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There are two times of year that feel big and bold to me, January and early September. Both are completely cultural time markers with either the happy new year party horns seeming to ring in my ears and urge me on to wild resolutions, or the back-to-school reminders making me covet a trapper keeper and a new lunchbox with the promise of becoming the best student yet. What struck me recently is that in some form both seem to promise that if I just had the right notebook sort of thing to organize myself, the next bit of time would be so much better because I could not help but be wildly successful in whatever I’m trying to be wildly successful at.
In my neck of the world, it is possible to purchase either a calendar/planner that starts on January 1st or an academic calendar/planner that starts rather awkwardly in July but inexplicably usually extends until the following December (as if it’s only this one year we would ever need a calendar like this and we best not overcommit to years that start in July). I started 2024 with two new paper calendars that are more for pleasure than life planning. Both remind me it is February 3rd and thus can be considered functional. One offers me an inspirational yoga inspired quote, while the other is a particularly fancy variety that as I remove the excess paper each day will magically form a three-dimensional tree as the year progresses.
I love both calendars, and simultaneously remain unconvinced that either can offer any sort of guarantee of a smooth year. The idea that I might be a better person by some metric if I just buy the right journal or calendar remains more a tool of successful marketing than scientific fact. What I can say is that both of my wonderful calendars mark time and remind me of the beautiful souls that gifted them to me. Without these paper reminders I would still know today is another day. In one moment, I am reading a quote and in another I am seeing if today will offer another layer of leaves. In another I am checking the digital calendar I run my life from and hoping I have not missed anything. Mostly as I roll into mid-February I am contemplating goals, resolutions and intentions – and where I am on mine.
Let’s back up a bit. In December I hosted an intention setting workshop and yoga nidra practice. In the planning for that I went on a deep journey into words. It hasn’t always been the case, but I love journeying into words. Words have incredible power, and I believe we often think we are saying one thing when in fact we are saying another simply because we haven’t paused to get clear with our words. We use similar words as exact synonyms and then are surprised when others don’t quite “get” what we mean. In yoga classes I ask my students to set an intention. The new year bombards us to set a resolution. At work (and in other places) we’re asked to set goals for the next year. Are these all just various ways to say the same things? No, at least not for me. These words are often used synonymously but have very distinct meanings and we can get clarity by diving in.
Let’s begin with a few definitions, and my start in this word journey – the sankalpa (or intention) of a yoga nidra practice.
INTENTIONS
In just about every yoga class I hold a moment for those in the room to set an intention, a bit of a ‘why are you here’. It’s the most nebulous of the words and that shows up clearly as in this context that intention could be anything from sweating your face off to finding a bit of peace somewhere within the hour. Those who have practiced a bit longer may have picked up an intention that lasts longer than a 60-minute practice. I had the same intention for a few years, and this slips towards the idea of a sankalpa.
From the meditative practice of yoga nidra comes the term sankalpa, most often translated as an intention or vow. One of my teachers brought the significance of it home for me by stating that your sankalpa is a vow to be reached in this life, or the next. In this context the intensity of an intention (they have the same Latin root) becomes clear.
If you are intent on doing something, you are doing so with attention and concentration (intensity) because it is your intention to do the thing. Intentions become our guidepost on how we intend to be in the world. Intentions are our personal *why* for big and small decisions. I think of intentions as light posts, they shine bright so we can see where to go and what actions and decisions make sense within that context.
My current intentions are to keep clarity and ease in my life, to pursue and share wisdom, and to invite in play and creativity. When opportunities and questions come up, I can use these three guideposts to decide how I want to respond, ensuring that my actions match my intentions.
GOALS
Unlike our intention broadly shining light out so we can see it wherever we are, a goal is a single pointed target. A target lets us focus on something incredibly specific. Goals are best used when something is clear and measurable. In sports either the goal was made, or it wasn’t. My goals for 2024 involve paying down a specific amount of debt, reading a minimum number of books, and a few other things that have very clear, measurable, and specific parameters. On the first of the year goals are often conflated with resolutions, but nothing I’ve listed here as a goal is in any way a resolution (more on that in a minute), and they aren’t intentions (though they align with my intentions).
