{ 2014: The year of Intention }
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 
I love the new beginning that January brings and I always look forward to the picking of my One Little Word to help me set my new goals. This year however, I have decided to do this a little differently. Instead of setting myself some goals, I want to set myself some intentions for different areas of my life. I don't want to be able to just tick off a list of actions at the end of the year, I want to see and feel growth in myself and in my life.
In order to see the growth that I would like by the end of this year I decided that I was going to take part in Ali Edwards One Little Word Project. I am hoping that my word will help me connect and commit to the changes that I want to make. A word that will motivate and inspire me.
And my word for 2014 is Intention.
This year I don't want life to pass me by, to just "happen" to me. I want to live it with intention. I want to be intentional about how I spend my time, how I treat my body, how I live my faith, how I interact with others and how I look after my soul. I want to live my life with purpose and direction.
While looking through some quotes to match my intention I found this,
"Today is the day I made myself the promise to live more from Intention and less from habit. "
Here are my intentions for 2014:
Intentionally use my finances to save up for a much needed, debt free, holiday in 2015.
2015 is the first year in six years where I haven’t been studying towards my degree and to celebrate that I want to go on a once in a life time holiday. I want to go to Vietnam, which as you can expect is going to cost a small fortune. As I want to do this holiday debt free, that means I have to put together a rather aggressive savings plan which is where my intention to use my finances to save up for a debt free holiday comes into play. I am looking to save up about £2000 which means that I need to put away about £100 a month over the next twenty months. It’s going to be tough and will mean some sacrifices in other areas but that is OK.
Intentionally finish what I start.
My mom has pointed out a few times to me that I am not good at finishing what I start… and in my defence it’s because I love trying new things. What I need to remember though is that sometimes, this behaviour creeps into areas of my life which have bigger consequences for me. Like following a particular healthy eating plan, or continuously exercising, or regularly going to church or finishing a craft project. This year I want to make a commitment to myself that before I say yes to something new, that I am going to consider what I already have going on and realistically decide if I can finish what I already have committed to as well as the new thing. I want to see things through to the end.
Intentionally exercise 3 times a week and eat well to change my body and health for the better.
This is another big one for me and will probably be one of the ones that I need to really push myself on this year. I am not an exercise fan but I am working on changing my body and my health which requires me to do the best that I can for the body that I have been given. Right now I don’t have access to a gym but by the end of the month I will have. So my intention for January is to get signed up and then intentionally exercise 3 times a week there after. The other half of this is the food and I am planning on eating clean food and watching what I put into my body.
Intentionally avoid comparison between myself and others.
Comparison is deadly for all of us, but it especially deadly for me as I find myself doing it more often than I should. This one is going to be difficult as these thoughts so quickly pop into my head. I am going to have to be vigilant. Be on the look out for them. And when I find myself in that comparison trap, I need to remind myself that I am loved, that I have enough and that there is a specific plan just for me.
Intentionally find a church to make my home.
This year I really want to find a church, settle in and make some friends. I am going to have to be very intentional about this as in the past few years I have found it way too easy to run in and straight out of church, avoiding all the social events and keeping to myself.
Intentionally set aside time each month to create and nurture my soul and body.
When life gets busy and work becomes a mad house the first thing that goes out the window for me is my creative time.
Intentionally get God's word into my heart by memorising a new bible verse each month.
Mandisa challenged us to become word warriors by learning a new bible verse each month. I think that this is a great way to build my relationship with my heavenly father and to get His word into my heart.
Intentionally live a life of gratitude
Being grateful for what I have is very important to me and so this year I want to intentionally find something to be grateful for each day. To help me do this I am going to use my Gratitude journal to record all the blessings in my life as I make my way through this year.
2 comments
Love the quote! Some great intentions, good luck :)
ReplyDeleteSome great intentions there! Are you going to put the quote somewhere prominent? I travelled through Vietnam a few years ago and its an amazing place which taught me so much.
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