Intention Setting with Clementine App: A Positive and Gentle Start to 2024

Setting resolutions for the new year can feel a little overwhelming. We often feel pressured to stick by our initial goals and if we don’t manage to meet them, it can feel like we have failed. At Lumie, we are taking a gentle approach to 2024. We partnered with Clementine App for an online intention-setting workshop to start the year in an empowering way. If you couldn’t make it, fear not! Below we summarise the top tips provided by Clementine’s founder, Kim Palmer.

Take deep, slow breaths and imagine that there is a wheel in front of you. The wheel is made up of lots of different segments which represent different aspects of your life:

- Fun and recreation

- Family and friends

- Love and romance

- Health and well-being

- Career and work surroundings

- Money

- Personal growth

- Home surroundings

There are so many segments that make up your life, and in this exercise we are going to think about what we would like to focus on in 2024 and what we do not plan to focus on. Keep breathing slowly and draw your attention to one segment of the wheel. If this is health and well-being think about the mental as well as physical aspects - are you nurturing your well-being enough? For many of us, this answer to this is no. If you are thinking about your career, consider how satisfied you are with your professional life. Take the time to think about each of the wheel's segments. To guide your thinking, take a pen and paper and consider the following prompts. Spend as long as you need to respond to each of these, and if you are struggling to think of examples, take a look through your photographs from the past year to bring back memories.

1. List all of the moments when you felt joy over the past 12 months

2. List what you are most proud of from the past 12 months

3. List the times you felt most stressed during the past 12 months

4. List what you wish you had done more of in the past 12 months

5. List what you wish you had done less of in the past 12 months

6. List the things that you couldn't live without

Now that we have reflected on what made us feel good in 2023 and what made us feel less so, we can think more clearly about setting boundaries. 

Boundaries are lines that exist between feeling okay and not feeling okay about something. When you are feeling tired, stressed or jealous, for example, it is a good time to check in with yourself as a boundary may have been crossed that is making you feel this way. Look at the list of things that you wish you had done less of this year and think about when your boundaries were crossed. What are you going to say no to this year? Now look at the things that you wish you had done more of and which brought you joy. What are you going to say yes to this year? This will help you to be more intentional and set your boundaries.

Having reflected on the year gone by and having identified our intentions for the year ahead, it can be useful to have a word or affirmation that will help you to create a filter. Think about how you want your year to feel and try to think of a word or phrase that reflects this. This can be a noun, verb, or anything that feels good for you. Take your time with this, and remember that you have a whole year ahead of you so there is no need to put pressure on yourself to rush things. Start small and be gentle on yourself. 

If you are looking to improve your sleep this year and boost your mood and energy levels, why not take a look at Lumie's wake-up lights and energy lights? Light therapy can be easily combined with your everyday activities to have a hugely positive effect.