START 2022 AFRESH BY SETTING GOALS AND TAKING CONTROL. LEAH LARWOOD EXPLAINS HOW TO GET STARTED
THE AUTHOR Leah Larwood is a wellbeing writer and hypnotherapist. She runs workshops in writing for wellbeing. themoonlab.net
I remember sitting at my kitchen table in December 2020, just days before the new year. My daughter – then five years old – was looking at the calendar and said: “Mummy we have two days left of our lives, and then we start again.” I’ve always enjoyed that idea of starting a new version of life, and a second chance to live more intentionally. Of course, we don’t need the new year to make these changes but there does seem to be an energy of possibility at the beginning of the year, when those around us are in a similar frame of mind, too.
One way to manifest our dream life is by adopting a mindset of intentionality. Intentional living is the art of understanding our own values and making considered choices before we unintentionally live by others’ choices. This can leave us drifting along in a life that doesn’t feel entirely right for us – we live in a busy world, and sometimes it can feel easier to just go with the flow.
Breaking away from the norm
There can be many reasons why we go along, knowingly or unknowingly, with how things are done. We might not be aware we’re doing it or it could be because this is what we were taught by care-givers. Perhaps it helps to keep the peace; maybe you don’t know how to change or where to begin; or it could feel risky changing. But it might also feel exciting and a way to allow more possibilities.
Living intentionally is about choosing a lifestyle that is in accordance to our values, needs and beliefs. Our lifestyles might be based on a combination of spiritual, health, environmental, political or ethical values, and also a need for self-improvement. How we make our choices and decisions is a personal process and for some, going with the flow will be an intentional choice in itself, whilst for others, just drifting down a stream might feel entirely wrong.
Because, quite frankly, now more than ever, it can feel easy to be swept away by social norms and a long list of things that are being asked of us by our workplace, organisations we belong to, the expectations of educational environments, the government and/or other pressures within our friendship groups and even in our own household.
Often, we can also become unaware that we’re being influenced by loved ones, the media, our culture and these other ‘shoulds’, and in all of this, it can be easy to lose ourselves in the noise, unti
