New Year Intentions for Women: How to Set Them, With Examples

It's the quiet week after the holidays. The tree's still up, the leftovers are nearly gone, and there's a new planner on the counter with nothing in it yet. Last year's resolutions might still be on a sticky note somewhere, mostly crossed out for the wrong reasons.

This year you'd like the calendar to hold more of the good stuff: friends, laughter, and a trip you keep daydreaming about. New year intentions start with how you want the year to feel, then hand you one real step toward it.

Intentions fit any stage of life. You can be partnered, single, or starting over, with a house full of kids or one that's newly quiet. All you need is a pen, an honest look at last year, and a date you'd like to look forward to.

What Are New Year Intentions?

A new year intention is a short statement of how you want to feel and who you want to be in the year ahead. It's the “why” behind your goals, and you can come back to it every day.

A goal or resolution names an outcome you can measure, like running a 5K or paying off a credit card. An intention comes first and answers a softer question: how do I want to feel this year?

Most intentions start with a simple stem, such as “I intend to ___,” “I want to feel ___,” “I am ___,” or “More ___, less ___.” Fill in the blank with whatever's been missing lately, and you've got a first draft.

New Year's Intentions vs. Resolutions

Resolutions are usually written in absolutes. They lean on numbers and words like “every” and “never,” and they're pass/fail. Miss one Tuesday at the gym and the whole plan can feel blown by Friday.

Intentions lean on softer words, like “more,” “start,” and “practice.” They point you in a direction and ask you to keep choosing it. A rough week doesn't cancel them, since you can pick them back up the next morning.

Making a commitment helps. In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46% of people who made New Year's resolutions were still succeeding six months later. Among similar people who planned to change at some later point without making a resolution, the figure was 4%.

Wording seems to matter too. A 2020 study in PLOS ONE followed more than 1,000 adults in Sweden. After a year, 58.9% of people whose resolutions moved them toward something rated themselves successful, compared with 47.1% of those whose resolutions were about quitting or avoiding something.

The gap was modest, and people scored their own progress. Still, it's a good reason to phrase your intentions around what you want more of.

You also don't have to pick one approach. A big intention can hold one or two concrete goals underneath it. “I want to feel more connected” might turn into a standing monthly dinner and a weekend away with new people.

How to Set Intentions for the New Year

Setting intentions takes about an hour, a quiet spot, and a journal or the notes app on your phone. Do it in one sitting or across a few evenings.

1) Reflect on the Year Behind You

Start with the year you're finishing. Write down whatever comes to mind for each of these:

• Which days left me buzzing, and which ones wiped me out?

• What moments would I happily repeat, and who was there for them?

• Where did I feel the most like me?

• What am I ready to set down, and what do I want to carry into the new year?

If you want to reset your life after a hard year, start here. The answers usually live in small moments: a lake day, a long phone call, the Sunday you finally said no to something.

2) Name Your Values and How You Want to Feel

Next, circle the three to five core values you care about most right now, like family, adventure, honesty, or creativity. Then ask what each one feels like when you're living it. Adventure might feel playful, family might feel connected, and honesty might feel grounded.

If that feels like a lot, make a quick “more of, less of” list instead. More dinners with friends, less saying yes to things you dread. You'll usually spot a theme by the third line.

3) Write One to Three Intention Statements

Turn those feelings into one to three short statements. Once you go past three, they start competing for the same Saturday afternoons.

Write them in the present tense or start with “I intend to.” Keep the wording positive and aimed at what you're moving toward, which is the phrasing the Swedish study above found slightly more successful.

Then do a gut check. If a statement makes you wince, or reads like a punishment for last year, rewrite it with more kindness. Some women like to boil everything down to a single word, which works well as an anchor.

4) Attach a First Action

An intention with no first step stays a nice idea. Pair each one with something small you can do this month, and something bigger you can book for winter or early spring.

Tie the small action to something you already do every day. If you sit down with coffee each morning, read your intention while it cools. Ours goes in a green Camp Social mug.

Size the action to the time you have. Women 35 to 44 average 3.70 hours of leisure a day, the least of any age group, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That same age band is when time spent caring for household members peaks, at about 1.63 hours a day.

If you're in that stretch, a ten-minute walk with a friend counts. Leisure time climbs later in life, to an average of 4.86 hours a day for women 55 to 64, 6.43 for women 65 to 74, and 6.85 for women 75 and older.

Your week may look nothing like those averages. But if this new chapter has opened up more time than you've had in years, your first action can be a bigger one.

5) Keep It Where You'll See It

Put your intentions somewhere you'll see them every day: a sticky note on the bathroom mirror, your phone's lock screen, or the first page of your planner. A vision board works too, as a place to display the intentions you've already written.

Once a month, reread each one. If it doesn't fit anymore, change it, and don't feel bad about it. A missed week means you pick it up again on Monday, since an intention is something you practice.

New Year Intentions for Women: Examples by Life Area

Use these as starting points. Borrow one as written, or change a word until it sounds like you. Each comes with a note on what it could look like in a real week.

1) Friendship and Connection

Marriages, kids, moves, and new jobs all squeeze adult friendships, and plenty of women look up one year to find their circle has gotten small. If that's you, you're in very good company. Our guide on how to make friends as an adult goes deeper.

Reaching out first can feel exposing, and walking into a room alone can feel worse. Most people in that room are hoping someone else will say hi first. Be that person once, and the second time gets easier.

• I intend to get back in touch with a friend I've missed. Send the text you've been drafting in your head and suggest a date.

• I want more time with friends in person. Trade one long text thread a month for a walk or a coffee.

