Setting Aligned Intentions For A New Year

In this short talk, I share how we can set aligned intentions for a New Year. You’ll learn the difference between a goal and an intention, how to anchor your intentions in the present and take the next steps towards living a soul-aligned life. Listen in to see how to open up to what's possible for you!

Transcript

Hello, This is Sarah Brownette from SBH Mentoring, And I'm here today to talk to you about setting intentions for a new year. So one of the things that I want to talk about is how a lot of people will either be sitting around setting New Year's resolutions or setting goals for the new year. And while I have absolutely nothing against that, I actually now prefer setting intentions rather than goals. Because for me, It feels as though it's more gentle. It feels as though it's more achievable in a way. And also, It helps me to really, Really connect to my soul to my higher self in a better way than if I was just to sit down and note down any sort of logical goals that have been gifted to me, Let's say, Through my brain. So this may or may not be making some sense to you. But I'm going to expand on that and to tell you exactly what I mean. So before I was always, Always letting my brain, My mind, Rule the roost, Basically. And it wasn't until probably the first time was probably in 2002, If I'm perfectly honest, When I was expecting a third child. But definitely, Since 2008, I have really started to lean into how my soul, My higher self, My heart actually expresses itself. And I've, As I said, I feel it's much gentler, It's much softer. But it also really, Really helps us to connect to our deep, Deep, Deep desires. And sometimes, Our brain, Our mind gives us ideas that are in alignment with the rest. But in my case, Anyway, A lot of the time, They weren't necessarily in alignment with who I really am. And so the goal setting and the resolutions is something that I stopped doing many years ago. Now, I also realised the power of setting intentions, When I read an absolutely brilliant book that talks about how we have either a distorted relationship with money or how we can improve our relationship with money. So when I was reading this book, He talks about intentions and goals and the difference. So I'm going to read what he said in the book. So I'm paraphrasing here what he said to make it easier to understand. But basically, A goal is something that you can understand that your logical brain can understand. It's in the future, And it's an outcome. But a goal can sometimes cap us at a certain level and prevent us from going deeper. So in a way, It's sort of like having a to do list and having goals on there and just like ticking them off and going on to the next thing. Whereas with an intention, It's defining and aiming towards expansion. And I mentioned that word expansive, Didn't I, Inviting us to be more expansive this year again. So when we place an intention, We are aiming towards expanding, Maybe it's our knowledge, Maybe it's our energy levels, Maybe it is our relationships, Whatever it is. But it's not just in a way a direct line from A to B, It's really more feeling into what we really, Really intend. An intention is an internal direction. So it helps us to connect with our inner selves. And an intention is in the moment. So it's basically saying that you want to discover more of what you are. And that you're totally open to the fact that you may not know what that is. With an intention, You see, You're actually surrendering the results. And you're going into a deeper place that doesn't have a defined outcome, Per se, But it has an infinite number of possibilities. So if you like, In a way, It's like sowing seeds. It's like having this impetus, Having this momentum, Letting ourselves be moved forward, Pulled forward by something that our inner self is wanting us to move towards. And then being maybe sometimes brave enough to actually just sort of let go and let God a lot of people have said that in the past, But it really is that so you will set the intention and then leave not necessarily leave it up to the universe. But you will have enough faith and trust that whatever needs to happen for you will happen. So when I used to speak about this in the past, Some people disagreed with me. And they said that an intention isn't as powerful as a goal, But I actually disagree. Because when we intend to do something, We are actually implying that we have a plan or at least a set of actions that we can implement. And with the word intend, There is also this connotation of trying our best. So it's something that we mean to do. And in a way, It doesn't really matter if it is successful or not. So when I write my intentions, I write I intend to but if that doesn't feel right for you, You could maybe just write or say I'd like to or even the what if, But when we use I'd like to or what if we're no longer in the present moment, We are either talking about some sort of hypothesis with what if, What if I was able to travel to my favourite place. So it's just a hypothesis. So we're not actually anchoring it in the present moment. And it's a thing with I'd like to, When we say I'd like to, It's yeah, Maybe one day, I would like to do that. But it's not now, It's not in the present moment. So that's just one sort of word of caution about the intentions. But using those words can help you if you're at the very beginning of your journey, And you're not exactly sure where to start, They can open you up to imagining what else is possible for you, If you were to take that next step. So when we've written our intentions, What I like to do is to read them just a few times a week, And I check in, Just to see where I am, In relation to my intentions, Sometimes I actually forget what I have written down. So it's a good reminder for me. And it's just also a way of checking in again, To see what I intended a few days ago. Is that really what needs to come through now? What has already come into fruition or come to fruition? In relation to that intention that I set? Have I actually already achieved that particular intention? And so it's a great way to just feel into the energy around it, Rather than for me going back to the goal setting, Rather than having a specific goal that you are working towards. And then when you realise that you haven't yet achieved it, Then you may feel despondent, You may feel as though you're a failure. And then you may go down that negative sort of loop, That negative spiral of then telling yourself that you can't actually achieve what you would like to achieve. Whereas when you look back at your intentions, When you are reminded that I intend to take that next step, For example, Then it's inviting us as well, If you haven't taken that next step, To get curious about why you haven't done it, What is maybe holding you back what you need in order to be able to take that next step. I always find that doing this gives me such a sense of fulfilment and purpose. And it reminds me that we're really not alone in this life either. This is what I wrote about in a best selling multi author book published in 2023. When I went to write in this book, There were very, Very many memories that I wanted to share. And so it took me quite a while to actually think about where I wanted to focus the content that I was going to share in the book. And I decided to summarise how I've been co creating on both conscious and subconscious levels since I was a child. And one example of this is when we'd sold our house, And we were looking for somewhere to rent. I'd already visited several properties, But there wasn't much available that would suit our needs and our wishes. So I sat down in front of my computer, Asked the angels for help, Typed in the same words that I had been typing in beforehand. And I was really surprised to see that an offer came up that I hadn't seen before. So I phoned the agency, I booked a visit for the following day. And one hour after I'd visited the house, The house was ours to rent. But what is I find anyway, Really, Really amazing about this particular story, Is that a couple of weeks before we signed the rental agreement, I had been walking along the river, Not too far from where we live now with my best friend. And I said to her that I would love to live in this neighbourhood. Little did I know that I would find this house and that we would be within walking distance of that river and of the place where I loved to go before and I still love going now. So for me, I feel that the moral of this story and what I've been sharing about intentions rather than goals, Is its energy. Our words carry energy and our intentions carry energy. And if you don't necessarily agree with that, Or if you're not too sure about that, Just think of all the positive things that you say to yourself and how that makes you feel. And then think about how you feel when you hear or speak words that aren't so positive. I'm sure you'll agree with me that there's a shift in energy. So it's not so much a case of careful what you wish for, But careful what you put out there.