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I have never been a big fan of the term “New Year’s resolutions”. I would like to take the time to explain why I feel this way and why I am making “New Year Intentions” instead this year. I will also share my intentions for 2009, offer some good resources for starting your year off right and ways I am going about make my intentions a reality. To begin with here is a short video wishing you a very happy 2009!
Definitions of Resolution vs. Intention
Resolution — The Mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute, firmness of purpose.
Intention — To Have in mind something to be done or brought about; plan
When I hear the word “resolution” it sounds almost TOO strong and puts too much pressure on. Yes, it is good to say you are ready to do something and make a huge change in your life. At the same time there needs to be room for being human and slipping backwards sometimes. I hear so many people say the same resolutions; lose weight, stop smoking or exercise more but suddenly when they slip they feel “all bets are off” and they may as well go back to their old ways. You may be trying to change years of a bad habit or way of life. I feel this deserves cutting yourself some slack and leaving a little room for some adjusting to this new way of life.
I think of the word “intention” as the definition says. It’s a plan. Plans gets side-tracked and need to be adjusted. Plans mean you are moving forward towards a goal. I like to think of myself as always moving forward. I keep my intentions in mind but if I slip back I understand that is part of the learning curve and as they say sometimes “old habits die hard”. I keep adjusting the plan until it “works” for me. For example I might start out saying I am going to work out 5 times a week. As the weeks go on I can’t maintain that momentum and since it is a “resolution” I think I have failed and say “oh well”… guess I couldn’t do it. If I set it as an intention I can say, “Ok, 5 times a week MIGHT be a BIT much for me — let’s adjust the plan and try 4 times a week, if that doesn’t work, let’s try 3 times a week….” I feel like an intention leaves much more room for real life than a resolution…. In actuality even 1 time a week would be better than if I wasn’t exercising at all — so I would have still been moving forward and would have made progress.
My Intentions for 2009
I believe in setting intentions in all aspects of my life and as I mentioned in my post “Mini Goals to Heal Pain and Move Forward with life“. Without mini goals and intentions I would not know WHERE I was going. I love to congratulate myself on how far I have come, celebrating where I am now and envisioning where I want to be. I feel growth in all areas of your life is always possible.
In 2008 I set plenty of intentions for different areas of my life. I also set my #1 intention where I wanted to see significant growth in my life come year end. My number one intention for 2008 was spirituality and there is no way to sum up in one post ALL that happened to me. Some of my writings and links have touched on some of what happened and there are definitely a few highlights and people that helped me; my Akashic Reading and Clearing by Akemi, My classes with Slade, my Reconnective Healing sessions and then subsequent seminar and becoming a licensed practitioner, Paula Kawal interpreting my wild sites, a reading from Andrea Hess that contained my life’s purpose and all the things that happened as a direct result of these. If you want to develop spiritually make it an intention and stand back and be amazed by what happens! All it requires is being open and if you are scared — telling yourself there is nothing to be afraid of. All you are doing is connecting with the YOU deep inside and gaining a connection you have always had but may have forgotten. A lot of my spiritual journey felt like a “remembering” rather than learning something new. By developing my spirituality I found my life’s purpose which is healing and empowering others and I am just adding to my toolbox so my work can help and reach even more people.
If you are religious – yes, you can still develop spiritually. I believe more in a higher power/God and the words of Jesus Christ than I ever have in my life – and I went to Catholic school. As a child I saw plenty of scary movies and read scary books and anything related to spirituality I lumped in the “spooky” category when it is nothing of the sort. When I do a Reconnective healing session I am as connected to source/God/the Universe as I can be. There is nothing LESS spooky because the overwhelming emotion my clients and I feel is love. If you would have told me 2 years ago I would be into anything like this I would have never believed you. Making spirituality my #1 intention changed my life and changed the way I look at everything. I realize how connected we all are. I have helped people to heal deep issues physical and emotional in their lives. I am finally starting to “accept” the healer name that I have been called for the last 2 years although I realize it is not ME doing the healing. I am so very thankful to help people get what they need and WOW — long distance sessions NEVER cease to amaze me with JUST how powerful they are! I am gathering my testimonials to put up on the site but you can see one here.
