Resolutions or Intentions? - 1/22/26

January, of course, is considered by most people in the US as the time for a new beginning and a fresh start. January is also a time for setting resolutions. It’s a new year, right? So, most of us make some kind of New Year’s resolution. Yeah, we all know how those tend to go. Ugh.

But what if, instead of resolutions, we set an intention? I know what you’re thinking.

“Intention? What’s that? Isn’t it the same thing?”.

No, they aren’t the same thing, they’re very different and that’s the big secret. Allow me to let you in on that secret…

So, to start with, you wonder if there’s really that big of a difference between a resolution and an intention, right? How much difference can there really be? Well, there’s actually a lot of difference.

Resolutions are specific. They’re rigid, not flexible. We tend to make resolutions like exercising three days a week, losing ten pounds, or “fixing” something about ourselves that we don’t like. Something about us is “broken”.

We’re trying to make ourselves better in some way, which is great, but we rarely stick to them. Resolutions tend to make us feel like failures. If we don’t adhere to the strict steps we need to take to achieve the goal we’ve set, we’re “bad” at achieving goals.

While the change we’re trying to make may be positive, a resolution feels more like a bunch of rules about what we must do, or things we can’t do, in order to achieve it. We set ourselves up for failure because there’s not a lot of wiggle room. How many times have we tried to keep our resolutions and we end up quitting. The mindset is that it's “all or nothing”. So, if we miss a week of exercise or lose five pounds only to gain three of them back in a few weeks, our resolution is out the window. We’re never going to keep it anyway, so let’s just quit. Right?

Which is what makes an intention so much more positive and achievable.

An intention is a compass. A resolution is a destination. That's the secret.

An intention is flexible and allows change when needed. It’s adaptable. It guides us, it doesn’t insist on perfection. “Progress, not perfection” is one of my favorite sayings.

What if, instead of saying “I’m going to exercise three times a week and lose ten pounds”, you said, “I’m going to take better care of my body in 2026.”

Which sounds more achievable? Which has a more positive and happier feel to it? Which one sounds better when you say it out loud to yourself?

So, what can an intention look like? Other than taking better care of our bodies, it can be nearly anything. We can choose to be more mindful of our self-talk, be more discerning about how we spend our money, or spend more time doing things we enjoy. An intention is a principle that we use in our lives that, over time, helps us grow. We use it to become a version of ourselves that we are proud to be.

Let’s say that, normally, you’d make a resolution to read a book each month. Tough to do sometimes. Family, work, even just being tired can put us behind on finishing that book one month. Or every month. Now, we have to hurry up and finish those last twelve chapters before Monday. Sounds less like enjoyment, doesn’t it? Now it seems more like just one more thing we must do, adding more pressure to an already busy life.

What if we flip that around into an intention instead? What could that look like?

“This year I will make more time to read something I enjoy.”

There’s no fixed number of hours, or chapters, or books. If you only manage to make it through one book that year, you win. Would you have finished it if you put more pressure on yourself? Maybe. But why put that kind of pressure on yourself? What does it serve you to make something that is so enjoyable to you into just one more task on the long list of tasks you have to do? You might only be able to add an hour a week or month to your reading time, but that’s great! You read more than usual. You made time and made it happen. That builds your self-esteem because you did accomplish your intention. How would that make you feel?

You can start small, like more reading time, or you can go big.

An example of a big intention could look like “I’m going to be more mindful of my self-talk and when I catch myself saying something negative, I’ll find a positive to replace it.”

No judgement, just acknowledgement. You won’t catch that negative talk every time, but you don’t beat yourself up over the times you don’t catch yourself. You hear yourself saying “oh you dummy” when you make a simple error (like the many typos I’ve corrected her…oops “here”). So, you stop for a second and say “I made a mistake, but I can easily fix it.” Isn’t it nicer to hear? Would you catch those thoughts more often as time goes on? You probably would. It becomes a habit, correcting negative self-talk without judgement. It’s a muscle we all need to make use of more often. At the end of the year, your self-talk is more positive, and you feel better about yourself. And that’s not just a big intention; it’s a major re-alignment of your self-image with who you actually are.

So, here’s my challenge to you. What’s your intention for 2026?

Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear them. And be sure to sign up for my newsletter that will be starting in February.