How to Set Good Intentions for the Day

A powerful way to practice mindfulness daily is setting daily good intentions. 

Every day is a new day. Every morning is a new morning. Sometimes those truths alone can be the reminder we need to start each day fresh. Whatever happened yesterday, we can let go. And whatever is going to happen in the day ahead, we can face it with a positive mindset. 

But living life in this present tense requires digger a little deeper into our limiting beliefs - not only about ourselves but about the world around us. And one way we can help shift our mindset to a positive tone is to take time every morning to set daily intentions. 

What is a positive intention? 

If you’re not familiar with the intention setting, it’s the practice of identifying what you want to focus on throughout the day. Every morning, you make a list of the things you want to do or think about in order to maintain a positive mindset. 

Our mindset and mindfulness is the focus of intention setting.

Intentions are statements that we want to manifest. Intentions could be 

• Inspirations to help you achieve success or work toward your goals
• Reminders to take deep breaths, maintain your peace, direct your energy towards showing kindness to yourself and others
• Guiding principles to help you stay grounded and be your authentic self
• Sayings or words that embody what you want to experience in life
• Tools for facing the day ahead and all its decisions, tasks, and challenges 

Intention setting can be a powerful tool for personal growth. And over time, it can shift the way we think about the world around us in a positive way. 

How to set good intentions every day

Intention setting is different from goal setting. When we set a goal, we have our sights set on a certain result. We plan deliberate steps and set a deadline to achieve success. Goals can also be reset or set aside while we go about our lives doing other things. 

With intentions, our actions and what we accomplish are less the focus. Instead, the way we orient our minds and thoughts towards positive change is the focus. 

We can change our mindset positively with a daily intention setting practice.

The way we set daily intentions is a little different. An intention throughout the day helps guide the mind. It's meant to shift our way of thinking towards good and positive outcomes in all that we do. 

So, when you’re thinking about setting daily intentions, it can be helpful to think about what you value and what you want your positive mindset to be. 

Ask yourself these questions…

1. What attitude or response do I want to have today when I face difficult situations?
2. Which ways can I show kindness and love to myself and others today? 
3. What do I need to be focused on in order to be mindful and stay grounded today? 
4. What makes me feel good about myself? And how can I cultivate more of it? 
5. What saying or word do I want to practice or experience in the day ahead?

Then take time to make a list of your positive intentions for the day. You can jot these down in a planner, calendar, journal. OR record your daily intentions on sticky notes, notecards to carry with you, or on a whiteboard at a desk or at home.

Ideas for setting positive daily intentions 

There is no limit to how many positive daily intentions you can set for yourself. Whether it is 2 or 10 intentions, the purpose of an intention is to help guide your mindset in the day ahead. It's the representation of the value you want to uphold, the view you want to have, the thing you want to manifest. 

Here are a few ideas of some good daily intentions:

Today, I intend to…

• Focus my attention on the process instead of the deadline
• Celebrate each victory, both big and small
• Take deep breaths when I start to feel overwhelmed
• Slow down and observe the beauty of nature around me
• Share kindness and generosity with others wherever I go 
• Be gentle with me when I make mistakes 
• Zoom out to see the road map of my life
• Devote my energy to things that bring me joy 
• Desire meditation and rest over perfection and exhaustion
• Show self-love and practice self-care 
• Practice gratitude and reject discontentment 
• Be my authentic self and not worry so much about acceptance 
• Prioritize my mental health over pleasing others 
• Ponder the future when needed but live fully in each present moment

Check out our post 20 Positive Intentions That Will Help Make Every Day So Much Better.

And for more ideas on how to practice self-care like setting daily intentions, check out the Silk+Sonder blog!