A beginner's guide to setting intentions
Do you set intentions each day?
If you are trying to live a more mindful and fulfilling life, intentions can help get you most of the way there.
But let’s be clear about what an intention is and what it isn’t. An intention is now-focused. It’s a deliberate choice to focus on a specific feeling, state of mind, or action throughout a defined time period (ideally a single day). It’s not the same as a goal, which tends to be future focused and target driven. Daily intentions guide your actions, emotions and thoughts throughout the day towards your broader life purposes and priorities.
Intentions vs Goals: The core difference
| Intentions | Goals |
|---|---|
| Present-focused | Future-focused |
| About who you want to be | About what you want to do |
| Rooted in values and feelings | Rooted in outcomes and achievements |
| No end date - it’s ongoing | Has a clear end point or deadline |
| Gentle, flexible, inward | Structured, specific, outward |
See below for an example:
- Intention: “I intend to move through my day with patience and kindness.”
- Goal: “I will finish writing my journal eBook by the end of May.”
How to set intentions
The best thing about setting intentions is that they are personal to you. In this sense, it’s quite easy to get into the habit of setting a daily intention. Here are some pointers that might help you:
- What are your values?: Think about the kind of person you want to be and the values you want to embody such as kindness, creativity, positivity, dedication and fun
- Frame your intentions positively: For example, instead of saying “I’m not going to get stressed today”, say “I choose to remain calm today, no matter what situation arises”
- Keep it simple: Intentions only need to be a few words and you can re-use an intention day after day. As your values are likely to remain constant over a long period of time, you’ll likely find your daily intentions are similar to each other with some variation depending on your mood and how you are feeling.
Regularly reminding yourself of your intention throughout the day helps keep you on track with prioritising your intention throughout the day. You can both set intentions and get reminders of your daily intention within the Mindful: A Reflective Journal app with our helpful widget.