Focus on Intentions, Not Resolutions

Hey friends. I hope your 2024 is off to a great start.

It’s been a while since the last issue of Growth Meditations which I published on Christmas Eve of last year: Meditations on Wandering.

In that post, Jeff Bezos outlined his perspective that “for real invention, real lateral thinking… you have to give yourself permission to wander… (and) the reality is we may have to wander for a long time.”

I took his message to heart and spent some extra time wandering over the last few weeks, which is why this issue is coming out later than I intended.

I’m not going to lie… I FELT GUILTY for missing my weekly deadline (even if it was self-imposed).

My negative self-talk told me:

• “I knew you couldn’t stick to a weekly schedule.”

• “You’re a fake.”

• “How can you be successful if you can’t even consistently write a simple newsletter.”

I felt as if I was one of Logan Roy’s children…

But as I persevered, my negative self-talk began to fade, and I started to see this as an opportunity rather than a failure.

• An opportunity to practice self-forgiveness — the antidote to perfectionism.

• An opportunity to trust my intuition — something that, as a naturally analytical person, I’m trying to rely on more.

• An opportunity to gain perspective and vision — to take a step back, think big, and make sure I’m on the right path.

Reflections on writing this newsletter

During my time away, I took some time to check in with myself. I’m very proud that I took the leap and started publishing this newsletter, but it is a lot of work.

Why am I doing this? Is it still worth creating? And, if so, how can I sustain it for a very long time — even when I have less free time in the future.

I concluded it’s still a worthwhile pursuit (at least for now), and I’m going to experiment with a few tactics to make it more sustainable over time.

I landed on three priorities that are important to me, and moving forward, I will use these as my guideposts:

1. I want to create content I’m proud of.

2. I want it to be thought-provoking and helpful (for myself and others).

3. I want it to be fun to write / create, and not yet another chore.

The reality is I’m still trying to find my voice, and I spend too much time writing each newsletter. But despite that, I’ve found the process of writing / creating to be extremely rewarding. Humbling, but deeply rewarding.

• Writing is helping me synthesize my learnings and ideas to get more clarity of thought, while bringing to light gaps in my understanding.

• Building in public is helping me fight my perfectionist tendencies, ‘ship’ what I create, get feedback, and (re)connect with many of you.

• Most importantly, Growth Meditations has helped me get off the sidelines and put myself out there. While it is only the first step, it feels great to actually “step into the arena” of content creation.

Focus on intentions, not resolutions

Now for the the topic that I originally planned to write about in this issue 🤣 

A couple weeks ago, I listened to a meditation on the Calm app where Tamara Levitt examined the difference between resolutions and intentions.

She made the case that “when we make resolutions, we’re often looking at what’s wrong in our life and taking action to fix that problem. We place strong pressure on ourselves, and we feel guilt and shame if we fall off course. For many of us, there’s a sense that a resolution is all or nothing.”

She then offered an alternative that doesn’t tie us to an outcome — intentions. “They simply ask that we bring mindfulness to our actions and make efforts to change. The meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg uses the phrase ‘just start over’ — meaning that when we’re knocked off course, we can begin again without getting caught up in self judgment. We can simply move on, realizing that the next moment is a brand new moment and tomorrow is a brand new day.”

Tamara added that “with intentions, our focus is not on what we need to fix, but rather what we want to create.”

She then ended with a quote from The Way of the Peaceful Warrior where the character Socrates said, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but this subtle reframe from resolutions to intentions piqued my attention, and seems like it could have a big impact.

There’s also no reason they have to be set for the entire year too.

My plan is to pick 3-5 intentions I want to cultivate at a time, then swap them out for new intentions as soon as I make progress building the habit. Ideally within 4-12 weeks.

In future issues, I’ll share more on my process and how it will inevitably evolve. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear what’s working for you!

I’ll leave you with my favorite quote

TL;DR

I hope something in this issue resonated with you.

Maybe you’re currently struggling with your New Year’s Resolutions, or maybe you’re a proactive over-achiever obsessed with continuous improvement.

Regardless, I urge you to try being more intentional and compassionate (with yourself and others).

In case you’ve had similar thoughts and feelings to what I outlined above, here are a few reminders I have for myself. Not sure who needs to hear this…

• We are not our thoughts. We are not our past actions.

• Every moment is an opportunity to choose who we want to be.

• Life (and business) is a marathon, not a sprint.

• Listen to yourself, and be sure your effort is sustainable.

• Focus on actions that can compound over time.

What to expect

Moving forward, I’m going to experiment with sending the newsletter on different days during the week (instead of Sundays).

Over time, I’ll land on a cadence that works best for the majority.

Thanks for reading!

Until next week, keep growing »

Scott​

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