As we enter the new moon phase in February, mindfulness keeps us striving to achieve the goals we set out for ourselves for the new year.

Goal-setting is a fantastic way to identify what you want to achieve in the future, whether it’s a retirement plan, a 5-year plan, or a New Year’s resolution. With January behind us, resolutions set with the best of intentions may be found on the back burner or completely discarded. But why?

The downside of goal-setting.

Wait, first let us just say there’s an upside to goal-setting too. The benefit of goal-setting is that it helps you understand what you want for the future and create a plan to achieve it. However, sometimes always looking to the future can take away from the now and doesn’t allow you to appreciate the moment.

Marla Tabaka at the Inc. says this dedicated focus on the future not only emphasizes what you currently don’t have but can also highlight the possibility of failure. These feelings can have you wondering why you’re even trying in the first place. This negative space gives way to excuses for procrastinating (because I’ll do it better later) or even quit altogether.

That is not the intent of setting goals. However while we often fall into this discouraging loop when it comes to goal-setting, it is possible to create a mindset that offer a positive and productive path to meeting our goals, we merely have to focus on…

Achieving goals with intention.

Intention gives purpose to executing the plan that will allow you to achieve your goals. With your intention set, your perspective opens from a narrow focal point to a broader sense of self, focussing in on the place that your goals come from rather than highlighting the ways in which you have yet to achieve them. It makes you question how you want to go about your day on the path to achievement and can provide an incredible source of inspiration.

Motivational speaker Mike Robbins writes, “By starting with your intentions, you get right to the source of what you truly want. Intentions are the core and the magic of all of your goals and desires.” He outlines how to marry intentions, goals, and actions to achievement and offers great insight on how to redefine your thought process to bring out the best version of you.

Start with intention.

Identify your “high ideals” whether it’s being wealthy, or nurturing a loving family relationship, or getting healthy — your “high ideals” are the yardstick in measuring your happiness.

Set a specific goal.

Based on your intention, define your goal. If your intention is to get healthy, your specific goal could be to lose x pounds of weight, or run a marathon.

Set related actions or practices.

Once you’ve identified your goal, setting actionable practices is the next step. To run a marathon, your actions might include finding a training program and the practice might be setting aside time daily to train.

The secret to success.

Highly successful people will tell you that intentions achieve goals. Intentions come from a growth mindset, unlike more traditional goal-setting, and can lead you to an achievable end point.

So let's go into the new month and the new moon with a fresh mindset. To manifest your goals and happiness, identify your why and your what, and execute your how to create the happier, healthier you that you’re dreaming of.