Wow – I turned in my computer and cell phone to my company today! I am feeling so appreciative for all of the amazing people I worked with and experiences I had, but I am absolutely ready for the next phase and am already loving this leave of absence. With both closure and new beginnings happening this week, it seems fitting to spend some time reflecting on my “goals” for 2016.
I create a new set of resolutions every year, and I usually do pretty well (one of my biggest achievements in 2015 was paying off all of my credit card debt <<praise hands emoji>>) but I inevitably forget about some of them (definitely didn’t learn how to use my camera yet – that’s been on the list for 2 years).
I wanted to do things a bit differently this year. I’m a big fan of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound) and usually use that format for my resolutions, but this year I’m saving the SMART goals for more specific milestones I want to achieve. Inspired by this article and this article, I’m setting intentions instead of resolutions this year.
The Huffington Post article talks about intentions as a “determination to act in a certain way.” For the past decade (at least), I’ve measured my success by achieving specific goals – getting promoted by a certain year, finishing a triathlon in a certain time, etcetera. But I’m realizing that success (for me) is a lot more about the journey than the destination, so my 2016 intentions are more focused on the journey and the way I want to live my life than my resolutions have been in the past. They’re short and sweet, and rather than keeping them in a Word document that I forget about by March, I designed it to hang in my room so that I can see it and reflect on my intentions every day.
I used a few different templates as inspiration to create the following list of intentions (big thanks to my sister for sharing this template, which was my starting point).
What do you think – do you prefer resolutions or intentions? Or do you not see a difference? I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer – everyone should choose what works best for them.
What are some of your intentions for 2016? I’d love to hear them!