Every January, we’re invited to look ahead and decide what we want from the year. But somewhere along the way, this turned into a pressure to set goals. Fast, concrete, measurable goals and promises as resolutions. As if the quality of our life depends on how quickly we can map, plan and achieve.
Yet after fifteen years in the coaching room, I’ve seen something repeatedly…Goals don’t create transformation. Intention does.
Goals can be helpful, yes. But they’re often check-box moments. Neat, tidy, and sometimes disconnected from who you are becoming. Intentions, on the other hand, shift you at the level of identity. They change the way you move through your days, the way you respond to challenge, the way you relate to yourself and others.
I’ve watched clients hit goals and still feel strangely empty. And I’ve watched others anchor deeply into intention, values-led, aware, reflective, and change in ways that reshape their whole lives. This is why, as we step into a new year, I want to invite you to start with intention rather than ambition. Lead your year, don’t just plan it.
The energy around us is a year of beginnings, not endings. 2026 carries the energetic signature of a fresh start. The year of the Fire Horse brings movement, courage and a desire for freedom. A sense that you get to design your own path rather than follow a familiar one. Horse energy is bold and expressive; it favours clarity of direction, not speed.
We’re also in a 1-year in numerology, the beginning of a new nine-year cycle. A year to plant seeds, start again, and choose what matters most. A year that asks, “What wants to begin?” and, “Who are you becoming as it does?”
January’s astrology only reinforces the theme, grounding Capricorn energy to help you build strong foundations, followed by innovative Aquarius energy that invites you to think differently, create differently, and lead differently. A helpful mix for anyone wanting to lead themselves with more intention, depth and alignment. But none of this really matters if you don’t choose how you want to meet the year. Which is where intentional leadership comes in.
I’ve written a book called Recalibrate, to be launched in 2026. In this book I describe intentional leadership as the place where your inner clarity meets your outer influence. It’s the bridge between who you are and how you lead. When leaders move from automatic to aware, everything changes. Their tone, their decisions, their presence, and their confidence.
I’ve written before on how Intentional leadership breeds more than just results. It shapes a thriving culture, invites shared purpose, and unlocks productivity rooted in meaning and trust. When leaders act with clarity, empathy and alignment with their values, they create environments where people feel seen, motivated and part of something bigger. That clarity of purpose helps people understand not just what they’re working on, but why it matters. And when purpose, trust and autonomy come together, teams flourish, engagement deepens and work becomes more sustainable and fulfilling.
But this year, intention feels even more personal for me. My intention for 2026 is Forgiveness. Not forgiveness of one event or one person or even myself. More a spacious, ongoing practice of clearing the inner residue we all tend to hold. The emotions that sit heavy over time: jealousy, frustration, disappointment, guilt, resentment, or at worst, contempt.
I’ve been reading Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh for the past two months, choosing one page at random each morning. I read it slowly, let it land, and carry the sentence or idea with me through the day. It’s become a quiet act of freedom. A way of feeding my awareness, making subtle shifts in small, gentle and very light doses. One Buddhist principle on forgiveness has stayed with me. It’s the reminder that the dark emotions we hold onto don’t punish others; they punish us. They stagnate our energy. They close our hearts. They keep us tied to old stories that no longer serve who we’re becoming.
Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “When another person makes you suffer, it is because <he> suffers deeply within <him>self… <He> does not need punishment; <he> needs help.”
The first time I read this, it softened something in me.
It has opened a series of conversations with my son about what happens when we grip tightly to emotions that feel sharp or heavy. They don’t release the hurt; they recycle it. And when we learn to forgive ourselves, others, the past, we’re not excusing anything. We’re simply freeing ourselves from energy that no longer belongs. And if I can share this wisdom with an eight year old I feel I can honour this as a practice within myself.
Continuing the thread from 2025, my intention was Nourish. I anchored it mostly in food choices, and if I’m honest, I didn’t honour it as fully in that area. It was a rough one for me hormonally! But in a reflection session with my coach in December, I realised how many other parts of my life were nourished in deep, meaningful ways. My relationships, my work, the completion of my book (I’ll share more on that later this year), my practices, my energy. I didn’t finish depleted, I finished feeling weightless and joyful. So I’m carrying nourish forward. I don’t need a new intention just because the calendar flipped. Instead, I’m letting it weave with forgiveness. Two strands of the same thread that help me clear old energy, open new space, and step into this year with softness and freedom.
This is why intention matters more than goals. It evolves. It deepens. It follows your life, not the other way around.
If you want this year to feel different, let this be the year you lead from intention – not autopilot. Ask yourself:
- What emotion, belief or pattern is ready to soften?
- Which values want to guide your year?
- Where do you want more congruence between who you are and how you live?
- What kind of energy do you want to bring into each room you enter?
Transformation begins with awareness, not achievement.
Experiment a little…
Try this simple practice for the first month of the year: Daily Clearing Ritual
Each morning for 5 minutes:
Choose one intention, Something gentle, values-led and feels right for you. For example:
“I will stay open”
“I will respond softly”
“I will release what feels heavy”
“I will nourish one part of my day”
Ask yourself: What inner energy do I want to clear today?
You might name it quietly, like frustration, worry, comparison, or guilt.
Place a hand on your chest. Take one slow breath. Imagine the breath loosening that energy, even just by 1%.
At the end of the day, for just 1 minute:
Ask yourself: Did I honour my intention, even a little? What shifted when I did?
Small shifts lead to deep change.
And if you want support this year… Intentional leadership becomes even more powerful when you’re supported by someone who can help you see the patterns you miss, strengthen the values you want to live by, and create space to grow into the leader you already are
If you’re considering working with a coach this year, or you’re curious about how to choose the right one, you might like to revisit my guide: How to Choose Your One-on-One Coach: 8 Questions to Ask
Support doesn’t take away the work – it amplifies the transformation.
As a final thought, you don’t need a long list of goals to start your year with purpose. You just need one clear intention and the courage to honour it. As you step into this year of new beginnings, may you feel nourished, softened and free. And may forgiveness for yourself, for others, for old stories, open the space for everything you’re ready to become.
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