The Key To Effective Goal Setting: Harnessing the Power of Intentions
Goals setting, SMART goals, resolutions—I love them all, but they can be so fruitless in the long term. How many gyms and sports classes fill up in January, only to empty again by March? That’s where intention comes into play. What is it exactly and why should you pay attention? It’s time to put your energy where your mouth is.
In the practice of martial arts and tai chi, yi, or intention, precedes a movement, making it more effective. At first, I found the idea obscure. I would scrunch my eyebrows, focusing on the desired outcome, and achieving nothing. So, it wasn’t a thought. I said to myself, it must stem from an act of will. It wasn’t that either. Later, as I relaxed into the practice and embodied it more fully, I got out of my head. That turned out to be the key. When you repeat a movement enough, envisioning it thoroughly, then the body expresses it, leading to an action that is centered, balanced, on target, and powerful.
Just imagine the applications in everyday life.
What Is Intention?
Intention expresses itself as a force that pushes us forward. A thought, in part, but more. It’s embodied; it comes from deeper inside. The Chinese word yi is translated as intention, will, ideation, and occasionally attitude. It literally means “the phonation expressed by the Center (the heart).”
Which ties nicely into science. Studies have shown that the heart, which is full of neurons, just like the gut, sends more signals to the brain than the other way around. The research is clear that the messages transmitted from heart to brain can profoundly affect performance.
In intention, there is also a notion of decision and agency. According to high-performance coach Brendon Burchard, “High performers know themselves, but they don’t get stuck there. They are more focused on sculpting themselves into stronger and more capable people. That’s another big difference: introspection versus intention.”
If we broaden the concept of mind to encompass the heart and gut, then we could say that intention stems from the body and meanders up to the brain, where the organ forms a mental precursor of action, when conscious, resulting in motor imagery, which allows the gray matter to rehearse what it wants to happen.
Beefing Up Resolutions and Goals
In her book, Intention Matters, Juliet Adams defines an Intention as “something you want at a heartfelt level, and that you have full belief can be achieved in some way or other.”
Adams goes on to specify that “intentions are very different from goals. In a nutshell, goals have a less motivational impact on the brain than intentions. Goals are often not heartfelt or deeply desired, so less likely to engender high performance.”
This combination of decision, agency, deep-felt desire, and belief gives impetus to allocate attention, and with attention comes will. So, intention precedes resolutions and goals. And it impulses action, while being independent of the outcome or destination.
So, add some intention to your goals and resolutions to keep them moving.
What’s The Big Deal?
In a word, if you set clear intentions, you focus your attention, and your actions become more efficient. Your mind will notice when you are not aligned with your intention, so you’ll waste less time and energy, which you can then recycle into reaching your goal. It’s a virtuous circle.
The Chinese were not the only ones to pick up on the power of intention and understand the source. The classic Vedic text known as the Upanishads says, “You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.”
5 Steps and 3 Hacks to Setting Powerful Intentions
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