What's Better, Action or Intentions?


What is better? Action or intentions? It may be that both are equally important!

So, what gets results? Intentions or action on those intentions? We'll that's not too hard. Action, all things being equal, is what brings results. However, let's not discount the function of intentions and look at how they work together.

Let's keep this simple. The challenge is getting from intentions to the action. As professionals of our lives and work, if we show up, the job gets done. So how do we get past intentions?

Think of intentions as partners to our action. Intentions are good! The question becomes, "why can we not move from intentions to action?"

Is it possible we don't take our own intentions seriously enough? If so, let's ask, "how do I raise my awareness in my intentions?" Great question. Let's see what that means...

Heightened Awareness in Our Intentions

Here's an important note to get our mind wrapped around. Intentions are not where we are at. They are where we want to go. They are inspiration to do something good and to do it well. The creativity is fun and exhilarating.

Yet, we may mishandle our intentions. We do not get them on the drawing board and we have to, regardless of how small they may be. In addition, we take more joy in the creativity of the idea than the execution of it. We may find that we are even celebrating as if we have the end result rather than the beginning of something.

Example: Someone talks about all their lofty intentions as if they have attained them. That person is probably not going to reach their destination.


Intentions are a work of the mind. Many times they are like mini-goals. Maybe not well thought out but probably good things to do. They may even be related to larger goals in life.

Let's learn to work well with our intentions and begin to develop them a little deeper. Take them more seriously.

Add "intentional" to intentions. That could work! Heighten your awareness of your intentions. Turn them into something concrete in the real world. Get them on the drawing board.

Intentional means to be done with intention or on purpose.1 A powerful synonym is "designed."

How can you be a designer of your intentions?

~~~~~~~

Take Action!

  1. Give even the smallest intention importance.
    • Let no good intention be lost without making it concrete.
    • Ask, "how does this connect with my daily/yearly/life needs and goals?"
    • Practice with the small things and work your way up to the bigger challenges.
    • If the small things are important, the big things will be even more so.
    • Celebrate the idea, not the result. Save the victory celebration for the achievement. 
  2. Write it down.
    • Yes! Write it all down. Find a way. Carry a small spiral pad, a journal, use OneNote (my favorite!), Evernote or Google Keep. 
    • Milk? Check! It's written. Mow the yard? Check! It's written. Develop a training series? Check! It's written. You get the idea.
    • Follow through with brainstorming and planning.
  3. Look at your intentions from many angles.
    • Ask, "what will this get me?"
    • Ask, "what needs to happen to fulfill this idea?"
    • What else?
  4. Assign value to your intentions.
    • Ask, "what values am I supporting in this intention."
  5. Envision completing the task or goal intended.
    • Ask, "how am I going to feel when this is completed?"
  6. Celebrate when it's complete.
    • Is that a fist pump for you? Maybe, a victory shout? Celebrate it right! :-)

Please, add your thoughts in the comment section.

Concept >>> Intentions and actions working together.


~~~~~~~

References

1 Dictionary.com. “Intentional” Accessed 2017, December 20. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/intentional?s=t 

Comments

Post a Comment

Click the "Notify Me" box below to receive responses from this post.

Popular posts from this blog

Vocabulary | A Reflection of Who We Are

Image
What do I say and how should I say it? Vocabulary is a reflection of who we are, but not necessarily who we want to be. It informs our vision of life and oppresses it or sets it free. Addressing our vocabulary isn't necessarily a moral work. It's a creative work! With a quick Google search you can find articles telling us, that it's the really smart people who use curse words in their daily conversation but I don't think that's true. It's more likely a lack of creativity. The smartest person in the room is not the guy/gal spewing profanities. It's the person with a "higher" word stock that breathes creativity and inspiring thoughts that builds themselves and others up. Bad verbiage is rarely inspirational. It may be functional, but don't we have a vision of our life that is more than functional? You bet, we do! Lazy Is As Lazy Does We see in comedy, the lazy comedian goes right at the vile and vulgar to get the laughs. The tho
Read more

Laugh A Little

Image
What is your humor quotient? I'm sure you have heard it said that laughter is the best medicine. If that is true then, maybe we can self prescribe a few big laughs. Bad thinking, that can lead to depression, confusion, self pity, frustration, etc. is all antithetical to moving forward. Humor is the skill. Laughter is the healing. There are dozens of phrases that express the vitality of laughter. Here are a few for fun: There is little success where there is little laughter. - Andrew Carnegie 1   Laughter and joy are part of the beauty of life.  - Diogo Morgado 1   Comedy is defiance. It's a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it's the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale.   - Will Durst 1   As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul.   - A Jewish Proverb 2   Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.   - Mark Twain 2   He that is of a merry heart has a continual feast.   - Prover
Read more

A Season of Pruning

Image
What's that dead weight you're carrying around? Things just seem to unknowingly latch on to us while we live our lives. It could be that sitcom we can't get up from binge watching. Maybe it's a relationship that doesn't seem to have boundaries. If we actually take a real close look at the flow of our week, I'll bet we could identify a few things that are dead weight and need to be pruned. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or redirecting growth), improving or sustaining health. - Wikipedia | Pruning There may even be a few things that are important enough not to stop doing, but maybe we can manage them better or realign them? A good coach will ask the question, "what are you tolerating?" Take a second to think about that. What in the world are you tolerating that needs to be eliminated, minimized, managed or realigned? We want to be able to manage a harmonious journey for the things that are in our c
Read more