I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions.

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. They are not for me. And in fact, they are not for many people. There’s a running joke, isn’t there, that New Year’s Resolutions are there to be broken. And even though we say this jokingly, in many cases it is the truth.

They are often forced upon us by the perceived pressures of society. Or they are very single minded and focused on 1 thing, without looking at all the underlying issues, circumstances, ecology and whether it can happen congruently.

Or we ask, almost demand so much of ourselves it becomes overwhelming and we lose motivation…  Force and external expectations never helped long term congruence and alignment, hence reduces the chance to succeed…

So how about not making resolutions at all?

How about having intentions and guiding principles for the coming year?

Or however long you want to keep them for.

Things that would help you on your journey towards becoming the very best version of you. Things that come from within and things that are really for you and for your own, long-term benefit.

Here are a few of my intentions:

1. One of the main ones has been and will remain to make sure that I only compare myself to the person I was yesterday. This is the only one fair comparison, isn’t it? I am the only person in this planet who has the same experiences, felt the same feelings, wore my shoes and walked my walk… And I am the only person who will continue on my journey too…

2. To be open to news of information and learn something new each and every day: no matter where I am, what I’m doing, who I am with, there will be always something to learn. And with so much in the World I haven’t learnt yet, why not keep my eyes, ears and heart open to all that! Who knows what will help me on my journey? And it doesn’t have to be anything academic or productive for work or something big. It might just be something I learn about myself (how I respond to certain situations, how I do certain things that I hadn’t noticed before). Or maybe I ‘just’ learn that something is definitely not for me. Isn’t that great?

3. To treat each day as a new opportunity: There’s no failure, only feedback. You can either succeed or learn. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. What matters is what I make of today. How I use my lessons, my learnings and newly found knowledge from the day before and how I make it work for me.

4. To notice at least one thing in each day that will make the day beautiful, wonderful, something to be grateful for. Not everyday is a good day. But there is something good in every single day. It is just a matter of noticing it. And I am doing this for me. Not for anyone else. I want to be happy in my life, so I need to do something about it. And I choose to see all the beauty to make me happy. Of course, the result of me being happy will ripple on everyone else around me, so it is a win-win! And who wouldn’t like that?

5. To give my body, mind and soul (as one) regular breaks to rest, refresh and recharge. Without breaks and recharge, there is absolutely no way we would succeed long term. Just remember what would happen to your smartphone if you forget to charge it… Not so smart (or useful) anymore, is it?

So, these are my 5 main intentions and guiding principles.

These are not new to 2022 and these aren’t the only ones either. They are just a few things that help me grow and better myself day after day. I didn’t come up with them overnight either. It’s a constant work in progress. Just like I am, you are, we all are.

And if one or more of them don’t happen for a while, my intention is to approach it with kindness towards myself. And I do it by thanking myself for noticing that I am not doing something that is important for me to be the person I want to be. And what is greater than awareness? Because once I noticed, I can do something about it, can’t I?

I can either choose to gently guide myself back to my intentions, guiding principles, or I can choose to re-evaluate them. And no matter what I choose to do, doing it with kindness and love always nourishes the case, doesn’t it?

What is it going to be for you?