Setting 2023 Intentions for Impact

As soon as the calendar hits January 1, we are often faced with the question, “what are your resolutions/goals for this year?”.

This question may leave you with a feeling of dread when you already have a full plate and a lack of energy.

What if we changed the narrative shift into a more intentional 2023?

Rather than resolutions and goals, let's explore intentions and ingredients as guide, posts to help shape the year ahead. 

I invite you to gift yourself the next 5 minutes to play with what that could look like in the article shared below. 

Intention setting for 2023 - the backstory 

Before you set intentions for the year, I invite you to take a minute and ask yourself: “how alive do I want to feel in 2023?”. 

If I drop in and share my experience, I’m feeling alive in every aspect of my being. 

If I reflect on why it’s because, for all of the Australian summer break, I filled my days with, what I call, my Life Ingredients List. The things that matter to me.Family, movement, nature and positive impact. 

It took until the moment I was writing the script for my latest podcast episode (and what this blog is based on) to create that list so succinctly as to how I want to shape my year. 

Let me share how I arrived in this space in the hope that it inspires an intentional 2023 for you.

For me, these are the basic elements (family, movement, nature and positive impact - mentioned above) that guide what I consider to be a wholehearted and meaningful life. 

So given where we are at, I want to have a play with this awareness tool to guide you into 2023.  

But first, let me take you back to the origins of the idea directly from my personal journal…

I spent hours over my summer break staring at the ocean and wondering: 

“Why does the ocean bring me so much joy and calm all at once?” 

I allowed myself to daydream into the space of what if I allowed my love of the ocean to guide me into 2023? I want to shape how I show up and what I say YES to based on how the ocean makes me feel. 

PHOTO: I have even done speaking engagements by the ocean! 

I’ve decided my year will be directed towards activities that make me feel:

• So alive in my body yet grounded in the moment,
• Uncertain and empowered to trust the process knowing there will be moments of growth and beauty,
• Connected and at one with nature,
• Like anything is possible if I’m open to expansion. 

So, that’s how I arrived at my theme word for the year. I started with BELIEVE but ditched that when I felt a strong connection to the word EXPANSIVE. 

That’s the beauty of guiding life based on your Life Ingredients List.  You get to change if you like, that's how experimentation evolves into transformation. 

If it feels right, think about what it looks like for you and if it doesn’t come right away, maybe the exercise below will help you. 

 

How to set intentions for impact in 2023

Intention setting, starts with a short and simple list of Life Ingredients. 

These are the ingredients that we can use to  orient how we chose to show up each day as we move through the year. 

Here’s how you can make a start: 

1. Create some undistracted space and list your Top 3 to 5 Life Ingredients.  Be sure to keep them simple so that they are more directional in guiding behaviour than authoritative and inflexible.*Remember my example, if you need a guide, was family, movement, nature and positive impact. These are what I’d call guide words.
2. Place your list somewhere visible and try on a micro start-of-day pep talk reading through your list to set your intention for how you’d like the day to unfold. For me, if I can get a couple of these things into each day or even an activity that blends the two (for example. nature and movement), I know it’s going to increase the chances of it being a great day.

** If you want a little more accountability email me at: hello@hackinghappy.co and share your list with me. I’d love to hear from you. 

For those visual readers, here is a video I posted on Instagram showing what it looks like to create this Life Ingredients List. 

Final thoughts 

How can we shape 2023 and set intentions to make an impact? Start small.  If you struggle with big audacious goals I invite you to think about what brings you joy and what lights your spark. Make that a priority for the year ahead. 

Try the Life Ingredients List exercise above and share with me what that looks like for you. 

Are you looking for more hands-on support to make a serious shift in 2023? 

The Calm Collective is a container designed to enable you to move yourself to the top of your TO DO LIST through the power of community and positive psychology. If you’d like to apply simply click here to find a time for us to chat.

Secondly, along with the amazing business doula, Laetitia Andrac, we have a luxury transformative retreat at an exclusive Noosa Hinterland property in August 2023.  

This is the space to step out of the void between intention and action and into your highest, healthiest potential by setting the foundations to unlock what you dream of. 

If this sounds like just what you might need, check out more information by CLICKIING HERE.