Tag: intentions

New Year Intentions

It may be a trite topic but who among us doesn’t feel at least a little inclined to start over, have another go, make a fresh list of TO DOs at the start of the new year?

Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about endings and letting things go at the close of the year. The two themes go together: endings and beginnings, closing and opening, death and renewal, pushing away and drawing in. Life is a constant zig zag and flow, a state of flux that is best left unblocked by the past and kept open for the future.

The new year is a man-made construct. In our regulated society, it’s a significant mark of the rollover of time. Historically, the start of each season was important, which makes sense since seasons affected human lives much more dramatically. But now, with our ability to move across the globe, to trade, to create warmth and cold, it is time that is most meaningful to the majority of us.

I am one of those people with a new list of TO DOs. I started it a little early because of a significant ending – the completion of draft seven of the novel I’m working on. There were so many things I was putting off until the writing was done that the list was long and haphazard. I’m glad I got started on it before the close of 2024 because now the list is manageable. I can plan and organise and satisfyingly tick things off. Even if your list is huge, I recommend leaving it somewhere obvious so you can see it and be reminded of what you would like to achieve; I don’t mean obsess, nor do I mean follow it to the exclusion of all other opportunities. But if it’s there, you can make conscious choices and it’s more likely things will get done.

Some people don’t like to plan. They’re spontaneous, perhaps reactionists. Perhaps they’re fatalists or spiritual or just really chilled and present. There’s something to be said for that; life can only be lived in the present moment, after all. If we carry too much of the past it influences the present and future. If we spend too much time projecting into the future, we miss what’s going on now.

But devoting some time to planning and organising gives us the opportunity to achieve things we want, to have purpose, to experience more of what life has to offer. Our society is time-driven and if we don’t pay attention to it, it passes unlived. If we want to maximise our enjoyment of life, a little planning can help.

Once my list is written and my visualisations are done, I am well on my way to letting life flow and much more likely to get where I want to go. Presence and spontaneity and surprise and wonder are, to me, the result of good planning and the actioning of a good new year list of TO Dos. The close of one year and the start of another is simply a good opportunity to make a fresh start. So far, listing intentions has served me well.

How about you? Are you a new year planner or a cruiser regarding the new year as just another day?

Despite Intentions

I’ll be brief. Time is of the essence. There is too little of it and so much to do. I just remembered; I have a book to write.

Of course I’m being facetious. Of course I never forgot I have a book to write. But sometimes it looks that way. Despite the great intentions I publicly expressed last month, I have not focussed especially well, nor have I made much headway.

There is so much to do! In the writing of the book and also in every other crevice and crater of life. Life is full of these drifts and deviations and distractions. The internet is not the only thing full of rabbit holes.

Is everyone else experiencing this phenomenon, that of making thoroughly good intentions and then letting them dribble away, as if they were unimportant? It doesn’t make sense. We know what we need to do. We know what’s good for us. Why then is it so difficult? What makes us procrastinate, be lazy, make the decision not to follow through?

The first strides towards my goal were enthusiastic and vigorous. I made good progress. I had a vision and drove myself towards it. But then, it got hard. Hard is the problem. Hard is uncomfortable. Hard is like a great big boulder on the path with seemingly unclimbable sides and no visible way around. Just looking at it makes us stuff up. It makes us notice the flowers on the side of the path, the pretty things within our reach.

The solution is easy. Be aware of the flowers but see them for what they are; distractions that lead us up other garden paths. Ignore them and get back to find a way over, around or through that boulder. Stick to the task at hand.

Persevere. I’ve written about that before too.

Someone once said that a ‘professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.’ I’ve had that in my mind for a long time. It applies to all pursuits and has in the past kept me going. It will now, too.

Maybe the strides need to be baby steps. As long as they’re in the right direction, it doesn’t matter.

Ali Lowe, one of the brilliant women in my writing group and the first to be published, advises, ‘write to the end.’ That’s how she did it. And may other authors as well. It relates to writing but also to achieving any goal. Stick to the task, right to the end.

An inspiring thought. A good intention.

It’s time to get back on track. And keep coming back.

I’ll get there. I’ve got this.

As Liz Gilbert would say, Onward.

Focus. Right to the end. Be present. Do it with intention. Re-commit to what is important to you. Achieve whatever it is you’ve selected to be your goal.

I thoroughly recommend the newly launched The Trivia Night by Ali Lowe.

Disclaimer: I can’t guarantee that you’ll only be able to read this in your breaks. It may prove to be a clump of flowers too irresistible not to steer you from your path.