Intentions vs. Goals: Why One-Word Intentions Work Better Than Goals and New Year Resolutions
“What’s your new year’s resolution?” That’s the one question that will flaunt around toward the final few days of every year.
Most of the time, we’ll blurt out a goal we had failed to achieve before, only this time, we genuinely believe we’re going to reach it. This is the year I’m going to make it happen, is what you say.
And sometimes, while your new year resolutions might be extremely coherent and well-thought-out objectives, the truth is, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be achieved. According to the University of Scranton, 92 percent of people who set New Year's goals never actually achieve them.
So you’re not alone in your struggle.
Toward the end of 2017, I decided to halt the redundant tradition of new year resolutions. I was tired of the repetitive nature of my yearly narratives: Set goals that don’t really matter to you, struggle to stick with them, and then totally fail to progress your life forward.
Since then, instead of setting new goals for the year ahead, I’ve been theming my years into one-word intentions.
An intention is a guiding principle for who you want to be and how you want to act, live, and show up in this world. Whether at work, in relationships, during your creative or spiritual pursuits, or in any other area of your life, an intention serves as an internal compass. It offers a sense of clarity and helps guide your actions as you move throughout the days of the year.
In Yogic philosophy, an intention is referred to as a Sankalpa. This term comes from the Sanskrit roots san, meaning “a connection with the highest truth,” and Kalpa, meaning “vow.” An intention, or Sankalpa, then, is a solemn vow and commitment we make with ourselves to support our highest truth.
But an intention shouldn’t be confused with a goal. A goal is the desired outcome you wish to attain further into the future. An intention is a chosen theme that allows you to create alignment in your life. Think of it as a greater aim, a holistic purpose, or an attitude you’re choosing to commit to; it forms the fabric through which you will sow your actions and reap the rewards.
An intention gives you a purpose to focus on—and isn’t purpose what we need as humans to find meaning in what we do?
For instance, my intention for 2018 was “truth.” The sole direction in which I focused my energy for that year was in being true to myself and further exploring what that ‘truth’ meant to me. As the year progressed, I set minor, quarterly goals, and made sure they aligned with that intention.
Looking back upon the last three years, I’ve recognized how with every new yearly intention I’ve set, I’ve grown happier, more fulfilled, more present, and much more in-tune with who I’m consciously becoming… Here’s how setting yearly one-word intentions can help you live a life that’s true to you.
The Difference Between Goals and Intentions: Goals Can Leave You Feeling Empty Inside
Goal-setting is a process that begins with the question of “what do I want to achieve tomorrow?” It allows us to look into the future so we can identify what it is we want to achieve or where it is we want to go, and then create an action plan that would allow us to get there.
The problem is, however, that goals alone can leave you feeling empty inside.
Consider this: If you do achieve your goal of running a marathon or publishing a book, you will certainly feel wonderful and accomplished. You will ride the wave for a few days, and then, when you come crashing down with it, reality will sink in and you will wonder: What do I do now?
This wave of hopelessness is what Harvard positive psychology, Tal Ben-Shahar, coined as the arrival fallacy, “the illusion that once we make it, once we attain our goal or reach our destination, we will reach lasting happiness.” But of course, that’s not the case, because compulsive goal-setting does not lead to happiness, it leads to a mindless and stressful game of fetch.
And if you fail to achieve your goal, you will certainly feel like a failure, which will leave you feeling empty inside, as well.
The downside of goals is that our failure to achieve them—and in some cases, despite our achievements, our perceived failure derived from the confusion or lack of clarity as to what’s next—makes us feel unfulfilled.
That’s because traditional goal setting is an outward-driven exercise. It’s designed to assign fulfillment as a by-product of the outcome of our goals, and it fails to accommodate our overarching purpose.
Truth is, goal-setting is an essential and integral part of life design. Personally, I follow a more mindful approach to goal-setting, a framework I refer to as GAP Goals—but before we set new goals for what’s ahead for us, we should first consider setting our intention.
An intention is concerned with the present moment of your life. It relies on how you feel right now. And you arrive at an intention once you contemplate these three questions:
What’s going well for me in my life?
Where are the areas in my life I can progress in?
Who am I becoming?
Intention-setting is an inward-driven approach and it begins with the question of “what do I want my purpose to be this year?”
If goals are rooted in your tomorrow and where you want to take your life, intentions are rooted in your today and who you’re actively becoming. If goals are fixated on what’s next, intentions keep you focused on what’s now. If goals are about a destination, intentions are about a direction.
