Our intention creates our reality”- Wayne Dyer
Goal setting is something we often associate with the beginning of a cycle whether its a new year, new month, new week or even the start of a new role or project. So why am I talking about goals in May?
I can’t be the only one that is wondering if someone is making time go faster? Before we know it, we will be hitting the mid year point – a time when lots of us will be reviewing where we are against said goals and taking action to celebrate or course correct. If the thought of not being on track by the mid year point sends you in to a cycle of anxiety then read on and find out how you can supercharge your goals and increase your chances of success.
Back in the day, when I was part of the corporate gang I can remember the ever so painful process of goal setting. The cascade of goals would come down from the ivory tower and the careful crafting process of creating a goal that was a distillation of the ‘big goal’ began. Cliché ‘lunch and learn’ sessions on SMART goal setting created a re run of an episode of the The Office and I would wait in anticipation for Ricky Gervais to pop out of a door and start playing ‘Simply the Best’ by Tina Turner. You remember that episode right?
It was a dry process. Not at all motivational, and more often than not a paper exercise that resulted in page of KPIs and 5 part goals full of words that appear on the bull&£*t bingo card. And whilst I am proud to say I was always first in the queue for my full bonus for goal achievement the experience left me lusting after something a bit more meaningful.
Fast forward to becoming a business owner and having autonomy to ‘do it my way’ and the discovery of the power of intention. I learnt that whilst goals have their place its easy to get tripped up with the ‘how’ and this can lead to doing more and investing energy in a less than effective way. Goals are external achievements whereas intentions are more about the relationships we have with ourselves, others and the goal itself. No matter how sexy your goal is and how solid the plan is, if the intention is right then you may find yourself spiralling into control and overworking Intention setting not only helps to supercharge goals and make the process far more engaging but the power of intention goes much deeper and can be applied to a whole business with incredible results.
Energy flows where intention goes” – James Redfield author of the Celestine Prophecy
So what is all this new age, law of attraction type intention setting then?
An intention is energetic starting point of your goal in its purest form. It’s a powerfully authentic vow that you make with yourself that comes from your core. One of the ways that I like to differentiate it from a goal is that an intention comes from a place of presence whereas a goal is a future projection of the mind. If goals requires our mind to future project, the risk is that you may or may not be in your authentic truth. So whilst goals absolutely have their place if you haven’t set and aligned the intention then this is where it could be going wrong.
Nothing exists without intention – the house we live in, the million pound apps that exist, the clothes you wear, relationships in your life. And it is the same with every business, every client interaction, marketing initiative, – intention is at the heart of all these things. Intention is like a seed and just like a real seed, these energetic intentions can thrive or perish according to the richness of the soil and the attention they receive.
The majority of us spend most of the time in our thoughts, emotions and because this dominates our being we spend lots of time firefighting and reacting which leaves little time for reflecting on intention.
So, how do you do it? Here are my 4 C’s to supercharging your goals using intention:
- Connect – some people would say that the best way to set an intention is to meditate. Get still and allow it to show itself to you. But if that feels too ‘out there’ then you could take a more active approach and use tools such as mind mapping and vision boards. Whatever method you use its about getting out of your head, connecting to your inner wisdom and your deeper truth.
- Capture – based on step 1 find a way to capture what comes up for you in words. Play around with them until their is resonance.
- Create – take the words a key themes from step 2 and build a sentence of the key ingredients. Write it down on a big sheet of paper.
- Calibrate – this is probably the piece that sets it apart from goal setting. To really bring an intention to life and test whether it is right for you is to ‘try it on’. Take the sheet of paper from step 3, place it on the floor and step into it. Take timequ to check in with yourself and what is happening as the body can be a resourceful place for information – the body never lies! Notice whether you feel energised or depleted, do you feel weaker or stronger, Is something not quite right? Is there something missing from the intention? Do you need to tweak it.
So don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, dig out your goals and then have a go at an intention setting practice. You absolutely need to set goals – visioning into the future allows us to go for the stretch and reach for the next level in our potential, but if you discipline yourself to get into the habit on intention setting too then you absolutely can supercharge your goals by harnessing the energy that intentions bring.Good luck and let me know how you get on!
Jo x