As I mentioned I could fill a book about what I have learned this year. I am happy to see movies like “What if?” coming out with proof of the mind body connection. Thank you James Sinclair for putting the movie together and Dr. Bruce Lipton and the other scientists and teachers for bringing this important work to light. Gregg Braden, Eckhart Tolle, Dr. Eric Pearl and Dr. Judith Orloff have also contributed a lot to where I am right now and I am very grateful for their work.
For 2009 “financial freedom” and all it encompasses is my #1 intention. I have others as well; losing weight, exercising more, travel to see friends and family more… having the best 40th birthday party EVER! 
By setting my #1 though I am telling myself THIS is where I need the most clarity and where I want to see the most growth. It is more than JUST financial freedom — it is all that goes along with it; life/work balance, goal setting in all my businesses, etc. I have set mini goals for the other areas but with financial freedom I am WIDE open to learning and some steps will be revealed only as I move forward. I have many ways that I have been setting up to bring wealth into my life; my invention, coaching, my healing practice, blogging and more! How will I bring this into my life?
EASY! Step #1 is setting the intention and learning from people on how to get where I want to be.
In many cases I feel this will be easier than last year because with “develop spirituality” I had no CLUE where I would wind up and parts of me were scared just by naming in an intention! I knew it was an untapped part of myself that I wanted to get to know and see where it led. I had MANY blocks I needed to clear of what was “scary”, “surreal” and just to be open enough to learn things I never even fathomed could be true! My scientific mind got in the way sometimes but thankfully due to people like Gregg Braden (First Technical Operations Manager Cisco Systems) — there are scientists studying this stuff that bring you COLD hard facts to break down the wall of doubt you may have built up!
I feel a bit frazzled because I love all the ways mentioned to earn money. For me, with 2 young children it is important for me to know how to spend my time MOST wisely and what I should be concentrating on, when and for how long. I have taken time management courses and that’s not quite “it”. I need to remove any blocks I may have about financial freedom and discover which of my talents will best serve my higher purpose and the most people. I am so grateful for the emails I get telling me I changed people’s lives. It is indeed what I feel I am here to do.
So how will I go about learning start January 1? Ahh this is where I LOVE being in the personal development field. There is no shortage of resources for learning about connecting with the vibration of abundance and bringing in into your life. I will list the places I will be spending time these first few months of the year to get moving in the right direction:
Andrea Hess - Intuitive extraordinaire, “7 figure psychic“, teacher, coach and just all around beautiful person. Andrea resonates kindness and when you talk with her – her laugh and energy is infectious. Andrea has a free ebook on her site to help you remove blocks you may have around money. She is also offering a free call you can tune into called “Creating Finanical Abundance in 2009″! She will talk about the spiritual nature and energy of money and clear some collective blocks to abundance for all registrants. It is Saturday, January 10th, 2009 9:30 a.m. Pacific/ 12:30 p.m. Eastern Visit here to register — if you can’t make the free call there will be a recording you will recieve of the event if registered.
Coaches Eva Gregory & Jeanna Gabellini — Famous for being Law of Attraction coaches, radio show interviewers as well as public speakers… but they also do more! Their Prosperity Game is a great way to begin if you are trying to create more financial freedom. They also have a new course a bit different from their traditional ones called “Channel Surfing — Riding the Waves of Inner Guidance” . You can follow the link for a free audio and to find out more about the course. They also have a free call offered January 5, 2009 where you can learn more. This course is being promoted by Hay House which deserves a BIG congratulations to Eva & Jeanna!
