How to Bring an Intention to Your 2026 - About IBD Podcast Episode 193

How to Bring an Intention to Your 2026 – About IBD Podcast Episode 193

Leave a reply

We explore the idea of setting intentions instead of resolutions in the new year, which are more adaptable for people living with IBD. Amber shares clips from guests who explain their intentions, such as prosper, discipline, generosity, consistency, and the importance of taking breaks. Each guest highlights how intentions guide actions and mindset, emphasizing personal growth, resilience, and kindness, despite unpredictability.

Listen and Subscribe to About IBD: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Castbox | Amazon Music | All Other Podcast Apps

Find Lisa Zawrotny of Positively Productive Systems at:

Find Rachel Bee of Infusion Hero at:

Find Stacey Collins, MA, RDN/LDN at:

Find Jen Hubley Luckwaldt and The Job Hopper at:

Find Amber J Tresca at:

Find Mac Cooney (mix, sound design, and theme music) at:

These show notes may contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, Mal and Tal Enterprises, LLC may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

[Music: IBD Dance Party]

Amber Tresca 00:00:05  I’m Amber and this is About IBD. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis as a teen and had surgery ten years later. Now I help people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis understand their disease and feel seen on About IBD. You’ll get real talk on symptoms, treatment and life with IBD straight from patients, caregivers, and experts. You’ll learn, feel less alone, and even have a laugh along the way.

Today’s episode is a little different because it’s a clip show. Now, you haven’t heard these clips before, but I saved them from episodes published throughout 2025. I wanted them for the end of the year because it’s a great time for this topic, which is the idea of intentions early in 2025. I asked some of my guests if they had an intention or a word for the upcoming year. I did this because I think that intentions are more applicable to people with IBD than resolutions. Resolutions tend to be a little unkind to us. They are difficult to keep as everyone who’s listening or watching this knows.

Amber Tresca 00:01:14  And also, they don’t really gel well with a chronic illness like IBD because we just don’t know what this disease is going to do throughout the year. And intention isn’t about perfection, and it’s not about outcomes. It’s about how we decide to show up. In these clips, you’ll see how guests are being intentional about how they spend their time and what they’re letting into their lives. Each voice is coming from a different experience, but they’re telling the same story. And that is how being intentional is an act of resilience. Okay, let’s get into it.

My first guest to answer this question is Lisa Zawrotny from episode 170, Declutter Your Life While Living with IBD, which was published on March 11th in 2025. Lisa is a productivity coach and the founder of Positively Productive Systems. She also hosts the Positively Living podcast. Her mission is to help people reduce overwhelm, manage stress, and design personalized systems that work for them.

Amber Tresca 00:02:30  Lisa, do you have an intention for 2025 that you’re setting?

Lisa Zawrotny 00:02:35  So I think there’s a distinction between general intention that I have based on my own mission and values.

Lisa Zawrotny 00:02:41  And then also I do a word of the year as an intention, which is something that’s a bit more focused, that allows me to stay in alignment. So, being me, I’m not going to have one answer for you, but I’ll keep it to two. So for the word of the year, which I’ve been doing for well over a decade now, for 2025, I have chosen prosper. And I love that because it has a sort of a thriving kind of vibe. I mean, it does involve financially prospering, but it also involves just living our best lives. And the idea that I want to do that not only for myself, but by doing what I do, helping others do the same. And my overarching intention always, always as a, as a coach and as a person is to leave people and conversations and situations just a little bit better than when I showed up to encourage and to inspire hope.

Amber Tresca 00:03:42  I live by that as well. And it’s something that I try to teach my children. Leave people better than you found them.

Amber Tresca 00:03:54  The second guest to answer this question is Rachel B from episode 172 Infusion Hero Stylish Hoodies for Young Patients, published on April 8th of 2025. Rachel was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when she was just 13 years old. At the time of the recording, she was a 17-year-old high school student, a wrestler, and a business owner. Rachel is the founder of Infusion Hero, and she designs hoodies created especially for young patients to stay warm while receiving their infusions. I’ve kind of been asking my guests this year if they have an intention for the year, or a word for the year that they’re following. Do you have anything like that, an intention or a word that you’re following for 2025?

Rachel Bee 00:04:48  I think I have three words that I’m following. Discipline, accountability and generosity.

Amber Tresca 00:04:53  Discipline. I think I understand where you’re going with that. You are definitely very disciplined. Where does accountability come in?

Rachel Bee 00:05:01  I think accountability just kind of knowing that you at this point in your life, you know, I’m entering the world of adulthood getting to kind of make more of my own decisions.

Rachel Bee 00:05:11  And so accountability. I get to make those decisions. I get to decide what kind of person I want to be and what kind of impact I want to make with those around me. And so I think just kind of realizing that it’s on you and you get to decide who you get to be. It doesn’t matter what life throws at you, but you can choose who you want to be. And so I think that’s something that I’m really trying to focus on.

Amber Tresca 00:05:31  And how about generosity. Because it sounds like you are already very deeply entrenched in that word. Are you expanding upon it this year?

Rachel Bee 00:05:39  I think yeah, I just kind of want to focus on being a generous person, on providing opportunities for other people. I mean, in order for me to get to where I am today, I’ve had to have a support group. I’ve had to have people that are giving me different opportunities and different options and that are always there for me. And so I want to be that person there that provides other opportunities that hopefully when an infusion hero grows to the point where I have the funds to provide something positive for someone, that I’ll take that opportunity and make a difference in someone’s life with that.

