Our society is very goal-oriented. You identify a goal. You make a plan to reach the goal. You take steps to reach the goal. You invariably encounter obstacles along the way. You try to work through the obstacles. Sometimes, you become discouraged and frustrated. Sometimes you feel like quitting. It’s often a struggle. Could there be a better way of doing this? Yes! By using the power of intention.
Intention and Goal Setting
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this post, I’ll share a great article about intention and goal setting that was written by transformational life coach Suzanne Eder. This article, “A Fresh Look at Intention”, appears on Page 32 of the January 2014 issue of Living Well magazine.
Suzanne explains intention and goals by using the metaphor of a river:
“Think of intention as the banks and bed of a river, providing shape and direction so that the river can flow. Your intentions provide shape and direction so that your life – your life force energy – can flow rather than stagnate.
“If intention is the bed and banks of a river, a goal would be any desirable point you reach along the way………….Reaching that spot could not occur without intention, yet intention is so much more that that particular spot.
“In other words, intention is essential to your being able to reach goals, but it’s far more than the goal itself.”
So why make the distinction between intention and goals? Why should you even have to think about it? Here’s an example that might illustrate just that:
Let’s say that you are fed up with your current job. You could set a goal to be in a new job by the end of the year, or you could set an intention to experience more meaning and fulfillment in your work life.
With the more general (and broader) intention, you can begin the process of discovering what work might be more meaningful to you by doing some career exploration, through volunteering, networking with people who are like-minded, and so on. These small steps enable you to experience ongoing progress while you continue to move forward and feel good about the direction in which you are headed.
On the other hand, if you instead focus on reaching the more “narrowly-defined goal”, you have immediately inserted an obstacle to a creative discovery process. Trying to reach this narrow goal will leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed as you half-blindly search for another job, without really understanding what you need to be fulfilled. It has narrowed your options for creating that foundation of a more meaningful and fulfilling career by focusing only on an end result of getting a different job by a certain date.
It is all too easy to set a narrow goal when you are in a situation that you feel you MUST get out of, because you are trying to flee from a situation that you find intolerable. But when you set your goals with intention, you are able to thoughtfully and consciously move towards something – a better work life, or personal relationships, or whatever the situation may be.
Without intention to guide and inspire you, you are rudderless. Use your intention to connect with your desire and guide you on your journey of self-discovery and fulfillment.
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