Ultimate Guide To Setting New Year’s Intentions13 min read
How to set new year’s intentions, actually stick to them, and create more happiness, fulfillment, and success in 2025. If the traditional model of setting goals for the New Year has failed you or you’re looking to try a new approach to setting intentions for the New Year, this article outlines exactly what are New Year’s intentions, how are New Year’s Intentions different from New Year’s Resolutions or goals, and a simple 5 step process for setting intentions for the new year.
There’s something undeniably magical about the New Year, isn’t there? With 365 fresh days stretching out in front of you, free from the weight of past challenges and daily distractions, your mind is already buzzing with the possibilities of what 2025 could bring. This special time at the end of December is a moment to pause, dream, and envision what you want to create in the months ahead, and design a year that feels exciting and aligned.
I love taking some time to set New Year’s intentions ahead of January 1st. Setting intentions for the new year is such a powerful way to channel your excitement and create focus around the things that matter most.
In 2021, my intention was to explode out of my comfort zone. I had realized that I’d been playing it safe working for someone else, and I wanted to focus on breaking through my safety net and redefining what was possible for me. Setting this intention resulted in me quitting my job, going full time in my coaching business, running a six figure business on 20 hours a week, and travelling for 5 months at a time — read more about me here).
This year, my intentions are to focus on what excites me without second guessing if it’s the ‘right’ thing to do in my business; to be more playful with my kiddos and less worried about being productive; to carve out time for new adventures with my family; and to lean into learning new skills & new hobbies.
What are New Year’s Intentions?
If you’ve never set New Year’s Intentions before, you might be wondering what are New Year’s intentions, and how do they differ from New Year’s resolutions or Goals?
New Year’s intentions are purposeful statements or commitments that guide your focus and decisions for the year ahead.
Unlike traditional resolutions, which often centre on specific outcomes (like losing 10 pounds), intentions are more about the why and the how behind your goals. They’re less rigid than resolutions and more about the journey than the destination. This makes them easier to stick with and more rewarding to achieve.
What’s the difference between a New Year’s Intention vs a New Year’s Resolution?
The biggest difference between New Year’s Resolutions, goals, and New Year’s Intentions is how success is defined.
With a New Year’s resolution, success is pretty black and white: either you did exactly what you said you would do and succeed, or, more likely, you slipped up and you failed at your resolution. There’s not a lot of room for error.
But with a New Year’s intention, it’s okay if things don’t work out one day. You get to make the decision to show up for your intention again the next day.
Related post: Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work
Where resolutions focus on checking the box, intentions focus on making a decision that aligns with your core values.
Why is setting intentions for the New Year important?
The process of setting intentions for the New Year helps you get clear on the ways in which you’d like to live your life differently so that you can make decisions and take actions toward the best version of your life.
It gives you a focal point and grounds you in what’s most important to you.
Related post: How to Do a Life Audit & Why It’s So Powerful
Without setting intentions for the New Year, you might continue to fall into old habits and patterns of behavior that leave you in the exact same place you are today (since it’s literally your brain’s job to protect the status quo).
But when you’ve set intentions for the New Year, you are clear on exactly what direction you want to go in and you’re able to consistently make the decisions / take the actions that will get you there.
Examples of New Year’s Intentions
Let me share some examples of New Year’s Intentions so that you can feel the difference between that and a resolution or goal.
If you’re an entrepreneur feeling lonely working from your laptop every day, your New Year Intention might be “to cultivate genuine connections”. This can look like so many different things — joining a new sport or activity and connecting with teammates on the field; volunteering in your community and connecting with the people you serve; mentoring an aspiring entrepreneur and connecting with them 1:1; or planning fun activities with new friends.
If you’re a business owner feeling overwhelmed, scattered, and too busy to enjoy your life, your New Year Intention might be “to create & enjoy white space”. As a result, you might plan a few extra vacations, start a new morning routine, take up meditation, focus on fewer business projects, or block out a day a week without any calls.
If you’re an employee that hates their job and wants to get out, your New Year’s Intention might be “to explore my passions & get out of my comfort zone” That gives you permission to spend time in the evenings on the things that you love, to look for opportunities in your job to do something new, or to change careers entirely.
That’s the entire point of a New Year’s Intention: there are so many ways you can lean into it, all of which allow you to experience the feeling you want more consistently.
How to set New Year’s Intentions
So, how do you set a New Year’s Intention that feels right for you? Let me walk you through my simple 5 step process to setting New Year’s Intentions.
Step 1: Revisit your core values
New Year’s Intentions are a reflection of your core values and a declaration to live more fully into them. In order to set meaningful New Year’s Intentions, you’ve got to be crystal clear on what is important most important to you.
- Maybe you value physical health and well being, but you’ve made a habit of unhealthy food choices that you’d like to change.
- Maybe you value calm and mindfulness, but you’ve over committed yourself in different areas of your life and want to change how you spend your time.
- Maybe you value connection and positive relationships, but haven’t found your tribe and want to spend more time with like minded people.
