Intention: your aim and purpose

We all have intentions. We may intend to become fitter, eat healthier or get up earlier. Intentions have the potential to be really powerful. However, intentions are much more effective when they are specific and goal driven. For the power of intentions to work for you, you need to make sure you know the real reason behind your intention.

Studies have shown that: “strong intentions (e.g., “I strongly intend to do x”) are reliably observed to be realised more often than weak intentions.” (Gollwitzer, 1999). Without intention, or with weak intentions, we end up with meaningless tasks to keep ourselves busy. This is common at work, where bosses keep adding to our to-do lists. However, if bosses explain the intention behind it, it could help people to work smarter, efficiently and more effectively. After all, the task itself isn’t important; there may be a better way to achieve the intention.

Why use the power of intention?

By making our actions more meaningful, we know exactly what we want to achieve, which can lead to happiness. The power of intention is often linked to the law of attraction, that like attracts like. This means that when you have intention, you are likely to achieve your goals. With the use of intention, individuals make themselves available for success.

Intention does not necessarily mean that you will get what you wish for. However, it opens you up to a more positive mindset. This positivity can allow you to be more receptive to opportunities, instead of dwelling on pessimistic thoughts.

How to harness the power of intention

To use intention effectively, it is vital for you to realise what you want and understand precisely what you want to achieve. You then need to figure out why you want this. It is the ‘why’ that is your intention.

To help set your intentions on the right path, you may find it helpful to evaluate your life in the present so you can determine your intentions of the future. You can do this by using my free life evaluation tool.

Once you know what you want, it is time to visualise your goals and intentions. You can do this by writing your goals down or using visualisation techniques, where you see the best possible scenarios taking place.

How to use intentions

There are many ways to use intentions in daily life, here are just two of the ways that I recommend for my clients.

Therapeutic intentions

Therapeutic intentions delve deeper into what actualising the intention would bring. This way you discover the feelings you will have when you realise the intention. For most people, they believe their intention is one thing, for example, to be successful at work, but actually, it is the feeling that this will bring which is important, i.e. to feel less anxious.  After understanding the feelings behind the intention, you can then change the intention. For example, I want to feel less anxious, or I want to feel more confident. With this reflection, you open up more options of how you can achieve this feeling through other methods. 

Implementation intentions

Implementation intentions follow the premise of ‘when x happens, I will do y’. This will show you when, where and how you can put your intention into practice. This is a great method if things don’t go according to plan. You can use this method for: when I sleep in and miss my morning exercise, I will take my trainers to work and go for a walk at lunchtime or go to the gym straight after work. Another could be: when I feel frustrated I will find a peaceful place to meditate and reflect on the positives in life.

Enjoy the power of intention

By offering a powerful blend of hypnotherapy, NLP, coaching and meditation, I can help you to transform your life for the better and help you to realise and achieve your intentions. To find out more about how I can help you, get in touch for your free 15-minute consultation.

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References:

Gollwitzer, P. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), pp.493-503.

Healyourlife.com. (2018). How To Tap In To The Power Of Intention. [online] Available at: https://www.healyourlife.com/how-to-tap-in-to-the-power-of-intention [Accessed 26 Mar. 2018].

Psychology Today. (2018). How Parents Can Leverage the Power of Intention. [online] Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/joyful-parenting/201703/how-parents-can-leverage-the-power-intention [Accessed 26 Mar. 2018].