Lance from Jungle of Life and Jennifer from Principles for Peace have begun a forum to discuss the very important book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The forum is called Journey to Success. Think and Grow Rich was one of the first books I read on my healing journey and is very empowering and teaches important lessons about success. I feel everyone can benefit from reading this book. I know even having read it, I will get a lot from discussing it with others. I am very excited for this project by Lance and Jennifer — brilliant idea — thank you guys!
Slade Roberson — I took two classes with Slade this past year that helped me exponentially and I will take any other classes he offers. His spiritual awareness is inspirational to me as is his entrepreneurial nature. He designs and teaches classes, is an ordained minister, designs websites, is a marketing expert, writes beautifully and is an intuitive life and business coach. I have learned so much from Slade but I know I will be a student of his for a long time to come. Slade is a beautiful person and a pleasure to learn from!
Stephen Key and Andrew Krauss at Invent Right– THE invention resource on the internet. For $400 you get a course ANDs to ask as many questions as you want for a WHOLE year! They have tons of resources priceless to the beginning or even the more seasoned inventor. Stephen Key has invented MANY items and Andrew is SO knowledgeable as well. I have been working on my invention for the past 5 years and it is finally at a point where I can get it licensed. I really want this to run as smoothly as possible. I have a provisional patent and a lawyer in place but Stephen and Andrew will be there when I run into blocks and help me along the way. As a first time inventor THAT is priceless.
Tom Volker — Writes the blog “Delightful Work” which is all about doing what you love as an entrepreneur. He is a priceless resource, a work coach and I know I will continue to frequent his blog and keep an eye out for classes he offers. Hey Tom — can you do a class on HOW to NOT become a workaholic when you are living your higher purpose, deeply love and resonate with your work and are helping people in the process? I’ll sign up in a second! 
There are several GREAT posts that have come out in the last week on the new year that I want to mention that will also help GET and keep you on track:
Akemi — To Those Who Lost Their Job Recently
Andrea — A New Perspective for New Years Resolutions
Lisa at Mommy Mystic — Neuroplasticity and How to Keep a New Years Resolution
Mike from Live Life 365 — A New Year Brings New… What?
Slade — Stuck on Outcomes
All of these people have already touched my life and I look forward to seeing what I learn from them this year! So what will you do? Do you have resolutions or intentions for the new year? Will you make one your number ONE intention and be caring with yourself if you fall off track a bit? As always, I welcome comments! Happy New Year everyone! All the best for a happy, healthy and ABUNDANT 2009!
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Happy New Year!
Thank you for the mention.
Regarding my post on Yes to Me — I really hope this in-depth article help those who have lost their jobs recently. Thanks for spreading the word.
Love & Light,
Akemi Gaines
Hi Akemi,
Happy New Year to you as well! Thank you for all your help and friendship this past year! I loved your latest post and think many would find it very helpful.
Much love,
Jenny
Hi Jenny: Well, it sounds from your video that you’re starting the New Year doing work you love, which is always a great place to be. (You have a nice laugh, by the way.) We do need to learn to be kinder with ourselves. Have a great 2009!
Love the video. Love your passion. Love your smile. Made my day!
Andrew
greatmanagements last blog post..How To Make 2009 Your Best Year Ever?
Hey Marelisa,
Thank you for the compliment. It took me a lot of “inner work” to be able to make videos as I HATED watching myself so much that I would run from the room if one came on with me in it. Every time I make one now it makes me smile because while I wouldn’t exactly watch them repeatedly — I am very comfortable making them which is a confirmation of JUST HOW FAR I’ve come! I am THRILLED this year has begun and really do feel this renewed energy. Funny enough that just setting financial freedom as my #1 intention brought such calmness…. I saw what 2007 did for my health (emotional and physical) what 2008 did for my spirituality and wow am I a ready for all I will learn this year about finances and work/life balance. It is the first “full year” I will have both kids in school full time so that will give me more time than I have had in 10 years.
