As you know, proactively planning action items that will improve the different areas of your life makes you more likely to reach your goals and live the life you want to be living. When you proactively plan action items, you live your life with intention rather than flying by the seat of your pants. Living with intention influences the experiences you have in every area of your life – physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. So what exactly is an intention?

An intention is a vision based on your values and what matters the most to you that guides your activities, thoughts, attitudes and choices, allowing you to have greater focus, take better action, and generate positive energy for reaching your goals.

It’s easy to think that intentions are the same as goals, but there are differences:

• Intentions are based in the present, while goals are focused on the future. Intentions focus on how you want to be in the current moment regardless of whether you are actually hitting your goals or not.
• Intentions are the daily journey, while goals are the destination or achievement.  We all know that saying about journeys being more important than destinations, right?
• Intentions revolve around how you want to be and feel in the present moment, while goals are external achievements to be won or lost.

Let’s say you wanted to start doing yoga. Your intention for the next month could be to create a yoga practice to expand my self care practice of stress relief while improving my physical well being. Your goal for the next month might be to commit to completing at least two yoga sessions a week. Your daily action to achieve that goal could be to show up for and participate in your yoga lesson that is planned for that day.  Do you see how your intentions support your goals?

Intentions are so important in our lives because of the framework they provide.  Intentions allow you to set your priorities according to your own values, and use your time wisely. Intentions declare to yourself and the universe that you’re serious about reaching your goals, which will then attract those goals to you. Not only that, you will find yourself acting in ways that align with your goals – responding to any given situation or opportunity, making choices, and even correcting course when challenges arise. Intentions give you power to get out of your comfort zone and even face your fears so you can have the experience that you have consciously determined is important to you. Most importantly, they allow you to enjoy the journey you take toward reaching your goals.

Since they are a real powerhouse to reaching your goals, setting intentions is a positive step to incorporate into your life to give more effectiveness and energy to your journey. You can set intentions at the beginning of any new cycle (year, month, week, project, etc). I like to set daily intentions each morning to really give me a boost of productivity and focus through my day’s work and in my personal life. I also review my intentions at the end of the day to see where I had challenges. When you review your intentions at the end of the cycle, you are able to really see patterns of what you like to do and what you tend to avoid. 

Once you see a pattern that is holding you back, you can make changes by examining if your values are aligned with the intentions you’re setting and if you need to change your goal. The more curious you are about examining your patterns of behavior, the more you can work towards being your best self and creating a life you love – and isn’t that what it’s all about? Accountability partners and coaches (like me!) can really help you dig in and ask the powerful questions about what is really holding you back from achieving your goals. I’d love to have the opportunity to chat with you about your situation, so click here to schedule a free call with me.