As the calendar rolls into February, the percentage of us who have kept our New Year’s resolutions is likely pretty small. CCI’s Well-Being Editor Lisa Beth Lentini Walker explores a better way of setting resolutions — or better yet, setting intentions.
Each year, people focus on setting new year’s resolutions and without fail, the vast majority of those resolutions are long forgotten by the time dry January ends. Rather than setting resolutions on a specific day, the art of setting intentions is likely to yield better results. Intention setting is all about what you want in your life and what gives you joy, passion, focus and energy. Intention setting is focused on a definite path forward with purpose rather than just generalized goals or what you are trying not to do.
In 2023, find time to set those intentions, and it doesn’t really matter what time of year you choose. You could decide today is a great day to set those intentions, or you may wish to wait for some other moment when you feel ready. You can engage in this exercise for yourself, your family, your team or your department.
To set the tone, try the following format:
Intention setting
Word to guide your planning: The word to guide your planning should be almost a theme song for this exercise. It should be the grounding that brings everything together. Whether your topic is focus, trust, communication, relational, or any of a number of themes, find something that resonates and makes you excited about the planning ahead.
One thing I/we really like about _____: Depending on whether you are conducting this exercise as a team, a family unit or alone, find something that is truly amazing about everyone this exercise relates to.
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Favorite memory: Take the time to identify what the best looked like over the previous 12 months. There likely were times when it felt like everything was just going right and everyone was working together. Describe what that was and the conditions that led to it being a favorite memory.
What is something to leave behind? There oftentimes are opportunities for growth in knowing what has served you well — and what has not.
What is something learned to carry forward into the next phase? Recognizing learning and growth that you’ve seen over the past year is important to continue, and you can continue to foster growth by looking back on past successes.
Big-picture intentions
Future state: When you look out another year or another five years, think about how you want things to feel. Rather than identifying specific milestones to reach, describe the future state in words to help you clarify those intentions.
Let’s all have an amazing and intentional year!
Lisa Beth Lentini Walker, who began contributing to CCI in 2022 as Well-Being Editor, is the CEO of Lumen Worldwide Endeavors, a firm specializing in compliance, governance and ethics consulting. She is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a certified meditation and mindfulness specialist. Lisa Beth has led award-winning legal and compliance departments within large public corporations (including a Fortune 50), privately held enterprises. She does this by strategically aligning resources to create efficiencies and advising the board of directors to further strategic initiatives while mitigating risks in all aspects of the domestic and global operations. Lisa Beth co-authored the book, 
