New Year, New Intentions

By Cristina Panzarini

How many times have we heard the phrase “new year, new me”? Have you ever thought about what that might actually mean? Why do we seek to reinvent new versions of ourselves each year instead of building ourselves up? Today I offer you a way to rethink the traditional New Years resolutions.

With a few notable exceptions, the majority of resolutions I hear when I speak to people in my personal or professional life involve exercising and/or eating healthier. While these actions have the ability to be constructive in someone's life, they all fall under just one category of wellness (physical).

At the start of the year, a dear friend invited me to an intention setting party where a wonderful group of supportive women got together, and set intentions for the year. These intentions ranged from family camping trips to personal travel goals to even car buying (and yes, exercise as well). For me, the focus on intentions for the year felt gentle, like I could set an intention and see what happens. Whereas a resolution makes me feel like I would be disappointed if I didn’t achieve it by the end of the year.

As a way to take the action of setting intentions and focus it on overall wellness, I found it incredibly helpful to introduce domains of wellness. These are eight domains that are thought to assess a holistic approach to health and wellness. The idea is that focusing on the composition of each of these eight domains in regards to the individual self would compose overall wellness.

Now that we’re at the end of the month, I find it to be time to reflect on any goals or resolutions that you set for yourself and see if you can line any of them up with the domains. If there are any blank domains, try to think of an intention that you can set for that piece of wellness. If you think about this like a pie or a wheel, each domain should take up the same amount of space. If you have a lot of intentions set on any one particular domain, can you try to even them out by putting some focus on some of the ones that have less or no intentions?

Once you have at least one intention set for each of the eight domains, it will be time to ask yourself what you need in order to move forward with that intention. Perhaps you need support from those around you, need to engage in research or planning, or even need time to build up some resources. Challenge yourself and see if you can come up with at least three actionable steps that would take you closer to that intention.

For example, one of my intentions for this year is to get comfortable with traveling alone with my infant daughter. For this, I identified that I would need to come up with a packing list of all of her necessities. I also identified that I’d like to travel with her while receiving support from family or friends before I try to do it on my own. Finally, I identified that I’d need to plan for her routine and come up with activities or destinations that are baby friendly.

When broken up into actionable steps, the intention can feel more achievable. I encourage you to think through your intentions, and see if you can come up with ways that you can move yourself closer to your intention. My goal for this year is not to achieve all of my intentions, but rather to start taking steps to get closer to them. Perhaps I don’t achieve everything I just listed, but if I take at least some steps, I will feel like I have moved closer to the things that are important to me. With this exercise, I invite you to share my goal of moving closer to the intentions that feel important towards your wellness.

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