As the New Year approaches, many of us find ourselves grappling with the concept of New Year's resolutions. Resolutions are those lofty goals that often leave us feeling more frustrated than fulfilled. But what if there's a more playful and encouraging way to kickstart 2025? Enter intention setting, a refreshing approach that prioritizes personal growth over self-criticism. Unlike traditional resolutions, which can feel shaming and difficult to maintain, intentions invite a sense of curiosity and openness, allowing us to embrace change with grace and purpose. In this piece, we'll explore why intention setting could be the best New Year's resolution for professional women seeking to reignite their passion and find deeper alignment in their personal and professional lives.

Why Intentions Over Resolutions?

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, many of us start with high hopes but often end up feeling defeated. Traditional resolutions can set us up for failure because they’re usually unrealistic and rigid. Resolutions focus on end results rather than the journey, making it easy to feel overwhelmed and self-critical when we don't see immediate progress. Often, they’re structured in a way that leads to failure. Black or white constructs like “go to the gym 4 days per week” are out the window the first time you don’t make it the 4th time in any week. For professional women juggling multiple roles, the pressure to meet goals can lead to burnout, especially when life throws inevitable curveballs. Resolutions can foster a mindset that equates worth with achievement rather than process and growth.

That’s exactly why I moved away from resolutions years ago. Shifting to intention-setting was appealing because it emphasizes a more flexible and compassionate approach. By focusing on personal growth, intentions encourage a mindset of exploration and curiosity, helping us embrace change without the fear of failure.

Intentions: A Path to Personal Growth

Intentions offer a refreshing alternative to traditional New Year's resolutions. They focus on playful exploration rather than rigid, binary goals. They invite a sense of openness and curiosity, allowing you to explore new possibilities without the pressure of fixed outcomes. This approach is particularly beneficial for professional women seeking balance and fulfillment in their lives because, let’s be honest, we have little time for BS, and shame and guilt just slow us down.

Setting intentions encourages you to align your actions with your values and desires, creating a more authentic path forward. Instead of feeling trapped by the fear of failure, you embrace each step as an opportunity to learn and grow. This path encourages a holistic approach to change, making it a powerful tool for anyone looking to thrive in the New Year and beyond.

Embracing Playfulness in Intention Setting

What I love most about using intentions instead of resolutions is how childlike the process can be. Back when we were kids, we explored everything in our worlds without shame. We were BIG on curiosity and low on expectations. Embracing playfulness in intention setting transforms the process of year-end personal development into a joyful exploration rather than a daunting task. Unlike rigid resolutions, intentions allow room for flexibility and creativity. By allowing yourself to approach intentions with a sense of fun, you open the door to unexpected insights and opportunities.

When you set an intention, you’re essentially just playing in the sand— exploring that intention however you’d like. Unlike resolutions and their all-or-nothing structure, the only way to fail at an intention is to take literally no action.

Curious how to set intentions for New Year’s? Here’s how!

How to Set New Year’s Intentions

Everyone approaches intentions differently, so there’s really no wrong way to approach it. Here’s my personal practice.

1. Reflection without judgment: journal reflection on what worked, what felt hard, what I am grateful for, and what I’d like to change

2. Identify themes: From my reflections, I identify 3 to 5 themes that I want to explore in the New Year. For example, Community was one of my intentions for 2024

3. Brainstorm exploration: I brainstorm ways to explore each theme. It’s less a to-do list and more of a grab bag of possibilities. For example, to explore Community, I listed things like reading books about friendship or community development, attending meetup groups and events, etc. You don’t have to do everything in the grab bag. Doing just one counts as exploration. My example looks tame. But you can get weird or playful exploring yours. (Ask me about my brief stint as a jewelry maker! )

4. Make a roadmap: I love having something visual to return to for encouragement, clarity, and accountability. I write out my intentions and grab bag of exploration options to guide my year.

That’s it—that’s the practice! I have been doing this for more than five years. Since I switched from resolutions to intentions, I went from avoiding year-end personal reflection like the plague to genuine excitement about my New Year’s ritual of reflection and direction setting.

Have you tried intention-setting?