Clarify your Intentions

“Let all your efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view. It’s not activity that disturbs people, but false conceptions of things that drive them mad.”

— Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 12.5

I think this is a perfect sentiment as we start the new year, and one of the main reasons I no longer look at setting up specific New Years resolutions. Instead I like to setup year-long intentions and revisit some long-term objectives. From there I can setup some milestones for my year, but that is not the real reason I setup my yearly intention.

The yearly intention provide directions for the year, it is a purpose statement for those daily life decisions. A navigational beacon for those rudder corrections that have to be made. However, before you can setup your beacons you have to know where you are going.

I don’t believe they are saying you have to have a detailed plan, being agile and adaptive I think is core to the stoic principles. Keeping yourself and your mind flexible is critical to allowing yourself to respond rather than react. However, with no plan and no direction you are left reacting to everything.

Set your goals and go into this year with intention, then take purposeful action.