I’m overflowing with endless gratitude for the healing balm that is Wisconsin, the place where I grew up. I write to you curled up on the couch of a childhood friend’s family home in Door County, watching the sky shift colors as the sun sets over Lake Michigan. I can hear my New York family chattering downstairs and my heart is filled to the brim from hosting my final workshop of the year, a gathering of amazing Midwestern women healing together with clay.
I’m in the midst of my little family of three’s fourth year of driving our old Subaru across the country, a funny ritual we’ve come to love. After Wisconsin has done it’s healing, I’ll head on to Arizona, where I’ll rest and create in the same little home my family has for generations. This annual month in the desert gives me space to create with no agenda, to read, to move my body in nature and walk my dog and swim laps in the pool near my parents home. I’ll work too - gratefully continue to see my NYC-based clients and dig into some local Tucson clay - I’m curious what my hands have to tell me.
I’ll take the next week or so to continue my journey West and sit with intentions as I make my way into my 33rd year. I share some thoughts here for your own intention setting as we enter the new year. Into the mystic future, I’ll see you there.
In the practice of intention setting, you’re piloting your thoughts and actions - through goals, routines, and habits - to create lasting change in your life and days. Your energy and thoughts move in the direction you guide them - one of the few things you truly have control over.
Intentions are shapeshifters - they can be used on a grand scale or in smaller capacities. Here I lay out how they can be focused at a level of a year, and then broken down to goals and infused into your days through routines and habits. I include an example of my own so you can visualize how it all works.
When uncovering an intention, it’s best to let your values guide you. Instead of imagining what you want to do this year, picture how you want to be - what qualities you’d like to embody. Write out a list as long as you can make it, let your answers surprise you. Then narrow it down to just a few. The more focused your intentions, the easier they are to guide your way.
My broad list for this coming year is: calm, steady, adventurous
Then I’ll narrow my focus on the month ahead. It’s easy to feel a surge of motivation at the beginning of a new year, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves - the future is unknown, as uncomfortable as that can be. So while it’s helpful to plan, it’s just as important to focus on what’s right in front of you.
My focus for January will be steady.
Then, write out a few goals within this intention. Make them grand enough to motivate you, but small enough to be truly achievable.
One goal I’m choosing is: create and stick to a steady schedule within the themes of exercise, work, play, and rest.
Next, you can establish a routine that will help ensure your goals receive the care and attention they need. Be specific - include when and where so you can hold yourself accountable.
For my goal of a steady schedule, I plan to write out a general weekly schedule, allowing room for the spontaneous shifts that come with self-employment (I love notion for organizing myself and my days). Then, each Sunday afternoon at 4 pm (specificity is key here!), I’ll set aside 30 minutes for slotting in the week ahead, to ensure I’m attending to each area with the care it needs. I’ll be specific with times, always leaving some wiggle room for changes as they come. The key here is specificity with timing, if it’s scheduled into my calendar, I’m more likely to actually complete it.
Habits will come along with routine and help ensure things move forward with greater ease. They can be stackable and always get easier with time (if you’re interested in diving into this more, I can’t recommend the work of James Clear enough).
One habit that I’d like to focus on as a part of my steady schedule is boundaries around email. Checking it consistently whenever I pick up my phone is currently an unwanted habit of mine. My new habit will be only checking it on my computer and being sure I sign off at the end of the evening, tucking my computer away at the end of the day, a signal to my body that it’s time for rest.
Wishing us all peace and clarity, and a new year filled with intention.
** I have a couple of spaces for new clients in my psychotherapy practice, including EMDR therapy! You can find out more and schedule a free consult here. **
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