Goals VS Intentions: Make Your Skincare Resolutions Stick

THE GIST:

A brief discussion about the differences between your goals and intentions to help you acheive your long term skincare commitments.

LET’S DISCUSS…

Now that the New Year has come and gone, I am sure most of you have already created and started your skincare goals. But what exactly are your goals? Can you achieve them without much effort or help from a trusted family member or friend? Or what about your intention? Are these goals sustainable over the long term? Will you maintain your routine past the first month of 2020?

We’ve all tried fad diets or social challenges that were created to help us achieve our goals. I will never forget the Lemonade Detox inspired by Beyonce’s starring role in the movie Dreamgirls back in 2006. That God awful drink of distilled water, squeezed lemon juice, grade B syrup (heaven forbid you use the grade A option) and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, paired with nothing else but hope and prayer that you actually lost weight. My lawd… was that a terrible idea and an even worse drink, I mean it was powerful bad! But I digress.

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Needless to say, most of the people who tried it, didn’t make it past day three on the liquid-only diet. Now we could argue that it was a terrible way to lose weight and I am sure the majority will agree that there are much better ways to shed excess fat, but on the flip-side, most of us failed because there was little to no intention behind “why” we were doing it. Yea, we wanted to lose weight and ready our bodies for those teeny weeny bikini bathing suits we wanted to don in the summer but we had NO intention on maintaining the detox or a healthy diet after the lost weight. And there my friends is where the real problems lie.

Without intention behind your goals, you are more likely to fail at achieving your goals and maintaining your success. But let’s back up here and discuss the difference between goals and intentions.

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GOALS:

The act of completing a desired task or an assignment.

INTENTIONS:

The act of committing to the long term acheivements of the desired task or goal.

THE DIFFERENCE:

Goals are specific achievements, something that can be quantified and essentially marked off of your checklist as accomplished things. Intentions are rather different, they are independent of actually achieving the goal.

Using the Lemonade detox as an example, the goal for many was to lose “X” number of pounds in a limited amount of time, whereas the intention behind losing weight, in general, is to become healthier and make better dietary decisions. Having an intention behind your goals makes them sustainable over the long term and you are more likely to stick to them. Your intention becomes a lifestyle rather than a one-time achievement such as a goal.

THE REFLECTION:

So thinking back on your skincare goals for the year 2020, can you achieve them? Are they sustainable? Are you likely to make that new routine a part of your lifestyle? What’s your intention behind making these changes? Knowing your “why” and understanding your intentions makes achieving your goals much easier and maintaining them as a part of your lifestyle. Your dreams of healthy, even skin is much more attainable than you think and it’s just a matter of time.

Tell me your skincare goals and intentions in the comments section below, I would love to hear what you guys have come up with!