Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello, and welcome to the Digitally. She does it show. This is episode 73. And in today's episode, I'm going to be talking about setting intentions for the year ahead so that we can create the success that we want. To to tell she does it show. I'm your host, Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing, an expert knowledge in creating online courses.
Karen Davies [00:00:45]:
This show will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to bring those to big dreams to life. Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses' growth. So let's dive in, and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday. Hello, and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. Happy New Year to you all. I am your host, Karen, and I really appreciate you hitting the play button to listen to today's episode. So it's a brand new year, a brand new start.
Karen Davies [00:01:30]:
So in today's episode, I'm going to be talking about the magic of setting intentions for the year ahead. Now I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. It went so quick. It always does. There seems to be such a massive buildup to that one day. And then before you know it, it's gone. It's over, and then we're into the new year. So I hope everybody had an amazing time.
Karen Davies [00:01:57]:
You managed to get some time off, switch off from work and just close down the computer and just have that time with your family because that's what Christmas is all about. It's just taking that time out, recharging, and spending time with your loved ones so that you get to have some time to yourself that you get to come back in the new year ready to tackle it and to make it a year to remember. And that's why I love this time of year. I love it. I get so excited, and I think it's because there's a whole year in front of us. The page has been unwritten, so to speak, and we get to decide how it's going to unfold for us, and I feel that's really exciting. The you know, the future's unknown. We have no idea what is around the corner, and we I think we should live in that sense of excitement, optimism, and wonder for what the year is going to bring us, which is why today I wanted to talk about setting intentions.
Karen Davies [00:03:09]:
Now I know this sounds very close to goal setting and, of course, there is an element of that, but, actually, I think your intentions are what makes goal setting successful because your intentions is the road map. It's a road map to where you're going to go. And I think when you set intentions that resonate with you on a deeper level, then you're more likely to achieve those goals because we can all sit there at the beginning of the year writing down, right, this is my 1st goal. This is my 2nd goal. This is my 3rd goal. But the thing that really binds it all together and makes those goals come to life are the intentions that sit behind it. So back in December, I was out in LA, and I was attending an event called Business By Design where digital entrepreneurs and CEOs to come together, and over the 3 days, we learn lots of different things. We learn strategies, selling techniques, powerful mindset techniques, you know, how to launch all of this stuff that as digital entrepreneurs, we need to know and we need to be able to implement in our businesses.
Karen Davies [00:04:30]:
And the event itself was amazing. Met lots of different people, and I just had this really powerful experience. Because what the event did, it gave me the space that I needed to reconnect to parts of myself that I felt disconnected from. Because as a mom in business, I'm juggling so much all of the time, and I'm always trying to keep my head above water, and I think that is just the life of a mum, really. We have so many things that we deal with. We have, you know, husband, family, like children, school, you know, all of these different parts of our life that we have to to show up for and be there for, and it can be chaotic, especially in December. December is the most chaotic time with all the kids' shows and to school commitments and all of that stuff. Anyway, this event was amazing because I I got time that I never usually have to really sort of sit and think about what I wanted, why I'm on this journey, and what where I'm going.
Karen Davies [00:05:42]:
And the other thing it did is by the end of the event, I was able to set my intentions. Now these intentions are deep rooted because over the course of the 3 days, we were able to to take part in activities that really drew out from us what it was that we actually wanted. And so at the end of the event. I was so clear on what my intentions are for the year ahead. Now what that's done, it shifted my energy because I now know the thing that I'm working towards and also how that is going to impact my business, my family, and also life in general as well. Now I think when we to set intentions, and we really connect to them on a deeper, more cellular level. We have a higher chance of bringing them to life. And I think that's the point, and I think that's the difference between setting intentions and goal setting because sometimes setting goals can be at a more shallow level.
Karen Davies [00:06:54]:
So I wanted to just sort of to talk about this today so that maybe we can sort of start to shift perspective around goal setting and get to that place of really setting our intentions. Now in order to do this, we have to understand why setting intentions is so powerful. In order to truly understand the magic behind intentions, we have to understand their significance. And as I said earlier, intentions are like your road map. They are going to guide you towards what you are going to achieve. They're also going to guide you towards the person that you're going to become because when you set intentions and you achieve your goals. You evolve as a person. You develop as a person.
Karen Davies [00:07:47]:
How you show up is going to be different. That level of confidence is gonna be elevated, and how you experience life is going to change because you'll have that inner confidence that maybe you've not had before. Now by aligning our thoughts and desires, we then tap into that power of intention. We help to cultivate focus, clarity, and motivation for the year ahead. What's really interesting is that research tells us that by setting intentions, it enhances our sense of purpose. It boosts our self confidence, and it improves our overall well-being. So setting intentions is never a waste of time because you're only ever going to benefit from doing it. It's like programming our subconscious mind to work in harmony with what we're consciously desiring.
