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Try it: 5 Steps to Use Daily Intentions Successfully

I want to … lose 20 pounds … quit smoking … make my household green … stop stressing about things. If you’re like most people, you probably have similar aspirations—but what are you doing to make them a reality?

If the same personal objectives seem to regularly appear on your list of life resolutions, don’t be too harsh with yourself. Long-term goals can be overwhelming, and without constant reminders, it’s easy to let old habits and modes of thought keep you from making progress. 

Perhaps that’s why more people are discovering the power of declaring their intentions daily. The approach works on a micro level: You wake up and decide which small aspect of your life you’d like to work on that day. Instead of aiming to lose 20 pounds in one year, you might make this vow: “Today I intend to take a 30-minute walk and make healthier food choices.” Rather than trying to revamp your stressed-out personality overnight, you might say to yourself: “Today I intend to think before I react. If something causes me anxiety, I will take a walk to calm down, and then I will respond.” 

To provide people with a forum to state these daily intentions, Mallika Chopra, an author of parenting books and the daughter of spiritual guide Deepak Chopra, founded intent.com. Chopra notes that posts on her site range from the practical to the lofty—from “Today I want to engage my daughter in story time to communicate my love of reading” to “I plan to find more peace and joy with my husband by making time at the end of the day for a glass of wine and some fun conversation.” After writing in, users often receive support from other site visitors, who cheer them on by sharing related thoughts and personal anecdotes. 

Chopra, who begins her morning by posting a resolution, remembers a period in her life when everything—work, her marriage, the developing personalities of her children—seemed in negative flux. “I posted my intent to ‘Stay centered in the midst of all this drama,’ ” she relates. “During the day, whenever I started to stress out, I would recall this intent, and it would anchor me.” 

The strategy is gaining speed, and with good reason. The simple act of regularly declaring hopes for yourself can bring about real results, according to Emanuel Maidenberg, M.D., an associate clinical professor of psy-chiatry at UCLA. “By stating your intention to do something on a daily basis it is less likely to escape your mind,” he explains. 

Announcing your ambitions online is one way to anchor them, but you can also write them in a journal, announce them to your family and friends, or perhaps just speak them aloud to God. The point, says Maidenberg, is to remind yourself of a personal goal every day. “By staying positive and open you prime yourself for change,” he says. “If you expect something positive to happen, it is more likely to do so.”

Want to give it a try? Here’s a five-step plan to begin.

1. Look Inward Start each day with quiet time—whether that’s meditating, having coffee or tea alone in your garden, or going for a walk among the trees. Reflect on what changes would make you happy, what new approaches you’d like to try, and what small aim would ultimately lead to bigger transformations in your life. 
2. Set a Specific Goal Be as precise as possible about how and when you will try out your new behavior. If, for example, your intention is to treat your husband with more love and kindness, choose a specific time—such as when you greet each other in the morning, when he comes home from work, or during your alone time after dinner—to let him know how much you appreciate him. 
3. Visualize the Change Create a picture in your mind’s eye of the desired result, suggests Lynne McTaggart, author of The Intention Experiment, a book that focuses on the power of intentions to change lives. “Imagine the change already existing in your present situation,” she advises. “As you do so, imagine the scene with as much sensory detail as you can—including the look, smell, and feel of it.”
4. Seek Support Share your intention with others by writing it on the kitchen blackboard, posting it on Facebook, sending it via email, Tweeting it, or stating it on a site such as intent.com. “Social support is extremely important,” says Maidenberg. “If you have 50 people telling you they believe you can succeed, this will have a positive impact on your behavior. You could call it a form of peer pressure. Positive encouragement works.”
5. Create a Reminder Can’t remember to state your intentions every day? Tie it to another daily act, such as brushing your teeth. “Make it an extension of some other habit,” Maiden-berg says. “That’s the best way to effect any behavioral change.”