Rachel Bee 00:06:07  So I just I really want to be known as a generous person, and I want to be accountable with that in me and have the discipline to become that person. So that’s kind of where all three of them tie together.

Amber Tresca 00:06:16  That’s amazing. And I will say that generosity I think I’ve discovered in my own life when that has been my word or my intention for the year. The more that you open your arms to other people, the more that you find it. It comes back to you just exponentially. So I hope that that works out for you as well.

Rachel Bee 00:06:38  Yeah. Thank you.

Amber Tresca 00:06:46  My third guest to talk about intention is Stacey Collins from episode 173, “Reclaiming Joy and Eating with IBD” published on April 22nd, 2025. Stacy lives with the pouch after surgery to treat ulcerative colitis. She is also a dietitian who supports people with IBD as they navigate their nutrition journey. Her philosophy includes the idea that we should think about nourishment in terms of addition and not restriction. Stacey, do you set goals or intentions or do you have a vision board at the beginning of a new year? Do you do anything like that? And if you so feel inclined to do so, could you share what that is for you this year? Oh, yes.

Stacey Collins 00:07:39  Sort of. So I used to do a vision board, but the year that I like went all out on doing the vision board. I ended up, it was a worldwide pandemic and I ended up getting heart surgery, so like.

Amber Tresca 00:07:51  That’s very funny.

Stacey Collins 00:07:52  I really, like, don’t do an actual vision board anymore. That really freaked me out. I was like, okay, too much magic at once. so but now I have an ADHD planner. I’m not. I’m going to show it to you. It’s called focus and Productivity Planner. I like a hard copy. I like to write. Okay. and so I go through here and I write some goals. Let’s see what I have. A lot of it is around, like, I just want to feel grounded. I do have very specific goals in relation to, like, growing my business. I wanted to author and published last year. I got to do that twice, so that was pretty damn cool. this year I want to move to Colorado.

Stacey Collins 00:08:41  Stay tuned. I also want to hire somebody into my private practice. I also want to do, like, more educational things for the public who don’t have the funds to meet with the dietitian. So I have very specific goals around that. Right. I associate the number of consistency as number three. So I want to move my body three times a week every single week this year. So far, so good.

Amber Tresca 00:09:09  I asked you the question and you didn’t even need a minute to think about it. You were like, yes, I actually do this. And here’s what I have laid out for the year.

Stacey Collins 00:09:21  So yeah. Also, I just want to show you how quickly I have like stickers. So when I was a kid I was very motivated by stickers. And then I was like, you know what? I might still be motivated by stickers. So I have stickers on days that I actually remember to move my body and practice gratitude. So, because gratitude is a practice.

Amber Tresca 00:09:44  I am also motivated by stickers like an eight-year-old girl. So I also use stickers in my journaling practice.

Stacey Collins 00:09:55  It is. Yeah.

Amber Tresca 00:09:56  It’s important.

Stacey Collins 00:09:59  It’s important. We are who we are. We don’t really grow up. That’s what I believe.

Amber Tresca 00:10:03  No. And, if we’re supposed to, I don’t know how. And I’m too old to learn, so, that’s where we are.

My fourth guest to answer this question is Jen Hubley from episode 171 Freelancing Freedom Crafting Your Career While Caring for Your Health, which was published on March 25th, 2025. Jen is an experienced freelance writer and editor. She created The Job Hopper, which is a Substack community offering job-searching tips and career advice. Jen shares valuable insights on building a career for people navigating a chronic illness. Do you sit like a word for the year or an intention for the year?

Jen Hubley 00:10:57  I do is and I’m looking at it right now because I haven’t done my vision board yet for the year.

Jen Hubley 00:11:02  I usually do a vision board in January to focus on what’s most important to me, and what I’m hoping the next year will bring. But I need to get Katie in for that one because Katie loves doing vision boards. Yeah, so even though hers will have a lot of candy and possibly unlimited iPad time.

Amber Tresca 00:11:26  What do you think will be on yours for the year? Do you have any thoughts?

Jen Hubley 00:11:30  I think it’s less of a word for the year and more of a phrase. I think this year I would like to give myself and everyone else a break because I think we all need one. sort of in line with the idea of assuming everyone’s best intentions, but just, you know, really be cognizant of the fact that we all need rest. We all need empathy. We need a break. Breaks for 2025.

Amber Tresca 00:12:06  And that’ll do it for this clip show about intentions. I hope that you’ve learned something that you can take forward into the New Year for yourself. If you have an intention that you’d like to share with me, you can reach me at my website About IBD.com

Amber Tresca 00:12:21  If you’re watching this, you can comment below or if you are listening in your favorite podcast app, you can leave a review. Thanks so much for your support and I’ll see you soon!

Hey super listener! Check the show notes to find links and information about the topics discussed in this episode. Plus, get a written transcript and much more on my website About IBD. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with someone else or leaving a rating in your podcast app. Reviews and ratings help me grow this show and bring you more great content.

Thanks for listening and remember, until next time, I want you to know more about IBD.

About IBD is a production of Mal and Tal Enterprises.

It is written, produced, and directed by me, Amber Tresca.

Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney.

Theme music is from Cooney Studio. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *