How To Set Intentions For The New Year & Your Life

Only 8 days until 2018 is behind us. Last year around this time I had declared my word for the year as elevate. Looking back over the past 35o some odd days, I can say elevate certainly showed itself in one way or another all year long. In years past I’ve been more visual about my intentions or goals, making vision boards, or mood boards for the year. Lately it has largely just been written manifestos, I think as we approach 2019 I want to return back to my old ways. Some people are resolution oriented, others choose themes or words, some set goals. I want to show you how I set my intentions for the new year, so stick with me; let’s get better together.

Setting intentions for your life is something I encourage everyone to do. You should by all means have a plan of sorts of how you want the 80 to 90 years of your life to look. Walking around with no plan just isn’t smart. This is something that I have been indoctrinated with, largely due to my Christian upbringing, but it is also something I have seen work in my life. Writing down my goals, dreams, and how I plan to make them happen has truly brought them to fruition. I find that planning for the future can be daunting if you don’t have actual steps to make your goals happen, here’s how I get it done.

Every goal I have is based on how I intend for my life to look.

I know that I want my life to be one of luxury, leisure, and legacy. With that in mind, every step I make is leading me to that ideal. Who I surround myself with, the trips I take, the opportunities I pursue. Similar to having a mission statement for a company, I ascribe to having a mission statement for your life. I have, for as long as I can remember, wanted to be a household name. Even when my career goals were attorney and supreme court judge, I wanted my name to be known. Though I have taken a different path in life – that goal stayed top of mind and has become a reality. Having a mission statement for my life has kept me on track through hurdles, struggles, and inevitable missteps.

For your life to operate as you see fit, you have be intentional with your plan. After creating a mission statement, you must make a plan on how to bring that statement to life. For me that involved saying and believing the following – My 20s were for learning. They were ugly and caused me pain. But overall they’ve been the decade where I learned the most about myself, my desires, and what I need to thrive. Currently my 30s are about building. This is the period where the foundation is being set for my middle aged era and my latter years. This means I’m working a lot, I’m trying to save, invest, and grow my wealth. My 40s are about comfort, while my 50s and beyond are about creating a legacy. All of this always goes back to me wanting to live a life of leisure and luxury. Ask yourself how can I bring your mission to life and get busy.

Another way I set intentions for the new year and my life is by choosing a word each year that keeps me grounded and working toward my goal. In year’s past the words have ranged from transition to elevate to love and for 2019 my word is, peace. The year my word was love turned out the be the year I met my husband. I don’t take that as a coincidence but rather my world being formed by my words. As a woman of faith, my belief in God’s word rarely waivers and one thing I stand on firmly is, “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” Our words and thoughts are intrinsically responsible for the lives we have. You have to be mindful of the words you speak and the things you think, they will create your reality.

OUTFIT DETAILS: Pants – Zara Men (old) / tunic – ASOS / sneakers – Balenciaga Triple S / purse – Gucci / sunnies – Celine  / vest – Nordstrom (old)

The past couple of years I have struggled a bit with outside sources causing me to not have peace in my life. At times that has been my job and businesses, at others it has been people or relationships. In 2019, my goal is to get back to having peace in my choices, peace in my thoughts, and peace in knowing that my steps are always ordered. I started meditating last week to set my plan in motion as well. Without any action behind your mission statements or your word of the year choice, no matter how great it sounds, nothing will happen.

Here is a list for you to use as you prepare for the new year in your life: 

• Create a mission statement for your life
• Choose a word or theme for each year that always connects back to your mission statement
• Develop a plan that has actionable items and timelines to help you stay on track to accomplish your mission
• Act on the plan! Nothing happens in life without movement, don’t be afraid to take a step.

Photography: RSee

My hope you as this year closes is that the things that didn’t happen this trip around the sun, will come to fruition on this next journey.

xx,