And, honestly, you can always be pulled or fooled into thinking that the goals you choose are the right goals for you, but you, and only you, can be the architect behind what the right intentions are for you.
That’s the beauty of intentions, they’re born out of your own intuition.
Every Year, Create Alignment With One-Word Intentions
Your intention is your word, or theme, for the year. It’s your all-encompassing holistic purpose. It’s a noun or verb that defines the year ahead and provides you with the ultimate scale on which to weigh your actions and opportunities as they float your way.
Your intention is the magnet that guides your compass. It’s what you fall back on when you find yourself lost and uncertain, searching for the right energy to push you back on your feet in pursuit of your goals.
This one-word intention comes from within and answers this overall question:
What do I want my ultimate purpose to be this year?
The answer to this question is the sole holistic direction in which you will focus your energy throughout the year. This one-word intention will then create an overarching alignment between the goals you will tackle, the actions you will take, and the opportunities you will consider accepting and likewise, declining.
In a way, setting an intention for the year ensures that the goals you’re working toward truly align with who you want to become and where you want to take your life. Because what’s the point of pursuing the right goals that are flowing in the wrong river? You will end up swimming in a sea you never intended to be in.
All that matters is what you do with your time today, how you choose to live it, and who you become because of it. With an intention or theme, happiness, meaning, and fulfillment become a byproduct of how you behave rather than what you achieve.
The Intention-Setting Exercise That Will Redefine Your Year Ahead
Choose a word (noun or verb) to define your year ahead.
Here are some honest examples to help you get started:
My word for 2018 was “truth.” At the time, I was living a life of escapism. From the outside in, I had it all —the money, lavish jet-setter life, the job at a top tech firm. From the inside out, I felt like my life was drifting in a viscous stream and I didn’t know how to swim out of it. Being true to who I am, then, became my intention, and all the decisions I made thereafter revolved around further exploring that truth.
My word for 2019 was “wisdom.” My commitment to living a life of truth gave me the courage to quit my job and launch my own business. My theme in 2019 was to seek wisdom—to learn as much as I can. Anytime I felt like giving up, I would ask myself “am I still learning from this experience?” If the answer was yes, I would continue.
My word for 2020 was “consistency.” My sole intention was to be consistent in writing. Just being consistent—and regardless of the outcome of my work—has filled me with an immense sense of fulfillment. Exactly one year and 132 articles later, and in spite of all the chaos that ensued in 2020, that simple intention of consistency has led me to an abundance of financial, personal, and professional growth.
My word for 2021 is “depth.” My intention is to go deeper in my knowledge, deeper in my practice, and deeper in what I give.
You can call it intention, word, purpose, or theme—it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you take the time to consciously choose a word for the year ahead. And sometimes, the best approach to this stems from transforming a personal struggle into a positive intent.
If there’s an aspect of your life that you’ve been neglecting for some time, but deep down you know addressing it will propel you forward, then setting an intention of doing so would be a step in the right direction.
For instance, if you’re overwhelmed with the activities in your life and you feel you’re on the verge of burnout, then perhaps your intention for the year ahead should be “self-care”. You will then put yourself first and anything that doesn’t align with your emotional and mental health will be thrown out the door.
Or maybe your intention this year is “kindness”—to genuinely practice being non-judgemental and kind to yourself and all beings—or to be “fearless” in your career moves, everyday decisions, and relationships.
Throughout the year, whenever you’re faced with a dilemma, you can now ask yourself: “Does this align with my intention?” The answer can then dictate how you should proceed. And when the year comes to an end, it’s your alignment with, and honest embodiment of your intention, rather than the outcome of your goals, that will fill you with happiness and fulfillment.
The question is, Who Will You Become?
The extent of how far you go in life is tied to three things: How curious you are, how often you question things, and how likely you are to take action.
Intentions encompass all three elements because, in order to set one, you must first be curious enough to look within, you must ask better questions, and you must then take actions that align with that intention.
At the end of the day, an intention shifts the focus away from accomplishments and the outcome of your goals, and onto your behavior and the way you choose to live. If you live in alignment with your intention, you will become you who want to become. Peace, fulfillment, and happiness will naturally ensue in that daily process of becoming.
When you consider your intention every day, it acts as a reminder on how to live out each day. It gives you purpose and fills you with the inspiration, motivation, and energy to align your actions with it. It raises your emotional energy, which in turn raises your physical one.
So let’s drop the question of “what’s your new year’s resolution?” and instead, let me ask you a much better question: “What’s your one-word intention, and ultimate purpose, this year?”