How Setting Intentions Can Help You Achieve Your Goals
Let me explain how setting intentions can help you achieve your goals. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily busyness of life. I get it. We’re goal oriented people. We were created to create! But sometimes we forget what we’re doing or why we’re doing it.
Goals and Intentions are not the Same
Goals and intentions are easily confused, but oh, so different! Goals are very focused in the future. They’re something you can check-off, and we sure do love to check things off our lists. You intention is a state of being, your relationship with yourself, that can start the moment you decide to make it happen! It goes something like this:
Think of something you want to accomplish this year. Something big and juicy. Imagine how it will feel to meet that goal. Will you feel accomplished, smart, beautiful, healthy, validated? What feeling can you think of to describe how you will feel when you cross that finish line?
That feeling becomes your intention. You can act “as if” you’ve already accomplished that big goal. Act just like HER, the woman who just did this big thing! You think like her, feel like she feels, and your actions will follow. Every single day you remember how you want to feel, in your body. That is your intention. You allow yourself to feel that way. To help yourself along, you can create an affirmation of your intention. “I am accomplished, determined, disciplined, joyful, and calm.” Pick just one, or many.
Set an Intention for 90-Days
Try it out for a month, or even better, for the next 90 days. Choose a goal, it could be something as simple as going to bed at a particular time each day for the next quarter. Sometimes we need to practice setting goals. Or maybe you don’t even know what you want. So make it simple. The point is to start thinking about what you’d like your life to look like. How do you want to feel about your life? Think of a big dreamy goal! Imagine how you will feel when you meet it. Will you feel proud of yourself? Will you feel more rested and alert during the day? Think of the one big thing you want to feel, your why. Then set that intention and work toward the goal, reminding yourself each day with affirmation.
Plan Ahead for Roadblocks
Be aware of roadblocks, and don’t let them derail you. Do you ever get that feeling of dread that starts creeping in and your heart starts racing a little faster, but you don’t know why? Does it happen a lot, or just when there’s an obvious reason?
I know for me, when I start feeling that old familiar anxiety, I have to stop and really get curious about why I’m feeling this way. It’s so easy to just ignore it and power through, but when we don’t address our feelings in a healthy way, they have a tendency to come out in unhealthy ways. Maybe you sabotage yourself. You come up with excuses for not meeting your goals. Do you buffer by eating unhealthy things, or buying things you don’t need, or by lashing out toward people you love? Or, maybe you drink too much, or worse.
I have lots of tools to get to the root of the problem. But, for me, it often comes down to feeling out of control. I don’t know about you, but my schedule is the usual culprit. I’m one of those people who says yes to everything. Not in a “I can’t say no” kind of way of being everybody’s doormat, but I just love to help out and feel part of the group. I want to do it all! But we all know we can’t really do it all, can we? At least not comfortably. That’s another way that setting intentions can help you achieve your goals.
Rainy-Day File
And that’s where my rainy-day file comes in. I’ve kept an actual file folder in my desk for decades. Long before I had a computer on my desk, I’d jot myself a note and drop it in the file to be done when I wasn’t as busy. Whenever I come up with a great idea of something I want to do, but I don’t have time in the foreseeable future, I will take detailed notes of my grand idea.
Whatever comes to mind in no particular or organized manner, I just do a brain dump. I’ll write it all down to get it out of my head and then I drop it into the “Rainy Day” file. It used to be that I would regularly clear out the file after the rush passed. But over the years, I stopped making myself do everything in there. I might thumb through to see if anything still interests me, and if not, out it goes. Not every idea is a good one, and I no longer feel compelled to do every little thing that comes to mind.
Stop-Doing List
And then there’s my “Stop Doing” list. When we take on something new, sometimes we have to let other things go. Each quarter, take a look at your practices. What things do you do each day, as part of habit. Are you doing something for a particular reason? Does it accomplish a real purpose? Does it make your life easier, or happier? If not, stop doing it! You don’t need to do something because that’s what you’ve always done. Maybe you want to stop doing something, for now, but think you might want to pick it up again later. Add it to the list. This becomes your place holder.
Attitude Enhancement File
Finally, I keep an “Attitude Enhancement” file. This is where I store things that bring me joy, or make me laugh, or warm my heart. Whenever I feel discouraged, or sad, or blocked, I’ll open the file and read through it. There’s a copy of a comment written on an old employee review that made me feel valued and respected. I have a funny meme that reminds me that “first class is a way of life, not a boarding pass.” There’s a picture of a goldfish having outgrown his fishbowl that reminds me that growth is only good if you’re prepared. I’ve kept this file for 40 years, and it never fails to life my spirits, or provide inspiration.
Setting intentions can help you achieve your goals, but more importantly, intentions help you focus on your internal self and how you want to feel and who you want to be. They are your why, your integrity, the reason you get up in the morning. For more ways you can use intentional behavior, read my post on Unconditional Love and Intention. By being intentional, you can do great things!
