Intentional decisions we make in the first few days or weeks of the year can go a long way. That’s why you should aim to make your most important decisions early in the year—and commit to sticking with them.
This approach is slightly different from making a resolution. With a resolution, you’re often just throwing a wish out into the world and hoping the universe helps, or that a sudden burst of motivation carries you through. An intentional decision, on the other hand, is deliberate. You declare it to yourself, write it down, set the conditions for success, and give it a clear timeline, for example.
Let’s take a simple financial decision you might make early in the year: saving a specific amount of money—say, $5,000—for an important home renovation project. The first step is to grab a pen and paper and write down your intention by answering the following:
- How much do you want to save?
- What are you saving for?
- How will you save this money (sources)?
- What is the timeline?
- What is the end result (visualizing the outcome)?
Notice how each of these points is specific and easy to put on paper? There should be very little room for guessing. If there is, take the time to work out the details.
Now compare this to a vague wish such as, “I want to complete this long-overdue renovation project, but I need to save some money.” This frames the goal as something far off in the future—so much so that your brain may not even bother engaging with it.
Intentional decisions work because they remove ambiguity. When your brain knows exactly what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and by when, it no longer treats the goal as optional. It becomes a plan instead of a wish. The earlier you make these decisions in the year—and the more clearly you define them—the more likely they are to quietly guide your actions day by day. In the end, progress rarely comes from motivation or luck, but from clear intentions that are written, structured, and acted upon consistently.