There was an image with an inspirational quote floating around Facebook that said, “Time is non-refundable. Use it with intention.” It made me point at my screen and let out a loud “YES!” Are you living your life with intention? That’s where a meaningful life and meaningful success starts. That’s what divides good from evil. Intention. What is intention, why declare your intentions, and how to set an intention and keep with it is what we’ll be exploring.
What is “Intention”?
One common expressions in the English language around intentions is “What are your intentions with my daughter/son?” meaning “what to you do you plan to achieve” or “what is the desired outcome of your interactions”. We’ve also heard the expression “What were you intending on doing?” Both have slight airs of negative connotation. But intentions are neutral. They are what they are. It’s the action after setting an intention that makes it “good” or “bad”. We often judge someone and condemn or offer forgiveness when considering his/her intention. Someone who makes a mistake that causes hurt or damage is easier to forgive if they didn’t intend on doing harm. On the contrary, we might not give praise to someone’s good deed because they were doing it with selfish intent. One way that we can define “intention” is the what and why of what we want to do. If that’s clear as mud, let’s move on to the “why” of intention.
Why declare your Intention?
You can live a more meaningful life and cultivate meaningful success because intentions keep you focused on what you want to do with your precious time. Time is not a renewable resource. Once this minute is spent, it’s gone. Defining the what and why of what you want to do is the first step in achieving your dreams and goals. Any completed task begins with your decision to do it (what and why). If you decide to clean your home today (the “What”) because you value a clean home (the “Why’) then you have declared your intention. You don’t have to go to a mountain top and shout to declare your intention. You can decide silently to yourself. Or maybe you want some more accountability so you share your intention with another. Either way you’ve decided you want to do something. Now we’re getting into the how.
How to set an intention
Ask yourself this, “What is important to me right now?” Do you want to be more compassionate because it will help your work situation? Do you want to be more active because it will help you live longer? Do you want to be less stressed out because you feel like a train wreck by the end of most days? Do you want to save money because you want to go on a trip? All of these start with declaring your intention (the “What” and the “Why”) and then setting your intention into action (the “How”). If you like that first one above about being more compassionate at work you might set your intention to be this, “I want to be more compassionate at work by being aware of how I affect other people.” Monday morning you might write it on a sticky note posted on your monitor. You could also tell a trusted colleague of your intention to keep you true. The way to fulfill your intention is to stay true to the intention in difficult times. Steven Covey calls this “staying true in the moment of choice.” Will you stay true and remain committed to your intention? This is how you will achieve your intention and keep the promise you’ve made to yourself.
An Example
Two friends have set an intention to do things like track their food daily (the “What”) because they’d like to lose one pound per week (the “Why”). They have made physical weigh-in sheets to keep on track with the intention. If they track their food everyday, they should then achieve the intention. Every single thing they eat or drink is a moment of choice. To say true to the intention, they need to track every single thing. Failure to stick to the intention will not lead toward the achievement of the intention.
But remember another common quote “The ends don’t justify the means”. Your intention can be pure but the way of getting there was questionable. In the example above, the intention is to track food daily to lose one pound per week. The intention is more than just lose one pound per week. There’s a meta message to the first part about tracking that they will eat healthy food and track that food. Of course they could get to the ends by starving themselves but will the “ends justify the means.”? That’s a clear, No.
When you choose to set an intention, remember the “What” and the “Why”. Intentions can help you improve your life. They can also have a negative effect if they are rooted in selfish or harmful wants that cause hurt and damage to the world and people around you. Meaningful success starts with the intention to do something for the betterment of yourself or the world around you. Define what is important to you and declare it. Then dig into the What, Why, and How of your intention. You’ll find your time is being used more meaningfully.
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