The 8 step process to set goals and intentions for 2022
Have you set your goals yet for 2022? Don’t worry if you haven’t. We don’t all have to have the plan set in stone by the first week of January. There is an 8 step process to set goals and intentions and I want to take you on this journey to help you create those aligned intentions for 2022.
In 2022 I’m committed to embody ‘Serene Expansion’ so I’m sharing with you in this guide on how to set powerful goals and intentions for 2022 and why it is important to share them. Plus to give you permission to review your goals during the year.
Why is it important to dream and share about it?
We’ve been raised in a culture where it is often said that we are not allowed to share our wishes or dreams as it may not happen in that moment. Let’s reframe this and start sharing your dreams, intentions, goals. Declare your dreams.
I love this Ted Talk about the importance of sharing your dream, check it out below:
According to Barbara Sher, we have to change our common understanding of why we so often fail to bring our dreams into reality – blaming bad attitude, negative thinking or lack of effort. It is isolation that is killing dreams. After nearly 2 years of lockdown and isolation, let’s commit to share your dreams with friends, peers, family, mentors - everybody!
By setting goals you gain clarity on what you are going to focus on this year. Are you ready?
The top 3 tips to set your goals and intentions
There are so many ways to set goals and intentions. There is no right or wrong way to set goals. We are all different. It is like I mentioned about manifestation, you can be specific or general in your personal design.
My top 3 tips are:
Make sure that you BELIEVE in your goals and intentions.
Use your senses to anchor your dream in your day to day. Identify the senses that make sense for you. Define the anchor for you. If you are more visual, create your vision board. If you are more auditory, record your goals/intentions or record or listen to affirmations.
Be specific so it can guide you towards what you aim for. Like Google Maps. Intuitively it will redirect you with traffic etc. but you know where you are going.
Okay, so now what is the 8 step process to get you ready for 2022?
The 8 step process to set goals and intentions for 2022
This is the process I use. You can alternate steps 3 and 4 depending on how you love to work. I’m more of a strategist so I like to start from the big picture and junk it down but you can of course start with writing everything down and then putting it into a word.
Step 1: REFLECT AND CELEBRATE
If you haven’t done it yet, write down everything you’ve achieved in the past 12 months if you don’t listen to this episode at the beginning of 2022. I’ve done the exercise as recorded in the previous episode with my 111 things that made my year 2021 incredible.
Here are a few prompts to help you reflect on the previous months and draw a line in the sand to identify where you are at now:
What are you most proud of from this last year? What were some highs and lows from this last year?
What did you learn from this last year?
What was your most courageous act last year?
What do you want to celebrate?
What worked and what didn’t work last year in your business (review your branding, your Ideal Customer Avatar, your offerings, your products and services and write it down, it is a diagnostic, an audit as I used to do in consulting and I encourage you to do it).
Take your time. No rush. You don’t need to have everything figured out by the 1st of January. It all works in alignment with the moon cycle, the season and your natural rhythm.
Step 2: MAKE SPACE
Embrace the Marie Kondo principle of removing what’s not sparking joy, what’s not working, what’s not aligned. What are you letting go that is not aligned. I guided the women inside my membership through a letting go ritual and meditation prior to setting intentions and goals for the New Year. You need to make space as you enter a New Year and set new intentions. Let’s not start from a full cup.
Step 3: PAUSE AND REMEMBER YOUR VISION
We tend to get caught up in the comparison syndrome, and taking a step back to pause and reconnect with our vision is essential. If you need help to define your vision check my course on Bring your Vision to Life. Remember what matters to you.
Some prompts to help you:
What is your overarching vision?
What is your dharma, purpose, mission?
What do you love about what you do?
Who are you?
And what are you feeling called to create in this life?
Step 4: IDENTIFY A WORD/WORDS GUIDING YOUR INTENTIONS AND GOALS
Close your eyes and sit quietly for five minutes, focusing on your breath. Allow all thoughts to melt away. Ask your soul and your heart: what you’d like to bring for the next 12 months, what’s a word/words that describe how you want to feel? What do you want to experience or create?“
Every year I do this ritual during the Capricorn New Moon (first new moon of the new year) as it is the perfect time for planning and laying foundations for the year ahead. I love to ritualise my planning and dreaming like this every year but as mentioned you can do it whenever you are ready to do it. This year what came to me is: Serene Expansion. I wrote a post about it on Instagram.
Step 5: LIST YOUR INTENTIONS FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF LIFE
The 9 areas of life that I love to consider are:
Physical life: body, health and Fitness
Spiritual life: expansion and soul-connection
Intellectual life: mind and learning
Love life: relationship and connection
Financial life: wealth, investments and financials goals
Work life: business, leadership and career
Family life: parenting and relationships
Social life: community, friendship and fun
Exploration life: inspiration, creativity, adventure and travel
Take a moment to write down intentions in each area of your life. Sitting in a quiet and sacred space for it could be powerful.
Step 6: FORMULATE IT AS GOALS/TANGIBLE ALIGNED ACTIONS/STEPS
For each area I’d encourage you to write down a maximum of 5 objectives, tangible and actionable aligned actions so you can measure that you are doing it and being it.
For every goal, please take the time to connect back with why you are committing to it and add specific KPIs (answering the question: what does success look like?) to help you review during the year.
For instance if in your intention for 2022 in work you'd like to grow your business whilst working less and being more present with your family as FREEDOM has been on of the reason why you started your business then in your actionable steps can:
hire a VA to help me with my client
outsource my content marketing or facebook ads
stop doing a specific product or offering
developing a new offering that will generate a new revenue stream that is mostly passive income for you.
Step 7: SYNTHESISE IT IN 3 MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITIES FOR THE YEAR
Take time to read everything you’ve written before and synthesise it in the 3 most important things that will make your year. As you do that, connect with your body, your heart and your soul and feel into it. It is about simplifying your goals and intentions in a few words. Keep it simple, don’t overthink it.
I love to use the Celtic Cross spread that I shared on the blog about to guide me in this process as well. You can read more about it here.
Step 8: REVIEW IT EVERY WEEK AND EVERY NEW MOON AND SABBATS TO ITERATE, PLAN AND EXECUTE ON IT
It is a living document. I share with my clients an excel spreadsheet template to collate all their goals and intentions for the year and I encourage them to create a vision board as well. But I always say this to my clients and I used to say it to my large team in consulting and in corporate: we are navigating in an uncertain world so it is essential that we regularly adjust our goals and intentions.
Final thoughts
Are you ready for another big year? Do you feel you can take it on with more intention, more direction and more purpose? I would love to know how the 8 step process to set goals and intentions went for you! Make sure you head over to Instagram and let me know!
But remember, it is about reflection, creating space, visualisation, reviewing and prioritising. Here is to a divinely guided and serene 2022!