Intentions

-
As a business graduate I know the value of specific goals.  If you have taken any course on goal setting you have heard the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, time based).  SMART goals are important in the business world.  They provide direction.  They make determining whether the team has met them is objective.  Motivational speakers apply the same principles to personal growth. It seems to work for a lot of folks.  For me, they can't be applied to personal growth without leaving me feeling overwhelmed and guilty when I don't meet them.  I am tired of judging myself against a specific goal.  I don't want to be numbers driven for my personal life.

That doesn't mean I want to completely check out from thinking about direction for the next year.  Instead of resolutions or goals I refer to them as intentions.  Here are the ways I am thinking differently about intention than resolutions:

1.  It doesn't actually matter if I meet them.  My intentions are things I am going to explore and see if they fit.  They are ideas I want to explore.  They might not work out.  That's okay.  I will get curious about something else.

2.  I can't actually meet them because they are not specific enough.  These are things I want to explore in my life.  They are not goals at all.

3.  There is no guilt about not meeting an intention.  If I explore something and it isn't a fit, or stops being a fit, I will move on.

Here are some examples of my intentions for this year:

1.  Explore intuitive eating and a healthy relationship with exercise.  If you know me you have seen me follow a bunch of diets and fitness regimens.  I am disillusioned with the diet industry.  I am exploring new ways to have a healthy relationship with food.  I have also stepped away from the gym membership I had to find a relationship with exercise that doesn't come with the shame of diet culture linked to it.  I purchased the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch along with the associated workbook.

2.  Explore embodiment and meditation.  I have recently started a yoga practice which has helped me start to meditate a little.  I am finding peace in that time and some of the stress my body is carrying is starting to move away.

3.  Reading.  I have a list of books I want to read (mostly informed by Sarah Bessey's Favourite Books of 2018).  I actually won't read them all.  I will pick up different books that come out during the year instead.  I have learned to use audio books this past year which is a great way for me to consume some of the non-fiction books I want to read - particularly if the non-fiction book is read by the author.


Here's to an intentional 2019.  Without needless guilt or shame.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jillian Michaels - Maximize Your Life

-
I was really excited when I heard Jillian Michaels was coming to Winnipeg.  If you don't know who Jillian Michaels she is the trainer that is known for being on the Biggest Loser.  Jillian's contestants are often the winners of the Biggest Loser (as was the case this year with a contestant who had everything against her in the beginning.)  The reason I like Jillian is not because of her training skills.  It is because she has an ability to get to the heart of a contestant and figure out what it is that is getting in the way of their goals. When she came on stage see was instantly endearing.  She swapped her high heels for flip flops saying that she felt like she had done her duty by coming out in them.  She broke down what she was going to talk about - nutrition, working out, mind.  She was real about the fact that many of the people who came to see her, wanted to know how to lose weight so she spent the first hour talking about it.  The second ...
Read more

New Years Resolutions

-
Image
I have had some time to reflect on 2010.  As I said in my Christmas letter it was a good year overall.  I want 2011 to be a good year too.  I remember that 2010 started well (or maybe 2009 ended well.)  I have to admit that I have had some challenges the past couple of months.  The last two weeks at work were tumultuous.  I don’t want to live in crisis.  I don’t want to just survive.  So given where I am at now, what can I do to enter this year with a sense of optimism? First, I remember all that I did in 2010.  I know that I can do more than I am .  I was inspired by a blog I follow to write some resolutions.  I was inspired because I saw what she had accomplished.  I remembered that I accomplished things too.  And I think that it will be wonderful to reflect on what I have done.  Oh I was also comforted by the fact that some of the 2010 goals ended up on her 2011 list again.  So here we go: 1.  Run a 5...
Read more

Fair Weather

-
Usually this time of year I start feeling anxious. I wonder if I will be able to cope with the demands of a fall and winter schedule. This year is different. I am excited about re-engaging community. I can’t wait to see what God has for me. As I have been pondering this, a frightening thought has come to mind. What happens when the weather changes? What happens if I get depressed? How will I deal with that? I don’t think that depression is something I have ever directly admitted on my blog. I have struggled with depression on and off since I was a teenager. One particularly bad winter I spent several months sleeping on the floor instead of my bed. It went undiagnosed until one year in my mid-twenties a friend of mine who is a nurse said she thought I was depressed. I have struggled with being a Christian who has depression. There are many in Christian circles who think it is a sin to be depressed – a form of bondage. They think that depression is always some sort of spiritu...
Read more