Karen Davies [00:08:45]:
And so that's going to pave the way so that we can manifest exactly what we want. Okay. So let's talk about how to set meaningful intentions. Now the thing that we you really need to understand is that your intentions have to resonate with your values and the aspirations that you have for what you want to achieve. So you have to ask yourself these 3 questions that I'm gonna share with you now. The first question is what areas of your life do you want to focus on? Now is it your business? Is it your personal? Could it be family related? By pinpointing specific areas of your life that you want to improve, you can then channel your energy into the right direction. So it might include health. It might include career.
Karen Davies [00:09:35]:
It might include relationships. Or you may be on a spiritual journey and you wanna focus on that area. The second question is what qualities or values do you wish to embody? Because by reflecting on your personal qualities, you can then develop these to shape your intentions. So these qualities might include things like being kind, being resilient, being creative, or maybe being more adaptable. And I think defining them to help you to move towards embodying the best version of yourself because then you can focus on the areas that you want to improve and you want to develop in. So if you are looking at being more creative this year because maybe that creativity is gonna help you to be more innovative in your business, then that's where you want to place your focus. Okay. So the third question is knowing what accomplishments are going to make you feel fulfilled.
Karen Davies [00:10:40]:
Because setting intentions that align with exactly what you want and what your desires are is going to keep you focused. It's going to keep you motivated, and, also, it's going to give you that clarity so that you know exactly what you're working towards throughout the year. And I think by identifying exactly what accomplishments you want to achieve, then you can create an action plan and then you can create achievable goals, and that's what's going to take you towards fulfilling those accomplishments. And that's what I found when I was back in at the event at BBD. I because I realized, if you like, what my intentions were. I've been able to come back and set actionable goals. I know exactly where my focus needs to be because I know what my intentions are, and I think that's the difference. I think sometimes, as I said, we we we jump into the process of setting goals without really connecting to exactly what we want and also how we want to feel as well.
Karen Davies [00:11:52]:
So let's now talk about the process of setting these meaningful intentions. Intentions that are going to work, that's going to get you to your end goal. Okay. So first, you need to go and find a quiet and sacred space. Now this needs to be somewhere that you can just feel comfortable, feel relaxed, feel safe so that you can disconnect from all other distractions because you need to really be connected to yourself and in that sort of frame of mind where you can connect internally. Then I want you to start to reflect on the year that's just passed. So you need to take some time to really reflect on what you've achieved in the past year. So we have to go to that place to evaluating what our previous year's been like, and that, of course, includes any challenges as well.
Karen Davies [00:12:52]:
So you want to have a really good idea on what your achievements are and what your challenges have been as well. Now you need to acknowledge any of the lessons that you've learned over the previous year because we're learning lessons all of the time. And then we need to consciously release any negative emotions or limiting beliefs that's essentially holding us back. So for example, if you set yourself some goals and you did not achieve those goals then you may be carrying some limiting beliefs around those sort of thoughts. You might it might be that you're feeling negative towards your ability to achieve those goals. You need to get away from that. You need to create a space for new intentions to flourish, and you can't do that if you're thinking negatively. So reflect on your achievements, reflect on the challenges that you've encountered, acknowledge your lessons, and just get rid of any negative emotions because last year's in the past we're starting afresh.
Karen Davies [00:14:00]:
And then you need to really visualise what your future's going to be looking like. So this is where you need to really imagine your life a year from now. What do you see? Get really clear on what that looks like and think about how you want to feel as well. So you need to envision your ideal outcomes in the areas that you want to focus on. So if you want to grow your business, you want to bring in more money, maybe you want to create an additional revenue stream in your business, then you need to really visualize on what that's going to look like. Immersing yourself in positive emotions will help you to achieve your intentions and that's when you can allow your imagination to flow and to really kinda go to that place of looking at what life looks like when you have achieved your goals, but that's also going to help with the manifest manifestation process as well. Because when we know what we want and we feel it and we connect to it on a deeper level, we start manifesting it. So this is when setting intentions can become really powerful.
Karen Davies [00:15:13]:
So you might wanna close your eyes. You might want to do it in in a space where you're just completely shutting yourself off. You've got your eyes closed. You're really visualizing so that you can embody those to feelings that you're going to feel once you've achieved your goals. Now once you've done that, you then need to write down your intentions. So once you've identified what those intentions are, then you need to have a journal to hand and write them down so that you have clarity and so that you're to speak on what those intentions look like and use affirmative language. So be really descriptive. You know, you we all have the ability to achieve the things that we wanna achieve.
Karen Davies [00:16:03]:
You wouldn't be where you are now if you didn't achieve things. You are on a journey, and it's just about connecting to your inner desires. And when we connect to those, amazing things happen, but we need to write them down. We need to get really clear on what they look like, and we need to embody them so that we know without a shadow of a doubt what we're working towards and then create a visual reminder. So this is where you may want to create a vision board so that you can bring those intentions to life. You can start developing a visual representation of what those intentions look like. And then you need to place that somewhere really visible so that every single day, you are reminded about what it is you're looking to achieve because this is going to serve as a daily reminder over your intentions. It's going to keep them at the forefront of your mind, and it's gonna help you stay focused and motivated.