The love I have for all I do definitely helps makes me smile and fill me with gratitude. I grew up thinking you took a “job”, dealt with it and worked there until you retire whether you could or couldn’t stand it. I am so very grateful I have found a few things that I love to do and they all help others. It took me a very long time to be kind to myself (and I sometimes still slip and am my worst enemy with the pressure I can put on myself). I feel you show people how you want to be treated by how you treat yourself and others. Most find it easier to be nice to others than themselves or to put a ton of people before themselves but if you don’t love yourself the world can seem like a pretty harsh place.
Well Mare — there I go again …
I thank you VERY much for your comment. It was wonderful to get to know you a bit in 2008 and I look forward to getting to know you better this year. I wish you and all your loved ones all the best for a happy, healthy and abundant 2009!
Love,
Jenny
Hi Andrew,
Your comment made my morning! Thank you and I wish you all the best for 2009!
That is so sweet! Thank you VERY much! I am passionate — when you are in love with what you do it’s hard not to be!
Love,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
It was so great to view the video – and hear your voice – wonderful!
I really like your idea of intentions over resolutions. It does feel like it gives you more flexibility.
What am I doing? I will be coming up with one word which I will use as my cornerstone throughout the year, and a guide through whatever the year brings. I will be spending time this weekend really thinking about what this one word will be for me (and I’ll be writing about it next week).
Jenny, I really appreciate you being so open about your life spiritually – if there’s one area that is hard for me to do this in – it’s my spiritual side. Seeing you do it here, it really does give me more confidence in expressing my own faith more openly. You continue to be an inspiration to me – and I find much comfort in my regular visits here…
I’m looking forward with much anticipation to all the magnificent happenings that I’ll witness here through you! Jenny, Happy new year!
Lances last blog post..Think And Grow Rich
Hi Lance,
Thank you so much for your nice comments! As always, they are deeply appreciated and I am so happy you find my writing inspirational and that it makes you think.
I think the “one word” for the year is a GREAT idea and look forward to finding out what that word is for you.
It is funny to me how speaking about “spirituality” seems so taboo when it is what connects us all…. I feel this will begin to change as more and more people begin to look inward for answers instead of searching other places.
I just followed your link to your project with Jennifer and had to add it to this post! I will be visiting your forum! Think and Grow Rich is on my top ten list for sure and it will do me a lot of good to revisit it right now when I am working on abundance! I know discussing it with others will give me an even deeper understanding of it. Brilliant idea from 2 brilliant writers!
All the best for this new year and I look forward to sharing stories of BOTH of our many successes!
Love, Jenny
Great minds in synch I see,
Halfway through a post on setting intentions, this year
Love the video and thanks for being my friend
Love
Suzie
Suzie Cheels last blog post..Will You Step Into 2009 Without Fear?
Hey Suzie,
It has been a pleasure being your friend. You have inspired me and boy do I have some big hairy audacious goals of my own this year! 
It was wonderful to see you meet yours! I look forward to us celebrating many future successes together! I wish you and your loved ones all the best for a happy, healthy and ABUNDANT 2009! Thank you for the kind comments! 
I think we think a lot often – must be no accident we have connected!
xo Love,
Jenny
Excellent post with wonderful advice, Jenny. And thanks for the mention of my site, always appreciated. I like your concept of intentions vs. resolutions; makes sense.
Have a super 2009!
peace,
mike
livelife365
Mike Fosters last blog post..A New Year Brings New…What?
Happy New Year Jenny!!
We need to set an intention to work with each other sometime in the very near future.
Best wishes and lots of prosperity for 2009 and beyond!!!
Bruno LoGrecos last blog post..New York Style New Year
You want a class on how not to become a workaholic?
Hmm…. I was one of those before enlightenment. Let’s talk and see where you need to see things differently. Perhaps you want to take your own advice and not be so hard on yourself?
Is it really work if we are loving it and authentically expressing? On Jan 21, I have free phone class on making a fresh start and I’ll bet you could apply that process.
Your warmth and genuineness really comes though on video. Intend that abundance for all.
