The Power of Intention – Choosing a Word for your year…
Every year I choose words that relate to areas on which I want to focus. Call it a challenge or a ‘reminder to self’. You could even see it as another way of being intentional, of setting goals. Last year my words were ‘compassion’, ‘growth’ and ‘openness’. I stick them on a piece of paper in clear view near my laptop, and then… I tend to forget about them.
Recently, on a cleaning bout, I found my words and realised they’re not aims anymore. I’ve already developed these new habits by living through challenges with compassion and openness. Reminders have become obsolete!
So I wrote down my new word: Intention.
Let me be frank here: I was in a state of complete overwhelm. Not only from a workload to which I’m usually all too eager to say ‘yes’ to, but mostly because I knew I was not giving my goals the attention they needed for me to change them from being wishful thinking into accomplishments. I wasn’t living intentionally!
Intention is such a powerful concept in a world that is increasingly striving to divert our attention away from what we want, to what the world wants from us! As I found myself increasingly frazzled by all the demands on my time flying into my inbox, I realized how much of my energy was spent doing what others wanted me to do:
- Attend a webinar
- Read a newsletter
- Learn more about Facebook Ads
- Get better at…
- Lose weight or get abs or eat better…
- Be healthier/sleep soundly/buy this magic product
On the surface, these actions appear to be about improving myself. And let’s face it, we’re all getting better informed and more tech-savvy without needing to leave our homes. We’re the society with the most resources at its fingertips. Ever. So when another helpful resource lands in my inbox, it’s really common sense to read it, learn more, find out the latest, get better at what you want to achieve, prepare a bit more.
But we need to get to the point where we know that all the knowledge in the world means nothing without doing.
There is a place for try, fail, get better at it and try again that no number of new courses are going to teach you. This is when living with intent comes in – where having clear intentions create laser focus that steers every decision.
These are the key questions to ask when you decide that you, too, want to be clear about where you put your time, energy, and money:
- What do I need to do to take care of myself?
- What can I take action on to have the kind of relationships that enrich my life?
- What’s the most important action to take every day to achieve my biggest goal?
- What do I have to say ‘no’ to?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you‘ll be empowered to do the biggest intentional action possible: being able to say “No”.
I’m finding huge freedom from external demands by being selective about what gets my attention and what not, and I find that I’m already better at slipping into auto-self-checking gear: “Am I being pulled along by someone else’s agenda or do I really want to do this for my own reasons?”
Go on, try it!
ABOUT LOUISE…
Drawing heavily on her professional experiences and her own transformational process, Louise VN Liebenberg, Life Coach, Counsellor, Rescuer-Of-Abandoned-Cats and Road-Trip-Lover shares her no-nonsense, practical approach to mindful, constructive involvement in one’s own life.
She lays out a fresh approach to relationship building and shares the outlook-changing self-empowerment tools needed in a step by step way.
She combines her experience as a stained glass and ceramics artist with her passion for empowering others to achieve their goals by offering different ways to view challenges and approach life.
A multitude of stray cats share their small-village-life with her and her husband.
Her book Hamster Wheel Relationships For Women: A Step by Step Process to Transform Unfulfilling Relationship Patterns is available on Amazon and you can sign up for her free monthly “Everyday Joy” newsletter at www.i-nfinitepotential.com
https://www.facebook.com/louiseliebenbergauthor
https://za.pinterest.com/infinitpotential/
https://www.instagram.com/louisevn.liebenberg/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-vn-liebenberg-13973722/
.
