My One Word Intention For 2020
For the past six years, a New Year's ritual I’ve practiced has been to select one word as my intention or theme for the year ahead. This guides how I intend to show up and has replaced specific goals and outcomes that I used to define for myself.
My intention for this year is heart. For me, it means learning to listen to and lead more from my heart. I’ve focused a lot on building an understanding of and relationship with my mind over the past many years, and feel good and settled about this. Now I am curious to explore what it looks and feels like for me to lead my life more from my heart.
In previous years, my intentions have been trust, fearless, freedom, energy and discover.
What I have learned is that this one word intention acts as a compass of sorts, or a North Star. It helps guide my decisions, small and large. And in moments when I feel challenged, uncertain or fearful, I turn to it like I would an umbrella in the rain. It gives me some space to carry on with less agitation, anxiety or stress.
Setting and sharing an intention for the year with those close to me has been a meaningful way to connect at a deeper level. Over the past year, here are a sampling of intentions friends have set for themselves, which I’m sharing here with you to possibly help inspire yours.
Acceptance
Action
Authentic
Awareness
Balance
Bold
Breathe
Care
Change
Commitment
Communication
Compassion
Confidence
Connection
Control
Courage
Create
Discipline
Equilibrium
Explore
Faith
Fearless
Fit
Focus
Form
Fortitude
Freedom
Fun
Generosity
Giving
Grace
Gratitude
Grounded
Growth
Harmony
Heart
Humility
Integrity
Joy
Learn
Lightness
Love
Mastery
Open
Ownership
Partnership
Play
Positive
Presence
Relationships
Relax
Respect
Responsibility
Self Love
Serve
Sincerity
Simplify
Surrender
Thoughtful
Truth
Trust
Understanding
Union
Win
I suspect by now you’ve connected with one word as your intention for the year. If not, don’t worry and give yourself some space. It’ll become clear soon enough.
Once I’ve set my intention, I find it helpful to share it with those close to me, make it visible in my physical or digital space and to write some reflections on what this means for me in a journal. This reflects my commitment to my intention.
The only choice that I believe that we can make in life is how to show up, especially in the face of challenges that we may encounter along our journey.
This one word intention can be an incredible source of inspiration, as it comes from the only place where our truth resides, inside ourselves.