Karen Davies [00:17:09]:
Now one of my best friends, she is quite spiritual. She has incredible this incredible ability to manifest. I remember years ago, she and her husband, they had debt, and we were out at New Year. And I remember having a conversation with her, and she was like, right. I'm fed up of being in a situation where we are carrying debt. It and it was a lot of debt. It it was quite significant amount of debt. And she was like, this is the year that we are going to clear our debts.
Karen Davies [00:17:48]:
And as I said, she is a powerful manifester. And she said to me she's like, I don't know how it's going to happen, but that's what my intention is going to be. We're going to clear our debts, and we're going to start having the things that we want to have, but we're not going to do it in in that energy of constantly owing. And, honestly, I can't tell you over that sort of I think it was, like, a 6 month period with no word of a lie, they cleared their debts, and it it was amazing. Like, things started to happen. Things started to happen. It it was so that it was her husband got made redundant. He got an amount of money, a large sum of money through, which then helped to pay some of the the debt off.
Karen Davies [00:18:36]:
Then I think something happened with my friend and she found herself with some money. Again, that went then towards clearing some debts. And then by the end of the I think it was, like, 6 months, they were debt free. No word of a lie. It was so incredible the way it had happened, but she was really on it. She was determined. They were getting rid of that debt, and they were starting afresh, and they were going to run their house in a very different way. And they didn't and she didn't want to sit in that energy of constantly owing money all of the time.
Karen Davies [00:19:11]:
And that was that was quite a few years ago. I think I think it was about 3 years ago. And and even to this day, I had a we always meet up at New Year, and we were talking about it this New Year. And she was saying to me, you know, with what they are doing now, they have no debt. They live debt free. Yes. They have a mortgage, which, of course, can be said as debt, but I'm talking about, you know, sort of debt for things like car loans and credit cards and things like that. They are completely debt free.
Karen Davies [00:19:43]:
And the reason why is because my friend set intentions. She knew exactly what she wanted to cultivate. She knew exactly the life that they wanted to live and what that meant for her and her family and also the freedom that it would give them. And she was able to really visualize the outcome on how that would make her feel and the freedom that she would get from feeling like that. And I think Because she went to that level of really focusing in on the feelings of those intentions, I think that was the think that made it so different, that made it become really powerful. So when you set your intentions, bring in that sense of feeling of how you're going to feel once you've achieved them because, as I said, that is the piece that makes the difference. Now, of course, as you move through the year, life's going to get busy. You're probably going to if you if your life's anything like me, it can get very chaotic with all the things that we have to just all those plates that we have to spin.
Karen Davies [00:20:58]:
So you need to make sure that you're constantly nurturing those intentions throughout the year. So make sure that you integrate sort of little things that can really support you throughout the year, and that might be things like daily reflections. Take a moment every day just to remind yourself on what your intentions are. Bring them to your awareness and ask yourself what specific actions do you need to take right now? And then align your actions with those intentions as well because this is going to help you to reinforce your commitment, and it's going to keep you on track. You also need to celebrate your milestones as well. Do not diminish any achievements that you to create throughout the year. Make time to celebrate your progress. So every time you achieve a milestone, so big or small, it really doesn't matter.
Karen Davies [00:22:05]:
You are taking a step towards your intentions, so make sure that you reward yourself in a meaningful way so that you know that you are on track. And then finally, be flexible with yourself because life can get chaotic. Well, we always have so many plates to spin. That's just life. And, of course, your intentions might evolve over time. So give yourself grace. Give yourself space to allow that and then be flexible to grow, to pivot, and to shift your focus as well because this is going to keep you aligned to your core values. I think it's really important to remember that life is ultimately what you make it.
Karen Davies [00:22:54]:
So if you have desires and you have ambitions and you want to achieve things in your life to give you the life that you ultimately want, then you have the ability, the capabilities to do this, but you just need to get really clear on setting those intentions I'm making sure that you're cultivating them on a daily basis. I hope you found this episode of value. I would love to know what intentions that you'll be setting for yourself. So please come and find me on Instagram and tag me at karen_digitalcoach, and let me know what your intentions are for the year. Forget about the things that didn't work last year. Concentrate on what you want, what you need, and I hope that your intentions guide you towards a truly fulfilling year ahead. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to today's episode, and I hope you found this episode of value. Of course, please do feel free to share it with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode.
Karen Davies [00:24:06]:
Now if you're feeling inspired and would like to know more about what I do and how you can work with me, then why not visit my website www.pink-lemondigital.com.
I will be back next week with another episode. But until then, have a great so to the digitally she does it show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday. So why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode? Thank you for tuning today, and I will see you next time.