As I started to plan for the new year I started to reflect on a topic that I don’t feel like people talk about enough and that is knowing the difference between a habit, a goal, a dream, a task, and an intention and you might be thinking that they are all the same but the reality is that they are not.
I started thinking about how different they are as I started to plan for 2022 and as I started to read through these incredible agendas that I purchased for the new year that I realized we tend to use them interchangeably (at least I did!) but they are very different and knowing how they are different and what their purpose is can be very helpful to achieving any goal.
Usually, I would write something along the lines of I want to go to the gym more often this year and I would just expect myself to go to the gym on the 1st of January and think that somehow it would all work out. I would be a new person as soon as the clock struck 12:00 and to no surprise, to anyone. It didn’t happen that way.
That is because it is not just a goal or a dream life that I want to have but it is an intention and a habit even though I wrote it down into a goal and never wrote down the action steps, the habits, and my intentions to why I was trying to achieve that goal.
A Dream
A dream is not knowing how you will achieve it and not knowing how you will get there or the journey along the way. When it’s a dream it is an aspiration. It is just seeing the shiny gold star before you see the road ahead of you.
This is where manifesting and visualizing come into play. It’s not about thinking oh, I can’t be a millionaire because I’m just a teacher or I can’t be that because I’m just a student, etc. It is literally like being a child and the world is your oyster. When you dream there is no limit to what you can and cannot do.
I like this specific exercise that lets you think of 10 dreams and no matter how outlandish it might sound to someone but 10 experiences, 10 things, 10 dreams that even though you don’t know how you are going to get there they are the 10 things that in your wildest dreams would happen to you.
Intention
When you are setting an intention you are explaining your why. I like the quote from the book that says, “Intentions are rooted in the present moment, unlike goals which are set in the future…. Intentions are about what you want the journey to be rather about the destination.” When I tell you this made so much sense and it clicked as to why I would struggle and keep up on my goals faster than someone saying “Happy New Year!”
Mind blown.
How do you intend to feel at this moment? I like the part that intentions are about the present moment while goals are about the future because as someone who tends to feel discouraged by goals when I don’t see immediate progress can relate to this to the core of my being.
For example, instead of saying I’m going to work out 5 days a week which for someone who is just starting this might be completely unrealistic and it isn’t clear why this might only last one or two weeks before finding the same bad habits creeping back.
Instead, I changed it to an intention which was to feel more confident in my body and list 5 simple and easy-to-do steps like taking my dog on a walk, stretching, and finding people that motivate me and inspire me to work out are much more realistic than thinking I’m going to workout every day of the week.
They are simple things like, meal prepping and walking my dog, buying clothes that I feel empowered in, finding inspiration from girls with similar body types as mine, taking care of myself like getting haircuts often or skincare products to help out my skin, etc.
Goals
A goal is something set for the future. Like I mentioned in the intention section, while intentions are about the journey, goals are the destination. While one day I hope to be strong and fit which would be my ultimate goal and with day-to-day work and intentions it is achievable.
Example: You start off with a dream. Visualize and manifest your dream house. Where is it located, how many rooms, what does the kitchen look like, your bedroom. Then when you have a clear idea of your dream house you will break that down into an intention.
You intend to build a space that is your home, comfy, cozy with everything you love, books, plants, etc. How can you make it happen? List the 5 steps to make your house feel like a home. Buy one thing for your space every month: decorations, fuzzy blanket, plants, books, art, etc. designate one day to clean your space, every three months have a renovation room to focus on, find inspiration for rooms online.
You can sell some old items that you no longer need to use that money for a project.
Habits
I’ve been wanting to read Atomic Habits by James Clear because I have heard so many great things about it. It’s one of the books for my reading list and I can’t wait to dive in and get so much useful information.
Habits are things that you will do consistently no matter what and they help improve your life by doing things without even thinking about them, they become second nature. A habit is something that you can do daily or consistently to either get closer to a goal or to set yourself up for success.
For example, I had the goal of waking up early every day this year. Although, that is a goal that is more in the future it’s also a habit.
If I rephrase that then I would have to say that the goal was to be a morning person and the habit is to wake up early but there are smaller habits within that umbrella habit that I needed to achieve. Like setting my alarm the night before away from my bed, or setting up my clothes the night before, it can even be having a night routine and making sure I am sleeping to feel well-rested and ready to wake up those are all small habits that need to be done before I can accomplish the habit of wake up early.
I wrote an article on WeHeartIt where you can look through and add some Healthy Habits to Adopt for 2022
Tasks
Finally, we have tasks, these are things that aren’t goals, they aren’t intentions or habits they are things that just need to be done because they are a part of life. Something like getting an oil change or washing your car, etc. these are things that can be moved around to the next day and it won’t affect your overall goal if you complete it a week from now or two (except maybe the oil change part, please get your oil change 🤓)
I hope you found this article helpful and that it helps you for 2022 when you start to write down where you want to be in life whether that is creating habits, goals, intentions, etc.
If you enjoyed this make sure you share it with others who might find it helpful as well. I have a future post on works that will have my 2022 planner set up where I talk more in-depth on the planners that I will be using.
Check out: “10 Productive Morning Routines Habits To Establish”
