After a season of indulging, combined with the fresh start of a New Year, its natural that we’re drawn to making resolutions.  Feeling lazy and bloated, it feels good to make a firm proclamation toward a specific result. But the fact that only 8% of people will actually achieve their New Year’s resolution, I am thinking this year may be a good time to reinvent my hope of a fresh start with a more flexible, balanced approach.  So this year instead of a resolution, I am shifting to the mindlfulness based practice of setting an intention.

In order to make any sustained change, we need both determination and patience.  If we are too harsh and strict, a slip up may throw us off track and lead us to resign in failure.  If we are too lenient toward our change, we let ourselves off the hook, most likely as a fear of failure.  So to be successful, a change plan must find the sweet spot balancing effort and patience. It must offer motivation and direction, but allow for growth and regrouping.  In mindfulness practice, there is the concept of setting an intention. In Latin, “intention” comes from “intendere” meaning “to turn one’s attention toward.” Our first step toward any goal is to direct our awareness in a deliberate way.  By setting an intention, we become increasingly mindful with a non-judgmental curiosity.

Intentions allow for an overarching goal with flexible execution.  They allow us to identify areas of growth, summon courage and energy for change, but in a manner of compassion and kindness to ourselves.  Intentions invite us to view our change in broader and more meaningful ways. For example, it’s common to set a resolution to lose 10 pounds.  In doing so, we become focused on the outcome on the scale and tend to ignore the process. Studies tend to show a common paradox of this approach.  The more we focus on results, the less likely we are to achieve them. Instead, research supports a more process oriented approach, such as setting an intention for better health.  In this way, we think in a broad sense of all the steps we can take, such as our diet, exercise, and other habits, that lead to success. In her mindfulness teachings, Sarah Rudell Beach writes, “the focus of our resolution should be the process – the infinite present moments in which transformation will occur – rather than the single instance of its attainment.”

Intentions involve a constant feedback loop of awareness.  They involve a beginning again that keeps us fresh and refocused.  When we fall short in our process, we can gently bring our awareness back to our intention and begin again.  And really, the best way to achieve a resolution is to bring awareness to a behavior, recognize where we drift, and begin again. By viewing our change through a  process of intention, however, rather than a set resolution, we can make our transformation with an attitude of compassion and joy rather than judgment. Intentions lend themselves to renewal…each day, each minute, each breath.