How to set intentions instead of resolutions for 2021

"Specifying the how of reaching your goals makes people more likely to get started on time, stay on track in the face of distractions, and persist until the goal is attained,”

Gollwitzer wrote in an email. “And this is true for all kinds of goals, more abstract ones such as New Year's resolutions (I want to become more physically active!) or more concrete

ones (I want to go running at least once a week!)." AVOID RESOLUTIONS THAT GET BROKEN ANNUALLY Once you have selected an intention, write it down to keep it in the forefront of your

mind and help you manifest it in your everyday life, says Raab, who has written about intention-setting for Psychology Today. That's what Beth Graham did last year. I sat down and

decided how to approach the New Year and wrote in my journal, ‘Feel life. Live with intention,'” she says. The 58-year-old public relations specialist from St. Augustine, Florida, chose

 to shake things up for 2021 after breaking her resolutions “every single year." Her intention was “to feel life,” which included changing the way she used technology to be more present

in everyday tasks, shaking up her morning routine to feel more productive, and even putting on makeup each day. "Intentions are a bit more spiritual and they're a bit less

tangible—they're changes made at a much deeper core within your soul,” she explains. Janice Holly Booth, 62, of Charlotte, North Carolina, also had a new plan for herself last year. She

“set an intention to try and become a little bit better at everything I do, whether that's golf, painting, yard work or listening,” she says. Instead of rushing through her tasks,

Booth was “present, mindful and focused” during each activity, a mindset that she predicted would bring improvement in everything from her golf swing to her gardening. An intention

doesn't have to be an overarching goal, though. Millett, for example, chooses a specific word to focus on each year. In 2019 she selected the word “joy” and worked to imbue it into her

everyday life. For 2020 she chose the word “wonder” and for 2021 she chose “flow.” After several years of massive change and uncertainty, Millett says she feels “ready to let the energy of

life flow freely through me, knowing full well how to allow joy and wonder at the same time.” _Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 30, 2020. It's been

updated to reflect new information. _ _Melissa Locker is a contributing writer who covers lifestyle, home and garden, and arts and culture. She has also written for _Southern Living, Time 

_and_ The Guardian