I think we lean on goals because if we’re going to judge our success in it, we’d like to know for sure if we did or didn’t do it. How do I say for sure that I pursued wisdom? I set a goal to read 24 books. How do I know I kept clarity and ease? I set a goal to remove the complications that come with holding debt.
As you might be picking up, goals are particularly valuable within a structure. An arbitrary goal could be interesting, but it’s much more valuable if your goals also move you forward on your path. An intention of living a healthy life could include daily movement goals. An intention of being more present could include goals of reducing specific distractions by measurable amounts. Goals are also fantastic at work and in other group settings – individual goals (when clear and well placed) move everyone towards either bigger goals or deeper intentions.
One more piece of this wordy puzzle is the one word we pretty much only hear in late December…
RESOLUTIONS
The Latin root here is “solve” (as in find a solution) and so in this space we are re-solving something. The modern tradition and timing of new year’s resolutions comes at least in part from the Roman tradition of looking both backwards and forwards in January. The month itself is named for the two-faced Roman god Janus thought to look both into the past and into the future, and whether the name of the month or the practice came first doesn’t matter, the Romans and Janus locked the idea into the new calendar year for us.
A few hundred years ago this looking back and forward shows up specifically as new year being the traditional time to look back at mistakes and resolve to do better in the future, and the word resolution comes into play. The order of events was: look back, find your mistakes, look forward, and solve that problem. Up until the last century, this practice was very morally and spiritually based. Re-solving, was about applying self-discipline to solve a mistake you made either with your god (be better spiritually) or your people (be better morally).
In this usage, resolutions were about not leaving our mistakes unresolved. About 100 years ago resolutions started to move into the self-improvement space, with that looking for mistakes transitioning from a mostly outward focus to a mostly inward focus. It is simultaneously (and sadly) both a small jump and a big jump to move from the idea that the resolution of being a better person was about our morals and spirituality, to the idea that we’re better people if we lose 10 pounds.
Validating this modern inward focus a 2024 Forbes study of new year’s resolutions found 34% of people listing weight loss as a top resolution (which I have strong not great feelings about for a range of reasons I won’t cover here). The same report and study regularly flips the language – asking people what their resolutions are and in the next question asking if they will stick to their goals and if they have the ability to meet their goals. Any day but January first we recognize these as goals, so why not just call them new years goals? Because language is fluid and dynamic and ever changing.
SO THEN WHAT?
How you use words is up to you. In my world I love all three and use them differently. I love goals and their clarity and specificity. I love intentions and their grand scope and intending to do something with intensity. And I love looking back and resolving to do better in the future with a resolution. Each word lands so differently for me, and so each word gives me space to ponder who I am, what I want, what I’m doing, and if it’s working the way I want.
If I don’t set a goal, I’m not likely to receive the clarity I love – the yes/no binary on if I did the thing and made the progress.
If I don’t have an intention, I’m going to have a much harder time getting where I hope to be, as if I turn on google maps but don’t put in a destination. How do I decide if I turn left towards one choice or right towards another?
If I don’t ponder resolutions with the specific idea of looking back to resolve (solve) what didn’t work, I’m missing a space to grow deeply – specifically in my relationships. For me my biggest resolutions are in resolving issues that pop in with those I love most as we grow and change together in a world that continually offers obstacles, challenges, and possible solutions.
Finding clarity in these words gives me ease and ties neatly back to my intention of keeping clarity and ease in my life. Sharing my thoughts and researching the history and definitions through time with you ties to my intention to pursue and share wisdom. And there’s even a little invitation to creativity as I get to decide what the header image will be with this post, and of course the creativity that is writing.
SOURCES:
https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/
https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions
Alison,
That was such a thoughtful and well written piece. Thank you. It certainly added a wrinkle or two to my gray matter.
Warmest,
Kurt
Thank you Kurt!