I first became aware of intention setting during my annual activity breaks. Specifically, through yoga and one of the practices of Sankalpa.
An intention is a guiding principle for how you want to be, live, and show up in the world — whether at work, in relationships, during your meditation practice, or in any area of your life.
This can help you align your thoughts and attitude for the day ahead. Having a clear intention with you at your fingertips can help guide your actions as you move through the day. It is by having intention, that your decisions can be made with more ease.
Unlike a goal, an intention is not something you attach an expectation or measurement to.
It can be something you want to align with that feels congruent to who you are now, so you live in alignment with your truth or who you might be in the process of becoming. For example, we may decide to be more compassionate towards others, rather than be instantaneous, it is more likely a becoming process over time.
Intentions are more about awareness than they are achievement.
‘Awareness is the greatest agent for change’ – Eckhart Tolle
Why intention setting?
Whilst reflecting on approaches to successfully navigating ourselves and our lives with my psychologist friend, Volker Patent, he aptly described what I shared with him as “a strong, but wrong” approach. Typically, my declarations about things I was going to do came from a place of expectation, pressure or even a knee jerk reaction to an event. Experience has taught me that this was not a recipe for success, least not for me.
‘Intentions compressed into words enfold magical power’ – Deepak Chopra
When we decide upon a goal or discover our life’s purpose it does not just manifest there and then or all at once. Instead, it tends to involve a series of milestones, over time. When we set specific intentions, it can help us align our moment-to-moment choices with our desires.
What I have learned is that being in alignment daily leads to a sense of flow and ease in our lives, creating feelings of peace and harmony. Being more in alignment in everything I do is one of my ongoing life goals. I know that when I am, it feels great, so naturally, I want more of that.
By setting intentions, you start to become more aware of thought and behaviour patterns each day and live more on purpose.
I believe getting intentional is an important part of change.
If you would like to learn more about intentions and how you can identify and set intentions for yourself then why not join me when I talk at the Socially Shared session on Thursday 28th January?
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/socially-shared-intentions-decision-making-tickets-133747348921
