THE POWER OF INTENTION
You can´t wish for change. You have to make it happen by being intentional.
So, what does that mean, exactly?
Being intentional is the difference between actively creating the life/situation/job you desire rather than passively reacting to life as it happens. And the difference between an intention and a wish is doing the work to identify and achieve the desired outcome, rather than waiting for something miraculous outside of yourself to happen to you. But when is an an intention not a goal? To me, a goal is a statement at the top of a list of actions that are designed to get you to a point. An intention is the active embodiment of the goal. You can 3D your goal by making it intentional. You can see it, feel it, breathe it and live it. It is an active choice to move in a certain direction. It´s the difference between being in the driver´s seat or the passenger seat.
And it starts by setting an intention. To do this you have to envisage your ideal self/situation/job. Who do you want to be/where do you want to be/what do you want to do in your work? Stepping into that ideal and feeling being there makes it tangible and reachable. Immerse yourself in that vision, place yourself how/where/what you want to be. See it, feel it. To me, goals are flat. Intentions are alive and contain movement, promise and texture.
The next step is to explore who/where/what you are at the moment and identify the gaps between that reality and the one that embodies your intention, as well as the strengths you have that can help you get there.
That sets your direction. And the next step is to create the How. You have to fill in those gaps by creating specific, concrete steps that will get you there. Things that you will intentionally do to turn your dreams or aspirations into reality.
This is all sounding very goal-like, but intentions are flexible and can be subtle. They can be big or small, long term or short term, emotional, physical or mental. You can set your intentions for the day, for a relationship, for a change in personal behaviour, for a way of seeing the world, for upcoming events. Or you can set them for your life in the long-term and who you want to be as you live it and the way in which you want to live it – your way of being. It means taking the reins and driving the show. It´s choice and commitment in action.
Back to the steps. Now you have to experiment with those steps. To see what works and what doesn´t. What feels right and what doesn´t. To rework and refine things so that you can live into your intention. It is a personal practice that is more about becoming than doing.
Like most things in life, it is a process. And setting an intention to learn on the way is a pretty good place to start.