How to Use Reflection to Create Intention in the New Year

While I am by no means a physicist, from daily practice, I can say with certainty that light lands on a flat shiny surface called a mirror and reflects my image back to me. If the reflection was bounced off a curved surface, the image may be magnified or reduced depending on the shape of the surface, (think mirrored funhouse at the boardwalk or amusement park.) In other forms of reflection, light gets diffused or scattered because of tiny irregularities on the surface.

When we pause and reflect quietly at this time of year, the same holds true. If your year was “smooth sailing,” there isn’t any surface irregularities to distort your perception of the year. However, if it was rippled with waves or even full “white-capping” winds, your reflection may not be able to look past those incidences to see the positives or accomplishments that occurred outside those times.

In the example of the funhouse mirror, the angle itself plays such a key role in what we see. The same can be said for what comes up during our reflections, based on what our perception or viewpoint is at that very moment.

Regardless of how the light bounces in your reflection, the trick to using a time of reflection as a tool to set intention for the New Year is to use all your senses to “see.” It is not just what you see that matters, but also how you feel and what is behind those feelings, as well as, what you hear.

To begin, find a quiet space where you can be alone in your thoughts, and feelings. Arm yourself with a journal, pen, and paper or even the notes app on your phone so that you can capture what comes up for you.

Take a few moments to reflect on the highlights of the year. Maybe it was a sales goal attained at work? Did you receive a promotion? How about the courses you completed to advance your personal and professional development? Were there any moments that you stretched out of your comfort zone? Did you finally get around to accomplishing that one thing that has been on your bucket list for years? How about your relationships? Did you find new connections at home and in the community? Were you better able to work as a team in the workplace and really make contributions? Did you add to your circle of friends or reconnect with old friends? Let your mind cover the full spectrum from the little things that meant a lot, to the big things that took a lot (of effort).

As you sit and revel about your accomplishments and highlight reel, how do you feel? How does it feel inside? How does it show up on your face? Do you have a smile now? Is there laughter attached to the reflection? Do you notice any changes in your pulse or breathing? Were you alone in these accomplishments? Or did you meet them in the company of family, friends, or colleagues? Write in your journal or dictate some notes in your app that account for these feelings, insights, and ideas.

Let’s take another deep breath and recall some moments when you didn’t feel as light. What comes up for you when you consider incidences that were near misses, where you fell just a little short of what you wanted or strived for. How about the times when you didn’t accomplish something because you really didn’t make the effort? Add in some time to reflect on what may have felt like a whole season to you of one thing after another that just didn’t go right for you this year. Were there times of hurt and misunderstanding?

Again, take stock of whether you were in the storm alone or in the company of co-workers or close family members. How is your pulse now? Are there new lines that just showed up on your face from the intensity? Any tightness or pain in your body? Has the lightness been replaced with something else? If so, what is it and where? Jot a few thoughts and insights on these revelations and manifestations.

Now, take another deep breath and give yourself a good standing stretch. Sit back down and purposefully aim to see the entire picture or reflection of the year. Imagine hovering over it from on high and seeing all the dimensions, its breadth and depth. What is the collective pulse of your year? What is its footprint or imprint?

An effective way to capture its full, complete essence is to answer a few key questions.

·         What did you do?

·         What are the results you got?

·         How did it make you feel?

·         How close to the mark is it from where you intended to be at this time of the year?

If you can’t answer the last question because you never set an intention for 2021, now is the time to use this reflection to set you intention for the New Year. If you do not set an intention, then you won’t know if you hit the mark next year or even how far off you are from living your one fabulous life!

Begin by visualizing next year. What does success look like for you? Define it for yourself. Is your intention to be happier? Then visualize what exactly happiness looks like for you. What does it feel like? Who is around you when you achieve that happiness or success, and alternately, and perhaps more importantly, who is absent?

Success and Happiness are Personal. Define Them for Yourself.

Year end reflections create immense self-awareness. Whatever comes up for you during your reflective moments is just a visual placeholder. You do not have to carry all those images with you into the New Year. The only thing you must carry is the vibrant self-awareness of who you are and where you are, matched with your new powerful intention. Hold firmly onto your intention and it won’t become distorted or diffused, regardless of what the seas of change hold or the seasons unfold.