Setting Your Intention

A friend of mine happened to mention that she had purposefully started ‘setting the intention’ for the week ahead. 

I know all about goals but this is different and so I thought I would share with you what setting an intention may look like.

Okay so let us start with what setting your intention means and why it can be helpful.

Just as the word implies, you are purposefully, consciously setting your intention towards a particular area of focus of your choosing.  But this has a little twist…

The intention centres around your values in a way that is important to you.  You identify your intention for the hour, day, week, month etc. because you feel something needs a shift, a refocus, an energy infused moment and because you want to be living in a way that honours your own values and honours you. 

So often we can ‘lose’ ourselves in the chaos and overwhelm.  This action of setting your intention, can ground you and is a reminder of what we want for ourselves in our lives.

It can be a wonderful tool for shining a light on what is really important to you and to how you want to be in your world for the next hour, day, week, month, year.   

Perhaps some of you would like to know more about boundary setting or you already have some knowledge on the subject and just want to set those boundaries because they are important to you and the way you like to live your life. 

Maybe you have been affected by something that occurred this week or someone’s actions have affected you, made you feel unsettled/triggered. 
Be intentional on finding out for yourself why you feel the way you do about what occurred. 

Now set your intention going forward – Really thinking about where it is you are able to put your focus to help a situation or asking yourself if what you are currently doing is helping or could you try something different.
 
Setting an intention and using it in your life, can create a momentum towards your preferred future and your best self.  Once you have an awareness of what you want to be intentional about and for the length of time you want the intention to go on for, it is then time to put it into action.

One thing, One step!  Weave it into your life, become comfortable with it and enjoy it. 

For me, it looks like this: 
I start my day with reading something inspirational – why, because it is important to me and inspires me for the rest of the day. 
My set intention is to put on the radio every day.  Why because I know that music lifts my spirit and makes me dance and smile and those things help me to feel joyful and I value feeling joyful. 

My intention for the week is normally to connect with friends and family in some way.   Why?  Because it is meaningful to me to nurture the relationships in my life.

Keeping it simple but meaningful to you is what will keep you motivated and inspire you to continue.

And guess what? 
You can change it and replace it whenever you want to.

“There’s no way to become great overnight, but in the marathon of success, it takes a lot of intention to see you through each day of the journey.” – Lewis Howes