Intention and daily focus

One of the most misunderstood concepts for many people is the concept of intention—at least, how I view intention. For me, an Intention is significantly different than a goal. And in daily application, an intention is more effective than a goal.

The differences for me are the following. 

More abstract

Firstly, an intention is more abstract than a goal. In business, goals are often SMARTLY formulated, whereas an intention is much more of a so-called nominalization, a verb that is frozen into a noun, and on top of that something that is a linguistic representation of some deep level of motivation or driver. The benefit from this abstract concept is that the way you satisfy your inner intention can differ. When your intention behind smoking is to be relaxed, then your body will find another way of relaxing when you suddenly quit smoking. If you are lucky, it is the healthy version. If not, then you will start drinking or eating more unhealthy stuff.

It is always there

Secondly, an intention is already there, inside of you and part of your subconscious. Whether you set an intention or not, you already have intentions. You have overall intention or intentions for being on this planet, you have an intention subconsciously for every behaviour, and even your emotions have an intention. And they are always good—meaning, they are good for you. That is why I love the presupposition that every behaviour has a positive intention, because your body/mind system will always do something to gain something. This is even when people consciously say that this behaviour is bad for themselves or others—in these cases you speak about a secondary gain, a psychological gain that in your subconscious overrides any conscious thought to do or not do certain behaviours. 

You can only succeed

Thirdly, while a goal is something you can fail or succeed in, you always succeed with an intention. Why? Well, because it is already inside of you, as part of your subconscious. All your behaviour is already driven by your subconscious intention. Obviously when your system is always looking for alternatives, it will always find ways to do this. Our body and mind is already a smartly designed system that will find other ways of relaxing when you quit smoking as a way to feel or be relaxed.

Who you are and feel

Fourthly, an intention is about who you are and your feeling, much more than a goal which is more about doing. Often people set intentions and then talk about others, things outside or doing stuff to or with other people. Well, that might be what you call an intention, but for me there is something underneath that is driving this. Something that is only for you. Even if you are all about saving the whales, you have your own personal intention about who you are or what you feel when you are busy saving the whales. But also when you are a murderer or a thief and you tell yourself that your own behaviour is bad, your system does things to gain something out of your actions.

In the now

Fifthly, an intention is always in the now. While both a goal and an intention are focused towards the future, a goal is really in the future and an intention is in the now. When you move yourself from point A to point B in your life you keep your intention with you. It is always there, whether you want it or not. It is part of your subconscious drivers and it is there, here in the now, in your subconscious.

Depending on yourself

Maybe the biggest difference is that an intention is really depending on yourself, whereas with a goal you might depend on others. The reason is that it is about something you do. However, an intention is about who you are and how you feel, which only depends on yourself. You can determine by yourself who you are and who you want to be. You can do everything yourself to feel differently. This is crucial because the problem is never the real problem. The real problem is always how you feel about the problem. In other words, for your being and feeling, you are the only and ultimately responsible person. 

Setting an intention

Now an intention for your life and being and intentions for different contexts and situations is already there. However, you can also create an intention about who you want to be or what you want to feel in the moment. And you can put this same powerful principle into practice really easily. Because it is in the now, abstract, about being and feeling and aimed towards the future while still being in the now, it has the same type of flexibility as an existing intention. And has more flexibility than a goal which is usually formulated and set in a way that there is relatively much less flexibility. Let me give you some examples.

Public speaking

In public speaking the practical application is really visible. When you set yourself a goal like the outcome of how you want people to react, respond or get away with things, you are working with a goal, which as said, can succeed or fail. And it is highly dependent on others. When you set an intention, to be who you want to be for example, the way you do this can vary. If you want to be an inspiration and PowerPoint doesn’t make you inspired, and therefore also not others, you can leave PowerPoint for what it is and start telling stories. The point is that you realize your intention can differ. The constant factor is the intention. When presenting in front of others, you never know how your audience is going to respond, depending on how they feel that day or who is in front of you. Working with an intention is your strong anchor for who you are and feel.

Switching roles at work

The quote from Einstein “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” is often applicable to a lot of people, particularly in business contexts. When people working together on projects face challenges, they often choose a variation of what they did before to do something different. The goal is the same, and the approach marginally different. 

In this case, when you set a clear intention about who you want to be that day, that makes the difference. This is NOT about how you will do it, but simply who you are at that moment: I am the challenger, I am the reflector, I am action woman or action man, I am the connector and I am present. All these can be used as an example and can be different every day, depending on your mood or even the need for the project. How you will do this is not defined. The only thing that is defined is that you are a challenger, and you will find a way to express this. 

Love is in the air

Intentions in private relationships are also very powerful. When setting an intention you are tapping into who you are at that moment. You can assume many different roles in life. As a father or mother, but why not be a friend for a day to your child, or be a caregiver to your mother or father, or friend or partner. When it comes to love, we often think we need to have this steady role to keep it safe. But the truth is that setting an intention for the day, week, or month in a relationship to be someone different will shift the accents and attention within the relationship. And in return this will change the dynamic in the relationship and how you respond to conflicts and frictions. So if you have a conflict in your private relationship, you can save the relationship by simply changing your intention in the relationship, either by being someone different at that moment, or by feeling something different, or going into the relationship with a different feeling. And this leads to different actions and communication automatically. One simple word like “lover”, “care-giver” or “listener” can lead to a hugely different set of responses, which can save a relationship. Because when love is part of the intention, so loving yourself, this automatically leads to love for the other. Love that starts with the intention will lead to love in the air. 

What is your intention for today? Who do you want to be today?

Peter Koijen

www.in2motivation.com