Intention: Thrive in 2025!

by Lindsay M. Syeh, LMHC, NCC, MFT, MDiv

Credit: NPR 2025

Happy New Year, Everyone! How exciting that we are a couple of days into a brand new year. You know what that means? It's an opportunity to set new resolutions, goals and intentions that will help to guide all of the adventure's, experiences and encounters we share.

Since 2016 I ditched the traditional New Years Resolution and started the discipline to reflect on One Word (not a phrase, a sentence or a statement). . . just One Word that would guide me through my year. You can call it an intention.

I've journeyed life through words like: compassion, love, kindness, peace, just to name a few. As I reflected on 2024 and everything I navigated, the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the challenges, and setbacks, the triumphs, and victories, the fog, the clarity, the strength, the power, the reimagining... This year is no different!

I'm excited to journey throughout life wanting to live with more intention. Living with intention will stretch every area of your life: spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, financially, professionally, etc.

An intention is a plan or idea that you intend to carry out, or a determination to act in a certain way. It's something you mean to do, whether you actually do it or not. 

Living with intention means making decisions and taking action based on mindfulness and intention, rather than being influenced by impulses or the environment.

With that being said (drum roll please), in 2025 . . . my One Word . . . my intention is Thrive!

Just so that I know what I am walking into, I went to Google to give me some insight on the journey ahead. According to Google Dictionary, thrive means to grow or develop well or vigorously; prosper; flourish. I heard that . . to grow well. to develop well.. I intend to do all of that and more.

As I reflect on what this year can be, I want to center Thrive through the lens of wellness.

If you're interested in reflecting on how you can set a meaningful intention in 2025 reflect on these journal prompts:

1. How do I want to feel?

2. What qualities do I want to embody?

3. What areas of my life need focus?

4. What do I want to achieve?

5. What actions can I take to align with my intentions?

6. What do I need to let go of to reach my goals? What do I need to let go of to set this intention? What do I need to disconnect from to connect with myself?

7. How can I better nurture myself?

8. What brings me joy and energy?

9. How do I want to show up (for myself, in my relationships, as a professional, etc.)?".

10. What's One Word that describes what I am feeling and how I want to live in the next day, week, month, quarter, year? Who do you want to become after that time-frame?

Credit: Piniterest

Here's what Thrive can look like for you in 2025:

1. Practice gratitude: Make a daily habit of thinking of three things you are grateful for. 

2. Develop a healthy routine: Maintain a daily schedule, such as waking up, eating meals, and going to bed. 

3. Build connections: Stay in touch with friends, family, and church. 

4. Reconnect with a group: Start or join a group that provides support and connection. 

5. Exercise: Get your heart rate up with some vigorous exercise. 

6. Practice self-compassion, self-regulation, and self-care: These can help you manage and prevent survival mode. 

7. Free yourself from limiting beliefs: Ask yourself what your limiting beliefs are and try to free yourself from them. 

8. Develop a thriving mentality: Go towards abundance and choose to work with leaders who are also thriving. 

9. Let go and let in: Allow yourself to let go and let in. 

10. Making that appointment for therapy: Process what is keeping you in survival mode so that you can move into thrive mode.

Surviving is about getting by and meeting basic needs, while thriving is about actively pursuing goals and feeling a sense of fulfillment. 

Before I let you go. Here are some gentle reminders to keep you in-focus

• A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.

• A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan.

• A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.

• If you're persistent you'll get it. If you're consistent you'll keep it.

Hopefully, by the end of this reading you have reflected on your one word and envisioned how to live life with more meaning and intention.

Let's stay connected!

@justpivotwellness