• I show up when I'm invited. Go to the neighbor's party or the coworker's birthday, even if you only stay an hour.

• I'm open to meeting women outside work and family. Try a group where nobody knows your job title or your kids' names.

• I'm the one who gets us together. Pick the restaurant, send the group text, and set the date.

2) Fun, Play, and Adventure

Remember summers as a kid, when the only plan was to see what happened? Play belongs on your list as much as anything practical does. For many women in their 50s and beyond, this stage of life brings more open time, and fun is a great place to spend it.

• Once a month, I try something that makes me a little nervous. Book the pottery class, eat dinner solo at the counter, or sign up for a stand-up paddleboard lesson.

• I pick up a hobby purely for the fun of it. Choose something social so it can turn into friendship, like the ideas in our guide to social hobbies.

• I take a trip that's all mine. Book a girls' weekend, a solo escape, or a women's retreat built around adventure.

• I let myself be silly. Join the dance-off, play the board game, and sing in the car with the windows down.

3) Rest and Time for Yourself

Rest counts as an intention, especially if you spend most of your days looking after other people. These give you permission to take time back.

• I keep some white space on my calendar. Block one evening a week with nothing in it.

• I keep one weekend a month wide open. Let it stay empty, or fill it Saturday morning with whatever sounds good.

• I slow down. Eat lunch somewhere other than your desk or the car.

• I get real time off from looking after everyone else. Hand off one recurring task so you get an afternoon back.

4) Mind and Body

Keep these kind, and keep them focused on how you feel in your body.

• I feel strong in my body. Pick a kind of movement you'd look forward to, like a dance class or a long hike.

• I move because it feels good. Choose activities by how much fun they are.

• I protect my sleep. Set a bedtime alarm and treat it like an appointment.

• I treat my body kindly. Notice one thing it did for you today.

5) Work and Money

• I log off at a set time. Choose the hour and close the laptop when it arrives.

• I ask for what I've earned. Write down three wins before your next review.

• My money goes toward experiences I'll remember. Put a trip or a class in the budget first. Plenty of women are already shifting their spending toward experiences.

6) Personal Growth and Confidence

Confidence grows with use, and these intentions give you small chances to practice it.

• I trust my own judgment. Make one decision this week without polling everyone first.

• I take up room in the conversation. Speak first in the next meeting or group chat.

• I say what I mean. Practice one kind, clear no.

• I'm fully here for the people in front of me. Leave your phone in another room during dinner.

• I practice gratitude. Write down one good moment before bed.

One-Word Intentions for the Year

A one-word intention works like a shortcut. Read your statements back and listen for the word that keeps coming up. Then put it on a sticky note, your phone background, or the inside cover of your journal.

Some good intention words for the new year: connect, play, brave, rest, presence, gentle, open, yes, bloom, strength, joy, slow, enough, explore, belong, steady, gather, and lightness.

If you've heard of a “word of the year,” it's the same idea. Pick one that feels a little like a dare and a little like a deep breath.

Turning an Intention Into Plans on the Calendar

January fills up fast. Work picks back up, the school calendar restarts, and by mid-month the planner that looked so open is full of other people's plans.

For each intention, book one real thing before spring arrives, like a six-week class, a recurring dinner with a friend, or a weekend away. And if January 1 has come and gone, start on Lunar New Year, your birthday, or the first warm week of spring.

If your intentions lean toward connection or adventure, a weekend built around meeting new women is one option. Bunk One, our San Diego retreat on a 240-acre ranch, runs four days and three nights. Every activity is optional, and we encourage women to come solo.

Bunk One weekends fall in mid-February and early April. In February, you'll write a letter to yourself that we mail back six months later. The April Fresh Start weekend is about renewal and making room for whatever you want more of next, so it's an easy fly-in trip for a new year.

For a longer-range plan, our adult summer camp in Equinunk, Pennsylvania, in the Poconos, has its 2028 waitlist open, and you can see what a camp weekend looks like. Closer to home, a book club, a run club, or a volunteer shift can carry the same intention.

Keeping Your Intentions Alive All Year

Small, regular check-ins keep an intention close once the holidays are a memory.

• Every day: Give your statement half a minute, over coffee or as you get into bed.

• Every month: Score the month one to ten for how aligned it felt with your intention, then tweak one action.

• Every quarter: Decide whether to keep it, reword it, or swap it for a new one.

• With a friend: Share your intention with one person you trust and check in on each other. In the PLOS ONE study, people who named a support person reported slightly more success, though they also had monthly check-ins, so the friend wasn't the only difference.

New Year Intentions FAQ

What is an example of an intention?

“I want to feel more connected this year” is a classic example. It names a feeling, and you can act on it in lots of ways, like calling an old friend or joining a group where you'll meet new people.

How many intentions should you set for the new year?

One to three is plenty. With a short list, you can remember each intention without looking it up and attach a real action to each one.

What's the difference between an intention and an expectation?

An expectation is a prediction about how things will turn out, and it often depends on other people or luck. An intention is about how you choose to show up. You can keep an intention even when the plan changes.

Do you have to set intentions on January 1?

No. Any day that feels like a fresh start works, including the first morning of a weekend away.

Choosing the Feeling and the First Plan

One evening with a notebook can give you one to three intentions, a word to anchor them, and a first action for each. Then add a date: one class, one dinner, or one weekend that puts how you want to feel on the calendar.

If your intentions point toward friendship and play, get Bunk One 2027 tickets to join our February and April weekends. Camp Social 2027 is sold out, and the 2028 waitlist for camp in the Poconos is open now.