Forget New Year's Resolutions, Try New Year's Intentions

— -- Zoe Saldana isn't making a New Year's resolution for 2017.

Instead, along with her two sisters, Saldana is setting a goal that she thinks is much more attainable: an intention.

"Instead of a resolution this year we decided to set an intention, picking a word and focusing on that word and letting that word guide you through the year," Saldana's sister Mariel said in a video.

Zoe Saldana, 38, added that "intention feels more like an active verb. Why not just be? Let’s say, instead of trying to be brave, instead of trying to be nice. Just be nice. Just intend to be nice. I feel that has a different kind of approach and it will bring a different kind of result."

Sonya Frazier, a licensed mental health counselor based in Tampa, Florida, told ABC News that the Saldana sisters may be on to something.

"A New Year's resolution is not really a plan or anything that you can really put into practice, by definition," she explained. "That's why people haven't been successful."

Although setting an intention for the year isn't necessarily a new phenomenon, it may be a great alternative since "it's more of a plan or an aim," Frazier noted.

She said there are many ways to ensure an intention is filled for 2017.

1. Be Specific

2. Remind, Remind, Remind

3. Reflect

"It's cute to write it and say it, but if you're not doing anything, nothing is going to change," she continued.