Why intentions are far more powerful than resolutions!

It’s that time of year again…when we fall over ourselves making promises to improve our lives. Some attainable, some far too grandiose, most a repeat of the resolutions we made the year before, and maybe the year before that or even the decade before?? (Ouch!). We all set out with great exuberance but usually fall flat on our face. Resolutions are customarily destined to fail, Why? Because of the time of year? Or maybe because they are made with only the outcome in mind? When the focus is on the destination rather than the journey expectations are too high. Stats show that only 12% of people keep a resolution, they also show that setting intentions are far more successful than making resolutions. Intentions are kinder and less pressured. They embody a process, a general direction towards where we want to guide our energy and in the unfolding the destination emerges. The journey becomes the destination.

We can gain so much clarity by setting intentions. When we set intentions we take actionable steps to attain them. For example, we can set a resolution to lose weight but we might find this a struggle if we don’t back it up with the intention to live a healthy life. Intentions make us laser focused to complete our goals, it’s a very powerful conscious manifestation technique. When we set an intention, we make a declaration about our determination and readiness to work toward realising our goals. But guess what? Creating the habit of daily intention setting is far more powerful than we ever imagined. When we do so we activate our reticular activation system (RAS), a network of neurons in our brain stem. Our RAS is responsible for filtering all the information we take in from our surroundings and preventing overload. All of our senses, apart from our sense of smell, are wired directly to our RAS. It’s like the gatekeeper for our brain, separating what sensory information our conscious mind needs to pay attention to and moving the overflow into our subconscious storage unit. Our RAS plays a very important role in motivating us and helping us set goals.

We can use this little magical piece of our brain to our advantage. It usually filters information based on our beliefs. It acts like our very own internal algorithm. Have you ever noticed when we google something it appears constantly on our phone or social media? Have you seen this in real life?….You think of something and all of a sudden it appears everywhere? A car you want, it’s everywhere! A baby, they are everywhere? This is your RAS working in full swing filtering out all the background noise to bring what you’re focusing on into your conscious mind. 

When we set clear and specific intentions our brain will filter through all the information we receive and automatically highlight all the information we need relevant to these intentions. Our RAS literally has the power to filter positive and negative thoughts, beliefs and experiences. All we need to do is set our intentions, focus on our desires and commit to believing that the route to our destination will appear. When we fear or doubt we allow conflicting information in, so conviction is key, conviction and repetition. But like everything, intentions also need action. We can’t sit around and wait for something to happen…..with all the best intentions in the world, if we lock ourselves up in an ivory tower or we become couch potatoes we won’t magically lose weight, find a significant other, make new friends, etc. The more we set intentions the more driven and motivated we become, it’s as if by magic more opportunities arise to help us take each step in the right direction. Intention setting raises our vibrations and signals our brain to present more information that helps us take action. The clarity activates our algorithm. 

What kind of intentions should we set? 

Here are a few intentions and actions that are guaranteed to enhance your life:

1. I intend to live a healthy life, my action is to eat healthy food, join the gym, regulate my sleep.
2. I intend to see the positive in every negative, my action is to be more positive, change my perspective, have more empathy, find solutions.
3. I intend to respond rather than react, my action is to breathe, listen and stay calm.
4. I intend to stop taking things personally, my action is to become more aware of my boundaries and practice acceptance.
5. I intend to be grateful for three things in my life today, my action is to acknowledge them, write them down, give thanks.
6. I intend to be more prosperous, my action is to study up, ask for a promotion, generate more revenue, etc.
7. I intend to raise my vibrations, my actions are to listen to music, dance, hang out with fun friends, go on amazing adventures.
8. I intend to be kinder, my actions are to take on a service that helps people, compliment strangers, make amends with loved ones, etc.
9. I intend to have more peace in my life, my actions are creating acts of selfcare, forgiving, meditating, yoga, etc.
10. I intend to accept myself as enough, my actions are practising positive self talk, using affirmations, letting go of limiting beliefs.

You get the gist! Creating a habit of setting daily intentions improves our lives ten fold. The journey is the most important part of the destination. These small steps have the power to be so transformational. They are far more attainable than jumping in and making resolutions that fill us with dread and overwhelm. By setting clear intentions our RAS is more than happy to provide us with information that will lead us to having an abundant life. So focus on what you really desire in life, whether it’s personal, professional or spiritual, setting intentions sets you up to have a positive mindset and motivates you to make it happen.

How do you start?

Think about what you desire. Write it down. When we write stuff down we begin the momentum to take action towards our goals. Take some time to write down all the feelings you have attached to the desire, how it would feel to achieve it, what thoughts come to your mind? Now write down how you intend to receive your desire. What actions can you take? Identify words that elevate your energy, highlight them. Use these words to set smaller daily intentions. For example, if your desire is to lose weight and your intention is to have a healthier life and you wrote down words like you have “more energy” use this word to set a daily intention to eat more greens or go for a run. Or if your intention is to invite a loving relationship into your life and you wrote down words like it “feels secure”, set a daily intention to do something loving for yourself so you feel more secure in yourself. If your desire is to have more money and you wrote down it makes you feel free, set the daily intention to do something extravagant or adventurous. Cultivating feelings that match our desires fast tracks achieving them. The rule of thumb is to keep a positive mindset at all times. Believe in the function of our reticular activation system. We truly do have the means and the power to create the reality we want so skip those resolutions and try setting intentions instead.

If you wish to unblock limiting beliefs that hold you back and fill you with doubt, DM me for a free discovery call. x