As the end of the year approaches, it’s a great time to start intention setting for the new year.
So what is intention setting? Well, to me it’s the process of setting expectations for the new year, or whatever period you choose, and deciding what outcomes you intend to manifest in that time frame. Intention setting is where your heart tells your head to shut up and stop coming up with excuses and reasons why things can’t be done. It’s a place where you tell the universe what you want, then let it go, expecting for it to be done. It is the ask and believe that occurs before you receive.
Many people criticize this way of thinking as they over-simplify the instructions and don’t get the results they want. One of the most common mistakes I see in asking is where people make a request to the universe and then go and make as many counteractive actions as possible. They ignore hunches to take inspired action, they doubt that what they want will manifest and some even actively go looking for reasons why it won’t work for them. To top it all off, they fail to let go and remain stuck in a place of wanting or needing.
Wish not granted!
Intention setting requires more than you just kicking back in your arm chair and blurting out what you want, rattling off a few half-hearted mantras or affirmations, or visualizing what you want. Yes people, it does take some work on your part, which is a good thing!
Here is the basic outline of the process I use for intention setting.
- Be crystal clear on what it is that I want to be, do or have.
- List out any objections that come up for me when I think about the outcome I want
- Clear a space in my day to create and practice the habits of using chosen manifestation tools
- Create affirmations (tools) to counteract objections and to support creation of intention
- Visualize (tool) and ‘feel’ the outcome each day as if it has already occurred
- Let go and get on with my day with a feeling that all is well and the ‘how’ will be taken care of
- Take inspired action when hunches or intuitive thoughts pop up randomly in my day (I may be inspired to make a phone call to a particular person, take a different route somewhere, create a vision board (another tool), or to seek out a certain book or information).
Step 7 is CRITICAL people!!
Very little will happen without focus or action. You can sit and daydream til the cows come home, but unless you’re a master at manifesting or your feelings and belief are at a level of intensity where all thoughts of fear and doubt are eliminated, you’re gonna need to do a little work. When you take inspired action the work doesn’t feel like work, you feel aligned and it feels fun. Those moments where you’re in flow should be embraced and any hunches you get at these times followed to see where they lead. Being in flow continually is probably unachievable for most, but the more you begin to trust this feeling and appreciate it, the more it will seem to happen in your life.
To those of you who are avid goal setters, you can still keep on following whatever method works for you. This is part of Step 1 above which is where you get crystal clear on what you want, same as you would when setting a goal.
Reflect on the year that you’ve had and make note of any lessons learned along the way. Just don’t get stuck in the past and beat yourself up for what could have been. New year, new day, new hour, new minute! It can all spin on a dime and change direction when you start opening yourself to what is possible and allowing yourself to dream bigger.
Would love to know what intention setting process you use or what goals you have for the new year so please share below in the comments!
