What is intention?

what is intention?

Intention is holding an aim, desire, or plan for yourself. Intention involves directing your whole being toward something specific. Your whole being includes your thoughts, feelings and inspired actions.

how to set intentions

I find the best way to set an intention is to get it out on paper. Getting your thoughts from your mind to paper is a great way to look at what you want in more detail.

  1. First, what you want in detail

    This step is pretty self explanatory. Write as much as you can about what you want and focus in on the smallest details that feel good to add to it.

  2. Next, write about why you want it and what you’d like to feel from achieving it.

    The more you can focus on the why behind your intention, the more you can fuel the feeling you are hoping to achieve.

  3. ask yourself, “How else can I feel this feeling now?”

    List out a bunch of ways you can achieve the feeling you want behind your intention. Also list out things you can stop doing that prevent you from experiencing those feelings

why is intention important

Intention orientates your decisions and fuels inspired action.

Once we more consistently become self-aware and understand the why behind what we truly want, we empower ourselves to set aligned intentions and firm boundaries that make navigating decisions much easier. We begin to make very conscious decisions and align all of our actions with our intentions.

Setting and reviewing IntentionS HelpS keep you ON AN Aligned path

If you're feeling out of alignment, check in with yourself and ask, "What is my intention behind what I am doing? Why is it that I’m doing these things? Are my actions aligned with my truest intention? And if not, what are some action steps that I can take today, this week, this month, or this year that can help align me with my deepest why?"  

When circumstances feel tough, or you are unsure of which way to go, come back to your intention. Ask yourself, "What is my truest intention?" That is where you can find the strength to move forward OR turn in a different direction if you’ve somehow navigated away from what you want.

Don't be afraid to start with small steps to align your actions with your intention.  I wrote a separate blog post on small beginnings that you can check out here.

Are you interested in learning more about coaching and how it can help you set intentions and align your actions & decisions to reach them? I offer clarity calls as an introduction to coaching to see if longer-term coaching is for you.

Christina Shaw