The Power of Intentions.

The word intention is derived from the Middle English entencioun, intention, from Old French entencion, from Latin intentiō, intentiōnem. Intention (n.) late 14c., entencioun, “purpose, design, aim or object; will, wish, desire, that which is intended,” from Old French entencion “intent, purpose, aspiration; will; thought” (12c.), from Latin intentionem (nominative intentio) “a stretching out, straining, exertion, effort; attention,” noun of action from intendere “to turn one’s attention,” literally “to stretch out”. Also in Middle English “emotion, feelings; heart, mind, mental faculties, understanding.”

As the meaning of the word implies, intention involves turning our attention to achieving a course of action. One of the hallmarks of highly effective people is their ability to set their aim on a vision and then relentlessly execute it despite the inevitable obstacles that they come across. Focusing on our intentions allows us to enjoy the journey instead of focusing too much on the outcome. What you become in trying to achieve a worthwhile goal is more important than the goal itself. In 2023, I set a goal to run across the ten Canadian provinces, but I was able to run nine. A part of me felt that I had not completed the goal, but upon reflection, I realized that the intention is more important than the outcome.

When you set out to achieve a stretching goal or challenge like the ten Canadian marathon running challenge I attempted in 2023, you might not achieve the goal fully, but remember to be kind to yourself. The journey is the reward; your intentions and ability to keep showing up daily are more important than the result. American military leader George S. Patton once quipped, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” When you become more intentional with the way you live your life, the universe conspires to send resources that will help you achieve your goals. But you have first to show up and execute your intentions continuously.

“The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success.” – Coach John Wooden

John C. Maxwell on Intentionality

People tend to get into ruts in life. They get in an easy groove, and they don’t try to break out if it—even when it’s taking them in the wrong direction. After a while, they just get by. If they learn something, it’s because of a happy accident. Don’t let that happen to you! If that is the attitude you’ve developed, then you would do well to remember that the only difference between a rut and a grave is the length! ¹

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. – Eleanor Roosevelt

You need to become aware that you are currently living below your potential if you’re going to do anything to improve. Even if you’ve been a highly productive and successful person, you can improve. You can increase your potential. You have more in you that you have never tapped. And there is a path forward to greater potential if you are willing to take it.²

“The greatest way for you to upgrade your life is to become intentional with it. When people increase their capacity for intentionality, everything else changes in their lives. When you become more intentional, your life can transform from successful to significant.”

Living intentionally will motivate you to start asking questions and begin prioritizing whatever is important to you. An unintentional life accepts everything and does nothing. An intentional life embraces only the things that will add to the mission of significance. ³

When you live an intentional lifestyle, you see many possibilities. When you are unintentional, you see few:

Intentional living always has an idea. Unintentional living always has an excuse.
Intentional living fixes the situation. Unintentional living fixes the blame.
Intentional living makes it happen. Unintentional living wonders what happened.
Intentional living says, “Here’s something I can do. Unintentional living says, “Why doesn’t someone else do something?”

In life, it is not what we get that makes us valuable. It is what we become in the process that brings value to our lives. Action is what converts human dreams into significance. It brings personal value that we can gain from no other source.

Meditations

Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt – Intentions

At the start of the year, it is common to set resolutions. It is a healthy practice to take stock of our lives and consider habits we would like to change or ways we would like to grow. It is important to ensure that the strategies that we are using to implement change are effective. When we make resolutions, we are often looking at what is wrong in our lives and taking action to fix that problem. We resolve to lose weight, so we go on a diet and start hitting the gym.
We place strong pressure on ourselves, and we feel shame/guilt when we fall off course. Resolutions seem to be all or nothing for most of us. Intention, however, has a more compassionate energy because they don’t tie us to an outcome. They simply ask that we bring mindfulness to our actions and make an effort to change.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. – Socrates

Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Don’t Judge the Weather.

Often times when we experience what we weren’t expecting or we don’t like, we decide that is wrong or that we are bad. As Pema Chödrön once said, “Feel the feeling and drop the story.”

Stiffness is a companion of death; flexibility is a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. – Lao Tzu

Daily Trip with Jeff Warren

Podcast