How to Set Intentions & Follow through with Them
You might associate intention-setting with your favorite yoga class, but it can also improve your life off the mat. You’re not alone if you aren’t sure how to set intentions and manifest them into reality. Let this guide assist you in creating meaningful intentions and following through on them to bring about the changes you desire.
Why intentions are powerful
What do you truly desire? Most people feel slightly uncomfortable asking themselves this question, but before you can bring about change, you must clearly define what it is that you want. This is what an intention is — a statement of what you want more of in your life, accompanied by rituals designed to bring it into reality.
This process is powerful. Athletes who combine intention-setting and visualization with physical training improve their performance by as much as 45%, and 90% of Olympic athletes engage in some form of this practice.
Focusing your mental energy on your intention keeps it prominent in your brain, forcing you to pay more attention to it and unconsciously aligning your actions with your desires. Neuroscientists call this process value tagging, where your mind prioritizes what you focus on and disregards irrelevant information.
Intention-setting and rituals
The first step in following through with your intentions is to make them matter to you, your psyche, and your spirit. You reinforce your intention through rituals that lend weight and importance to them in your brain such as:
Lighting a candle and visualizing the flames carrying your energy into the universe.
Choosing a verse or quote that encourages you and meditating on it while going for a walk.
Going into nature and speaking your intention aloud — literally proclaiming it from the mountaintops.
Accountability: 5 ways to follow through on your intentions
The following five tips increase your accountability and gently remind you to follow through with your intentions.
1. Write it down. Consider starting an intention journal with your intention on page one. Write down one thing you do each day to manifest your intention — meditating on it counts!
2. Set realistic deadlines. Turn your intentions into SMART goals by adding a realistic time component. You can also break these down into bite-sized pieces. For example, if you intend to write a novel while working full-time, pen at least 100 words per day and celebrate each week that you do.
3. Appoint an accountability partner. Humans are social by nature. Consider informing a trusted friend of your intention and asking them to check in with you on your progress on a regular basis.
4. Periodically evaluate and regroup. Life doesn’t stop while you manifest your intention, and your aim may change. Reassess every other week and adjust when necessary.
5. Reward to reinforce. The human psyche doesn’t like punishment. To reinforce behaviors that bring you closer to manifesting your intention, reward yourself when you act in alignment with it.
Setting intentions and following through with them
Intentions can transform your life when you follow through with them. Treat yourself with gentle self-compassion when focusing on what you want, perform rituals to reinforce your intention in your psyche, and enact common-sense accountability solutions to keep yourself on the path to your dream life.
Cora Gold is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She has a passion for writing about ways to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life, especially for new moms.