Creating Powerful Intentions

Wayne Dyer ~ “Our intention creates our reality”

Melanie Votaw ~ “Manifestation: If you intend it, it will come”

Henriette Anne Klauser ~ “Write it down, make it happen”

An intention can be defined as: “a statement of purpose” or the thought behind the thought… influencing our actions.

The fact is, we move through the world with intent, whether we mean to or not. So, if we have intentions, what does this mean? What intentions are we creating unconsciously? What impact do these intentions have on our lives? (How often have you ended up somewhere by accident? Got stuck in a role that no longer serves you?) And what intentions can we consciously create to influence our behaviour, guide our actions and the shape the possibilities that are open to us.

Sometimes the unconscious intentions we hold like: “I don’t want to be dragged into…”, “I don’t want to be late”, “I don’t want to seem…”, “I don’t want to have an argument”, “I don’t want to be seen as…”, “I don’t want to be unhappy” etc, lead us to outcomes that seem to be the opposite of what we do want and leave us wondering why.

The answer is that human brain only understands positive instructions. If you give a negative instruction or create a negative intention, your brain will only process the “positive” part of the statement (e.g. “don’t think about pink elephants” or – a great one for children – “don’t drop that!”). So intend and ask for what you want instead.

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I continue to be amazed at the power of intentions, even those intentions over which we have “no control” and no influence over the outcome.

Intentions are about creating the flavour and direction and might be the biggest component in creating changes in your life. If you set an intention to be “inspirational”, “loving”, “dynamic”, “successful”, “open and receptive” or “confident and welcoming”, or “present, engaged and listening” or “respectful”, or “happy and healthy” this will inform how you show up in the world, how you behave and the actions that you take. Intention comes before action.

There are two stages in creating intentions. The first is awareness; to surface the intentions we already create in our lives and notice their impact. This can be a fascinating and illuminating process. We may think we are operating from one intention, but sometimes find that we are driven by a quite different (often hidden and conflicting) intention. This can lead to struggle and frustration.

The second stage is to actively develop a practice of creating and recording positive intentions. Writing them down and creating other visual representations makes them even more powerful.

Intentions are very personal and potent force and fit for many a purpose. They can be general and wide ranging (influencing how we operate in the world on a grand scale and how we show up in life); they can be more specific (created to influence particular situations) and everything in between.

The bigger intentions we hold in life, the more possibilities that are available to us. There are no hard and fast rules, but these guidelines will help you create powerful intentions:

• Clear, simple and unambiguous
• Stated in the positive (am/can/create)
• Powerfully represented: written/drawn/pictured in a ways that “juice” you and matter to you
• Owned (I am/can/create)
• Appreciated
• Present tense

And remember, your attitude is aligned with your intentions; your intentions are aligned with values. Appreciate each experience and how you can grow from it.

“…being grounded in intention is what provides integrity and unity in your life. Through the skilful cultivation of intention, you learn to make wise goals and then to work hard toward achieving them without getting caught in attachment to outcome. As I suggested to the yogi, only by remembering your intentions can you reconnect with yourself during those emotional storms that cause you to lose touch with yourself. This remembering is a blessing, because it provides a sense of meaning in your life that is independent of whether you achieve certain goals or not. Ironically, by being in touch with and acting from your true intentions, you become more effective in reaching your goals than when you act from wants and insecurities.” Phillip Moffat

I’m passionate about sharing this practice; with friends, family, colleagues, clients and partners. I consciously use intentions in all aspects of my life and work. I create intentions for my client programmes, sharing them and often co-creating them with clients for our work together. I recommend my clients create intentions and invite you to join in. (Even when writing about intentions, I can’t help writing intentions!)

If you haven’t already started to do this, make it your intention for tomorrow morning. Keep a pad by your bed and set aside the time just before you get up to write your daily intentions. Ask yourself: What flavour do I want today? How do I want to feel? How do I want to be? WHO do I want to be? What do I want to have happen today?

If you only make one or two intentions each morning, make them good ones. Once this practise becomes routine for you, you’ll begin to notice how well it works and it’ll become even easier to do more of it. Get clear on your expected results and expect them to show up. Before you realise, life will be even better and more abundant than it is now.

So, what’s YOUR intention today?

© Adie DeCoursey & Marian Seddon 2007

Adie helps individuals and organisations who are feeling scattered and overwhelmed by the demands of the work and their life to help them break through the barriers that might be preventing them from achieving the results they are looking for, get clear, focussed and on track so that they can achieve their dreams.  He provides coaching as well as leadership, communication, fundraising, sales and other training; and consultancy across the corporate, public and voluntary sectors as owner of Quiddity Solutions, co-owner of Mari~n~Ade and as an associate with other companies.