Resolutions vs. Intentions
I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions. Try as I might, I never seem to keep true to them. By nature, I am hard on myself so I have found that making annual resolutions ends up just making me feel bad about myself.
Then two years ago, I made an intention. I decided to try and go to the local farmer’s market every Saturday. I knew up front that I wouldn’t make it every Saturday, but I intended to do so. Two years later, there have been very few Saturdays that I have missed.
You may ask, what is the difference between a resolution and an intention? Isn’t an intention just a cop out version of a resolution? You might not be asking that but I did. So like the word nerd I can be, I consulted the pros.
Merriam-Webster defines an intention as “a determination to act in a certain way: resolve”. And how do they define a resolution? “A personal expression of will or intent especially in pursuit of a goal”.
Maybe it is just a matter of semantics but intentions work better for me.
What I’ve learned is that intentions leave room for being human. They are directional rather than punitive. A resolution tends to sound like a rule: I will do this. An intention sounds more like a relationship: I am choosing to move toward this.
Intentions are based on values rather than outcomes. Going to the farmer’s market wasn’t about perfection or streaks, it was about supporting local farmers, eating seasonally, and slowing down. Missing a Saturday didn’t negate the intention; it simply meant I picked it up again the next week. There was no shame spiral, no sense of failure, just a gentle return.
And here’s the part we don’t talk about enough: meaningful change doesn’t require a calendar reset. You don’t need January 1, a Monday, or a “fresh start” to begin. You can set an intention on a random Wednesday in March, after a tough week, or in the middle of a season that already feels full. Life rarely offers clean beginnings, but it does offer countless opportunities to choose again.
If you’re thinking about setting an intention, now or at any point in the year, consider starting with these questions:
What do I want more of in my life?
How do I want to feel, not just what do I want to achieve?
What is one small, repeatable action that supports that feeling?
Keep it simple. Keep it flexible. And most importantly, keep it kind.
Intentions aren’t about becoming a better version of yourself overnight. They’re about aligning your daily choices with who you already are, and who you are on the way to becoming, one imperfect step at a time.
