New Year's Intentions

Happy 2021, readers! I’m grateful to have the opportunity to engage with you via my blog and hope that you had a restful and restorative conclusion to 2020.

For my first post of the year, I wanted to write about intention-setting. The beginning of the year represents a good chance to take stock of where you’ve come and where you want to go over the next 6-12 months.

I’ll share my process around self-reflection as well as a few of my individual intentions and goals, in case they’re helpful in sparking ideas for you.

When I reflect

• I set aside time to reflect at a bird's eye level every 6 months or so. Doing this every 6 months provides me with enough opportunity to course correct without being immersed in an existential crisis every month. 
• This process takes me an hour or two. I like to set aside time when I have some flexibility - a day off or a weekend - rather than trying to sandwich this reflection in amidst an otherwise busy calendar.

How I reflect 

• I start by taking stock of where I’ve come. I go back to my intentions from 6 / 12 months ago and see what they look like now. Some may still be present, others may seem completely absurd, and others may have come to fruition. All of these outcomes are reasonable, and reflection on the past enables me to see how far I’ve come. 
• I take a few moments to be proud of what I’ve done and to recognize where I’m still growing.  
• Then, I look forward, asking myself - what do I want in the next 6 / 12 months? What intentions do I want to set? I write these down so that I can refer to them later

Selections from my 2020 + 2021 resolutions
I’ll share a few of my resolutions from 2020 and 2021 below, in case they're of help. 

• 2020 Resolution 1: It seems that I may be done living in San Francisco. Identify where I want to live next and move. Create and do things on an SF bucket list.
  Outcome: In 2020, I moved from San Francisco to Playa Del Carmen. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do most of my bucket list items when the city closed due to lockdown. 
• 2020 Resolution 2: Spend quality time with Pinch (my dog)
  Outcome: Done and done!
• 2020 Resolution 3: Start my coaching business, and if it feels right, leave Google to pursue it.
  Outcome: Done and done!
• 2020 Resolution 4: Build a new habit each month using some sort of 30-day challenge.
  Outcome: I don't think I did this even once.

 

• 2021 Resolution 1: Create space for what nourishes me: bread, chocolate, time with Pinch, time spent in nature, board games, music, dancing, exercise. 
• 2021 Resolution 2: Continue to build my business to see just how much it can grow.
• 2020 Resolution 3: Be thoughtful about the amount of time I spend with people who drain vs. energize me, prioritizing the latter. 
• 2021 Resolution 4: Travel, if possible...

What’s next for you
Hopefully these help provide templates for you if you enjoy reflecting and setting resolutions or intentions. If I can be of help in clarifying anything for you, don’t hesitate to reach out. My calendar is always open for a free 30-minute chat to hear what’s going on in your world and where I can be of help: https://calendly.com/tory-coaching
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Looking forward to where 2021 takes us...