5 Tips for New Moon Intentions vs. Goals

I've gotten more and more questions about New Moon Intentions, and more specifically, how to pick one. I thought I'd write a post about the deeper nuances between an intention versus a goal for the New Moon to help you when you're trying to decide on your intention.

Key #1: Specific Intentions

Intentions (and when I say Intentions here and going forward, I'm referring to New Moon Intentions) tend to work best when they are feeling based and specific. Being able to feel your Intention with all of your senses is, in my belief, the key to manifestation. Being able to see what it looks like in your mind's eye, and incorporate any textures, smells, specific colors, or sounds with it. Get as specific as possible, like in the example from A Christmas Story below:

Key #2: The difference between Intentions and Goals

Lots of folks think that intentions are goals, but I'm here to tell you that the two are very different.

So how do we turn this goal into an intention?

Thinking about what it would feel like to lose weight.

How would your body feel? Your mind?

What steps would you need to actively take to support that intention?

Key #3: A note on Intention wording

An important thing to remember when going about your Intention setting, is that the New Moon is the time when the moon is growing in light. Because of that, you'll want your New Moon intentions ideally to be about abundance: attracting, building, growing. If your intention is to release something, you'll want to re-focus that releasing onto the positive feelings you'll have once that thing is released. Or you'll want to save that intention for the Full Moon - the time of releasing.

Key #4: Picking Your Intention

Sometimes I hear from folks who say they are overwhelmed at what intention to pick.

Ask for whatever resonates. Sit quietly and say out loud all the intentions you're thinking about working with. After you say each intention, take a few deep breaths and see how you feel. Does that intention weight you down or lighten your spirits? Do you feel excited, alive, vibrating with that intention? Does it feel heavy like a burden? Pay attention to those feelings and the one that resonates the most, the one that you can really feel in your body, vibrating in your cells with possibility, that's the one you should focus on. It may be 'big' or 'small' - it doesn't matter!

The biggest trees grow out of the smallest seeds.

What matters is how you feel about the intention - that's where all the power is.

Key #5: Coming back to your Intention every day

Outside of being able to really feel your intention, the second most important thing for Intention setting is being able to come back to it each day. If you can come back to that intention day after day in meditation and feel that intention, see it in your mind's eye and be excited about it each day, you're golden.

And a final caveat

And as always when I talk about New Moon Intentions, I always like to point out even if you set an intention, imagine it beautifully and craft the wording so that it lights you up every time you say it, that's not necessarily enough. What are you doing to help your Intention along? What work are you putting in? The Universe will only respond in kind. So if you're setting an Intention without any work and wondering why your results aren't quite what you thought they'd be, take a look in the mirror.

There's always something you can do to help the Universe along and let it know that you're in this and willing to show up and do the work.

Want to deepen your work with the moon phases?

Order my new book, Lunar Intentions - a yearly journal for new moon intention setting.