New Year, New ?

Goals and Intent

Prefer to listen? Scroll to the middle for the audio version.

I truly do enjoy seeing the goals people set every new year! It, in a way, is a window to what is important to us. What our values are. My favorite this year has been the reading goals on Goodreads! If you saw mine from the past, you’d see a particular year I set a goal that I in no way met. I felt challenged by “everyone” else's goals and of course I had to respond to that challenge. Of course.

I don’t do that anymore haha. 

This past year I’ve been diving into a different space when it comes to goal setting. The space of setting an intent. What kind of person do I want to be? What do I want to embody? I’ve gone back and forth between intent and goals. Goals and intent. Which is better? Can they coexist? 

This morning I went on a trail walk with my daughter where she shared with me a few things she’s looking forward to in 2024. Some areas of her life she’d like to fine tune. She then asked me what my goals where for this new year but the question didn’t connect for me with what she had just shared. I stumbled around with my words for a bit and then realized why her question wasn’t connecting. She used the word “goals” in her question but what she shared wasn’t formed in the way I’m accustomed to approaching goals. The way she was sharing was actually a mix of both setting her intent AND goals. There IS room for both! Here’s how…