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Getting clear about the things we want to cultivate transforms intent into action. Sites such as Year Compass offer free digital journals that you can easily personalise. Making a statement that relates to your purpose will help you clarify how it is you can bring about that change, it also makes space for self-reflection and helps you take steps towards building self-efficacy.

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This kind of practice also helps us to uncover more of our internal motivators, in a society driven by external incentives. The word ‘intention’ is derived from the Latin intendere, or intentio, which means both ‘stretching’ and ‘purpose’. In essence, setting intentions is a way of making shifts in our perspectives and reaching a new purpose, life path or emotional state.  

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The more we repeat a positive intention, or general positive behaviour, the more we strengthen the associated brain networks. Through cultivating healthy intentions, we are now learning that we have the power to shape our brains in more adaptive and beneficial ways. Perhaps an intention a day, keeps the doctor away!

Self-acceptance

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A great intention to start with is acceptance - of what is, and who we are. Another of life’s great paradoxes is that change often first requires acceptance. What we resist persists, and embracing the present allows us to acknowledge and start with what we’ve got, which is often more than we realise. In this sense, acceptance also allows us to cultivate gratitude. When we shift the focus from what we lack to what we have, we remember what’s important, which points us in the right direction for where we need to go next.

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Health is wealth

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COVID has certainly brought with it, a renewed appreciation for our health and freedoms. Taking care of our wellbeing during lockdown means encompassing the holy triad of body, mind and soul. It could be argued that self-care and personal wellbeing is at the heart of everything, seeing as it lays the foundations for our behaviours, relationships, and ability to live up to our full potential.

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When it comes to looking after our bodies, small daily lifestyle adjustments such as making healthier food choices by limiting processed foods, and getting more sleep by going to bed earlier, will have incremental effects over the course of a year.

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The difference between setting a resolution and setting an intention when it comes to health - is the difference between saying you will loose 10lbs by February, and committing to eating a little healthier every day by ensuring you incorporate more plants or skip the soda for a glass of water.

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Trust the Process

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Life isn’t an event, it’s a process, and trusting that process means having faith in yourself and your abilities, to be able to handle whatever comes your way.  When you trust the process, you shift your mindset from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’, and give yourself the time and patience you need to see things through.

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Priorities

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Making more time for the people that matter is scientifically proven to reduce stress and boost feelings of overall wellbeing. In the digital age, distance is no longer an issue, but we often find we lack the time. Committing to carving out a few minutes or hours a week can make all the difference.

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As well as fostering pre-existing relationships, it’s also important to form new ones that help us explore new interests as well as to develop and grow. Taking up a new hobby or joining an event in the local community are easy means of expanding your network into the richly flavoured wider world.  

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On the flip side, when it comes to letting go of the relationships that no longer serve us, it’s important to value ourselves as individuals, and learn to set clear and healthy boundaries.  

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Setting Sustainably

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Opting for incremental intentions over finite resolutions is often more sustainable because we can better keep momentum going by focusing on a little nibble each day, instead of biting off more than we can chew. When it comes to a more sustainable way of life - conscious consumerism means voting with our purchasing power and working collaboratively for a brighter and greener future for all.

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Small decisions such as limiting our use of plastic by opting for bags for life or avoiding unnecessary use of items like straws, supporting local business and holiday destinations, and engaging in habits like up-cycling and recycling, can make all the difference.

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Be spontaneous and embrace the present. In the same way that you cannot jump into the same river twice, because its always changing, the same is true of human consciousness. Instead of constantly chasing an unknown future, embrace the present moment and let tomorrow take its course.  

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Most of us feel concern about global issues, but powerless to help. Remember the butterfly effect: a small change can result in large differences, but it starts with each of us, in the here and now.  

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