Tom Volkar / Delightful Works last blog post..Parlay Your Wisdom
Hey Mike,
Thank you! I really enjoyed your post. I wish you all the best for 2009 too!
Hi Bruno,
Yes! It is an intention to work with you! I wish you and your loved ones all the best for 2009 and beyond too!
Hi Tom,
Ahh…yes, my own advice to be kind to myself is something I am always improving but haven’t yet conquered…. I’m happy I am heading in the right direction but your class sounds like it may help me on my way! I think your point on “is it work if we love it and it is an expression of ourselves?” is where I am stuck. I get such gratification from so many of the “work” things that I do that it usually NEVER feels like work… Yet it still takes my times away from some of the other things I enjoy in life like exercise, time with friends etc. In September was when my youngest began full day school so I am still figuring out work/life balance. I am so excited by all I am doing, having more time to do it and by helping people that it is sometimes hard to say “enough Jen — go do something else!”. It is wonderful to have found things I resonate so deeply with but I am going to try and become more aware of all those other things that have brought me joy in the last 10 years that I do not want to let go of as well. Thank you for the kind words about my video. I do intend that abundance to all far beyond 2009! Thanks Tom — I look forward to your class to your constantly inspiring words!
All the best for a happy, healthy and abundant 2009!
Love,
Jenny
What a beautiful blog! Am so glad that I have come across you. Am looking forward to keeping in touch!
Julieanne
Julieannes last blog post..Awards!
Thank you Julieanne! I am happy you found me too! I would love to keep in touch. Feel free to shoot me an email at jennymannion@yahoo.com any time. All the best for the New Year!
Gratefully,
Jenny
Oh Jenny – it was wonderful to see your video.
I’m totally with you on the resolutions and intentions issue – we need to stay in the moment and be flexible.
Wishing you all the best of everything for 2009! It’s been great getting to know you in the past few months – Rob x
Robins last blog post..What If? The Movie – Clip 4
Hey Robin,
I am so happy you liked the video! Yes, it is so important to be flexible and in the “now”. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in our expectations of ourselves and not cut ourselves some much needed slack and reassessment time.
It has been wonderful getting to know you as well! I wish you and your loved ones all the best in happiness, health and abundance for 2009!
Love,
Jenny
Jenny, thanks for the mention. I have never seen you on video, so great to see you in action! Good luck with all your endeavors in 2009…
Lisas last blog post..The Importance of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders
Hi Lisa,
My pleasure! It was wonderful getting to know you last year and you helped me so much on the Heroes of Healing Project! I don’t know if I mentioned my husband is a HUGE fan of yours and subscribes to your blog. I love your latest blog title and am going to read it now. Keep up your awesome work in all you do. I hope to work with you again in 2009!
I wish you and your loved ones all the best for this new year and beyond!
xo
Jenny
Jenny,
I love what you wrote about resolutions vs intentions. I actually took some time off over the holidays and it was so nice to let myself really relax. I hadn’t realized how hard I had been pushing myself. Sometimes when you have a new business, there is this drive to “make it happen” and so I tended to push myself TOO hard last year. This year, I intend to just keeping moving forward. Your words are very much in line with my own, so thank you for sharing them. Happy New Year.
Loved the vid too.
Amy Jewells last blog post..EFT- Stress Control for Financial Advisors
Hi Amy!
), taking time every day to meditate and exercise and WOW has it made a difference. 45 minutes and I save myself tons of “foggy” time and am much more effective when I am working.
I am happy to hear you took some time off over the holidays. I did as well and it was VERY good for me. Yes, with a new business there seems like there is always stuff to do and it can’t happen fast enough. But taking that step back and allowing the mind to relax definitely has you come back to it renewed and with a different perspective which is very valuable. I’ve been good this year (so far
Thanks for your nice comments and thank you for visiting! I love Cirkla and can see it becoming a very important resource! I am very glad we connected.
Gratefully, Jenny
I agree that we should make intentions instead of resolutions…I’ve never really looked at it this way but it makes perfect sense.
