Welcome September, to our sweet wellness fam. Fall is upon us and with it comes a season of grounding and (hopefully) slowing down before winter. A season to reevaluate and align with your goals and intentions again after summer. A time to focus in on yourself and decide which direction you want to head with the last quarter of your year.
As you know, us gals at Living & Lifestyle are big advocates for setting goals and intentions. Every quarter of the year we sit down, pull out our journals and reflect on the months gone by. We also look ahead, what’s next on the horizon? What were goals that we set at the beginning of the year that we’re still working towards? On top of goal setting, monthly we get a bit more creative and set out time to set intentions. You might be wonderings, what’s the difference? Below we’ll dive into what goals and intentions look like and how you can start this routine for yourself, too!
“Fall is a season to reevaluate and align with your goals and intentions again after summer. A time to focus in on yourself and decide which direction you want to head with the last quarter of your year.”
Monthly Intentions
We believe intentions can be powerful, uplifting and even have the ability to be transformational. So what is the difference between an intention vs a goal?
There are a few differences that we see. Intentions can be open ended and appear different than goals when you’re looking ahead. Goals will often align with a timeline, they are more specific, something that is action oriented. Whereas an intention comes from a place of more fluidity, what is the general vibe and hopes you’re wanting to set for your month?
We personally love to set intentions on a monthly basis, as it’s a positive way to start a month. It allows you some time to reflect, take some time for yourself and think, what is the energy you want to bring into your month? What are you focusing on this month? This could be big picture or more narrow focused actions.
Setting intentions is about moving through your day to day life with purpose in mind. Intentions are intended to be your thoughts and mantras that become the backbone of our daily habits and life.
Setting new big goals every month isn’t always realistic. When we focus on setting goals quarterly + yearly, that can be more realistic for most of us. Which is why setting monthly intentions is a great addition to your monthly reset routine.
What you set as an intention isn’t always a “task” that needs to be done, like a goal being checked off. An intention can be something that you go through the month with in the back of your mind. It sets the tone for your month more so, that’s how we like to think of it!
Intentions can mean something different from person to person, from day to day.
For Example:
Let’s say becoming stronger and lifting 10 pounds heavier at the gym and incorporating 3 days of cardio is your goal. Your intention could be, I want to incorporate more movement more into my day to day, you can even get more specific in what and how you want to make that happen.
How To Set Intentions
Start and think about what you need more of in your life, what is something you feel you are craving? What do you desire? Next find a journal or a pen and paper and physically write out your intentions (we do this at the beginning of every month). Writing them out really helps versus just thinking about it. You can get as creative as you’d like! We love to draw with markers, it’s a fun crafty project once a month! Intentions are meant to open up your mind as to what you are seeking in life and allow your creative side to come out, that’s what we love about them.
Examples Of Intentions:
Get more comfortable saying “NO”.
Be more intentional with the time I spend with my loved ones.
Create without comparison.
Aim to get 6,000 steps per day.
Goal Setting
Now let’s dive into goal setting and how we break down our year into quarterly goals. Let’s start with the basics, a year is made up of 4 quarters.
- Quarter 1: January – March
- Quarter 2: April – June
- Quarter 3: July – September
- Quarter 4: October – December
Many businesses focus on quarters of the year to map out their goals, financial spending and achievements for the year. We also like this method as it breaks the year down into digestible chunks. Rather than setting these goals in January and maybe forgetting about them come June, quarterly goal setting allows you to check back in with yourself every 3 months. A nice reminder of where you want to go!
Quarterly goal periods, allows our habits to truly build. But at the same time 3 months isn’t so long that you lose motivation. Businesses track their goals quarterly, why should personal goals be treated any different?
How To Effectively Set Up Your Quarterly Goals:
Visualize the big picture, where do you want to be in a years time?
Break those goals into four quarters for the year.
Plan monthly and weekly check ins.
At the start of every quarter, sit down with your goals. Reflect on how far you’ve come and what direction you’re heading in.
WHY Quarterly Goals
Quarterly goals are a great way to sync with the seasons. There’s nothing like a change in the weather to inspire you. If you live in a part of the world with four noticeably different seasons, recharging your goals in tandem with those seasons can give you a true feeling of new beginnings! We also think they are one of the most effective ways to keep your year on track and remind yourself of all that you had set out to work on when the year began.
Categories Of Goals
Health/ wellness goals
Fitness goals
Personal development goals
Career goals
Financial goals
Relationship goals
Business goals
Family goals
Spiritual goals
Intellectual goals
Social goals
“Businesses track their goals quarterly, why should personal goals be treated any different?”
We hope this blog broke down our routine in a clear and digestible way. If you have any questions about goals and intentions, drop us a message below. We love this topic and would be happy to dive deeper into the discussion. Stay tuned bi-weekly for new recipe and lifestyle blogs. And if you’re wellness junkies like us, check out our blog post, 5 ways to upgrade your life.
If you are into learning more about this topic, check out Cornelia’s YouTube channel for a few more videos breaking down similar topics!
Level Up Your Life: Financial Tracking + Intention Setting + Quarterly Goal Setting +
How To Live Your BEST LIFE In 2021 | Part One | Intentions & Creating A Word For Your Year! &
How To Live Your BEST LIFE In 2021 | Part Two | Quarterly Goals & Utilizing The Notion APP.
xo
Cornelia & Meg
