Mindful Monday: New Year's Intentions
Mindful Mondays - ideas inspired by spiritual learnings and personal reflections.
We’ve all heard the expression, “New Year, New Me”.
New Year's resolutions are meant to be promises made at the start of a year to improve oneself, often focusing on health (exercise, better eating, sleep), personal growth (learning skills, reading, mindfulness, career), or finance (saving, budgeting).
Setting New Year’s resolutions often feels overwhelming. It’s a kind of pressure, where you feel like you need to change, set new goals, and targets. Our resolutions can also feel impulsive or a bit of a chore to maintain. Perhaps because the intention wasn't pure or thought through when setting them. Maybe the term “New Year’s Resolution” has turned into an autopilot and passing phrase, expressed merely out of habit between the passing of time between Christmas and the New Year. As a result, we quickly abandon them, as quickly as we set them.
This week, I attended a conference at our local mosque. The topics of the lectures were purification, time management, revival of traditions, and understanding the Divine. I was particularly emersed on the ideology behind reflection, intention, and revival of traditions.
This prompted me to explore the definitions and differences between “resolution” and “intention”.
Resolution Vs. Intention
Resolutions are strict, outcome-focused decisions (e.g., "Lose 10 pounds, or make more money") that often fail due to being rigid and an all-or-nothing mentality, while intentions are flexible, values-based aims (e.g., "Honour my body with movement, or create more awareness for my business") that focus on how you want to live and allow for course correction, fostering sustainable, and mindful growth rather than future perfection.
Resolutions set rules; intentions set direction, making them more forgiving and aligned with long-term development.
Resolutions
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Definition: A firm, often binary decision (do or don't do).
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Focus: Specific, measurable outcomes and the future (e.g., "Run a marathon").
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Nature: Rigid, strict, and goal-oriented; creates an "all or nothing" mindset.
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Risk: High chance of failure and self-criticism if a rule is broken.
Intentions
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Definition: An aim, purpose, or guiding principle.
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Focus: How you want to be, feel, or act; qualitative and values-driven (e.g., "Cultivate presence").
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Nature: Flexible, open-ended, and present-focused; provides direction, not a strict path.
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Benefit: Allows grace and adjustment, keeping you engaged even if you slip.
Source: Institute for Integrative Nutrition
New Year's Intentions
This New Year isn't about setting resolutions for the year ahead of us. Instead, we are taking a moment to reflect on the past year and mindfully renewing our intentions for what we believe in and messages we want to share with you. 
What do we intend to share with you?
AYWA isn't just another fashion brand that sells clothes. We are mindful of the delicate world that we live in. Our intention is to make beautiful abayas for our clients. Good clothes are good for the soul, and we love to share that, which is good or tayyib.
How do we achieve that? Well, that’s one of my intentions – to open my heart and mind to you and share what we believe in – through gentle education in key areas of:
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Mindfulness and wellbeing
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Slow fashion and wholesome living
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Product knowledge (I want you to know as much as I do about what’s behind your abayas).
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Craftsmanship and sourcing
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Environmental and health issues
We are making a gentle way for ourselves to renew our intentions and revive traditions in our spiritual, personal, and business lives.
So in conclusion, I would say "New Year, Same Brand".
I hope that this reflection has inspired you in some way to make your own intentions for a better you.
Best wishes,
From Waqaas
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