I also found the links very useful.
chriss last blog post..Seventy Years
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for visiting and your comments. I am very happy you like the links…. I have been visiting them this week as I set about making my intention a reality. It is fun to look at work a little differently as I develop a plan, develop my Services Page and get a book proposal together among other business tasks…. It helps knowing I can adjust my plan and cut myself some slack if I don’t get everything done and some things take longer than anticipated. In the past when I made Resolutions I would get so upset with myself and at the first bump would think “uh oh — I can’t do this”. This year I am striving for no “I can’ts” — and just taking a deep breath to reassess!
It has been a wonderful week also for catching up on reading good blog posts including yours which I reread a few times and really touched me. Thank you for that — I don’t think I realized how much I needed to read something like your post to think about my own perceptions of my own father through the years. I wish you a very happy, healthy and abundant New Year! Thanks for making me think and for such a beautifully written post.
Gratefully,
Jenny
I am right with you Jenny on making intentions rather than resolutions. Setting high and perfect goals for yourself which don’t allow for adjustments or slip-ups is the surest way to ‘fail’ at anything. When I was trying to peel off weight I found the most important thing was just to stay in the moment and keep my eye on the end goal. if I didn’t exercise as much as I should in a week I would take note of it, but let it go and move on. Changing my ways was the most important thing. This year I am trying to live by my own intuitive guidance and relenquish the need to know everything and have it “all figured out”. It’s something I find very difficult, but I know it’s a crucial ingredient for happiness and my future success.
So many great links here, thanks. Wishing you all the best in 2009.
Kelly x
Hi Kelly,
Every time you comment I always think “wow, we have so much in common”. As a mom sometimes I feel it is a challenge to be the one that knows where everything is, the family schedule, what groceries need to be gotten, what dr. appts are next — yet still be detached enough to just go with the flow…. I have always been my toughest critic and have gotten BETTER slowwwwwly.
Last year setting spirituality as my intention definitely helped me. I gained MUCH better awareness of my intuition. I also am finally surrendering and just accepting things as they are and KNOWING that whatever happens — happens for a reason and I can grow from. I had a meeting today that even a year ago would have made me VERY upset. I was hoping it would be the answer but instead it closed a door and I guess in some ways would be considered a “set back”. Instead I said “Wow, THANK YOU Universe – I know now this is NOT the way to go — thanks for making it so clear”. I can take a step back, re-assess and be detached because my emotions aren’t tied up in “it SHOULD have gone this way”. It feels very good and healthy and now to apply this to ALL of my life!
There’s always growth and learning to be done. It’d be pretty boring if we were stagnant! Being aware of WHAT you want to change in order to be happy is the key to making it a reality. I am happy to hear of how you were with weight loss — your approach definitely equals success and if you can be kind to yourself in that way it can translate to other parts of your life.
There’s no doubt in my mind Kelly that you will be a best selling author. I’ll be first in line for a copy! It doesn’t have to be next month or next year…. you are always moving forward and that is how to reach your goal and happiness in all areas of your life.
Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting.
Love, xo
Jenny
Jenny Mannions last blog post..Cirkla — A Directory for the Body Mind Spirit and Planet
Jenny, you make a significant point. Specific words have meanings that may not be suitable for the goals or intentions devised. It is kind and generous of your to mention the bloggers you do. Readers are introduced to some fabulous material.
Liara Coverts last blog post..7 Reasons people fear spiritual awakening
Hi Liara,
Thank you! I feel very blessed to have been introduced to your writings and the others. It makes my continual learning journey not only fascinating but enjoyable too. I have met so many amazing people and am so very grateful for the sharing you all do of your own journeys and knowledge learned.
Lots of Love,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
You sound like you’ve had a fabulous year! Good for you in bringing some of your intents forward!
All the best in the new year! May you continue to experience abundance, love and joy!
Best wishes,
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim´s last blog ..My Gratitude To You