Take a minute to brainstorm your values, the things that are most important to you in the way you live and work.
If you haven’t defined your core values before, check out this guide on How To Define Your Core Values.
Then, think about which of your values you may have been neglecting, and which ones feel like they could use more attention this year. This will help you set your intentions to focus on what matters most.
Step 2: Think about what you want more of & less of
Take a moment to think about your values and the different areas of your life. Ask yourself two simple but powerful questions:
- What do I want more of in the coming year?
- What do I want less of in the coming year?
Perhaps you’re craving more calm and white space in your days and less of the constant rushing. Maybe you want to feel more energized and motivated, and less weighed down by sluggishness. Or it could be that you’re longing for deeper emotional connection and intimacy in your relationships and less of the mundane grind.
Write down whatever comes to mind as you explore these questions—don’t overthink it. Let the ideas flow and look for patterns or themes. These insights will help you shape your intentions for the year ahead.
Step 3: Set your New Year’s Intentions
Decide on 2-3 things you want to focus more on and create a concise sentence that reflects the change you’d most like to see.
For example, if you’ve chosen physical health as an area that needs the most focus in the New Year, choose a phrase that gets you fired up or bought into your intention (perhaps ‘to live an active lifestyle’ to fuel my body’, ‘to challenge my limits’, or ‘to optimize my athletic performance’).
Make sure your intention doesn’t make you cringe (like ‘to lose weight’). It might not seem like much, but the nuance is so important in order for you to enjoy thinking about and acting from a place of intention.
The key to setting a good New Year’s Intention is choosing a short phrase that reflects that change you want to work toward, evokes positive emotion, and aligns with your core values.
Step 4: Make it visual
If you’re going to remember to follow through on your intention, it’s so important to be able to actually see it to remind yourself of the change you’re creating and get excited about the outcome and the process of achieving it. I absolutely love to create a life and business vision board after I’ve set my New Year’s Intentions. It helps me picture what it looks like to live into my intention and gives me that visual reminder very day.
Related post: Entrepreneur’s Guide To Creating A Business Vision Board
Regardless of the format you choose, make sure you’ve got a daily reminder of your intention for the year to set you up for success
Step 5: Set specific goals & track your progress toward them
New Year’s intentions are powerful for guiding your focus, but the real magic happens when you break them down into clear, actionable goals.
By setting specific goals each month that reflect your intentions, you’ll not only stay on track but also start seeing meaningful progress toward the life you want.
That’s exactly why I created a life & goals planner—to help you bridge the gap between intention and action.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur juggling a million priorities or someone looking to stay organized and focused, the 2025 Goals Planner is designed to help you stay aligned, set goals that matter, and make 2025 your most intentional year yet.
This planner is more than just a weekly layout—it’s a complete system to guide your growth. It walks you through every step: auditing your life, defining your values, setting meaningful goals, breaking them down into manageable steps, and staying focused each quarter, month, and week.
For entrepreneurs, it includes a strategic business review section to help you align your intentions with your business growth. Plus, quarterly, monthly, and weekly reflection prompts ensure you’re constantly evaluating what’s working, identifying what’s not, and knowing exactly when to pivot.
It’s your roadmap to making 2025 your most intentional, productive, and fulfilling year yet.
Click here to grab your planner today!
As the year comes to a close, your friends, your colleagues, or your social media feed may constantly be asking ‘what are you doing differently in 2025?’
And that’s a great question to ask yourself. But don’t feel pressured to spout out a New Year’s resolution you found off a list on Pinterest. Take time to reflect on what actually matters to you and set intentions that allow you to become the most authentic, fulfilled, and happiest version of yourself.
Related post: Building A Meaningful Life
A New Year is a great chance to reflect on how far you’ve come, review what you want out of life, and get crystal clear on where to focus next.
And when you add in the 2025 Intentional Goals Planner for CEOs and non-entrepreneurs, you’ll have everything you need to reflect on the last year, set powerful goals, and create a life or business that lights you up.
I hope this simple 5 step process for setting New Year’s Intentions was helpful for you. Here’s a quick summary of the 5 steps, so that you can go out and make magic happen in the next 12 months!
- Define your core values
You have to be crystal clear on what’s important to you in order to successfully set New Year’s Intentions.
- Reflect on what you want more of & less of
The key to seeing growth in any area of your life is selecting the right things to focus on and going all in. What part of your life or business are you ready to create big changes in this coming year?
- Create powerful statements to reflect your intentions
The key to setting a good New Year’s Intention is choosing a short phrase that reflects that change you want to work toward, evokes positive emotion, and aligns with your core values.
- Make it visual
You need to see your New Year’s Intention daily to make decisions & take actions in alignment with it, so create a vision board or put it on a Post It Note.
- Set goals & take action fro your intentions
The most important step of this entire process is to actually start making decisions and actions intentionally. The 2025 goals planner will guide you through it every step of the way.
What is your intention for the New Year? Create that extra layer of accountability for yourself and let me know in the comments below!
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