Action is always driven by an expected outcome. Let’s become aware of our intentions before we take action and enjoy even more desired outcomes!
Do you recall the feeling of starting a new project, a new idea, a new vision or a new goal to achieve?
The effort you make for the achievement all comes from one simple cause, the desire for the expected outcome. Have the outcomes been known to destroy your dream, you’d stop putting in that hard effort. But hey, wait for a second, you might ask, then why are there so many people putting in so much time, effort and money to smoke cigarettes, take drugs, abuse technology and lots more, while it destroys their health and other goals as well? That seems self-destructive and not that desirable!
You are right and it’s a great observation you are making, but the one who is committed to doing those things does not see this “red flag” of destruction. That one is so obsessed with the blinding “feeling” of relief, joy, excitement or whatever it is that one has chosen as a higher value rather than the long term destruction it causes.
It is this unawareness of the overall effect of the specific behavior which is denied to a point, where a “pseudo” belief will take over and re-convince that one, every single time, that smoking, taking drugs, buying this item will help them.
You see the action we all do, is in that moment is completely believed to help, though in the long term it sabotages long term desires.
So what has all this to do with intentions? - Well, let’s have a look and get familiar with what they are!
This post will cover:
What is an Intention?
Why is it important to set Intentions?
How does setting intentions work out in daily life?
Summary
What is an Intention?
An intention is something intangible, not yet expressed, but still known at a Mind-level. Every intention is made by a desire for something and it requires attention and energy to come into expression. The intention is very similar to an idea, but an idea can be neutral and intention is desired to be carried out. To deepen our understanding of what an intention is, let’s see the word be used in phrases:
He intends to train 3 times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes at a time.
He intended to train 3 times a week, but he didn’t make it.
It is intended by me, that we shall come together at Christmas to celebrate.
In these 3 phrases we see, that an Intention is not yet expressed, but merely a specific possibility to be expressed, known in terms of concepts, words, visualization, and feeling.
“An intention is a potential outcome”
“Imagination is intentions and creations”
Therefore an intention is not a certainty, it’s a possibility for something. The intention is currently only shown by words “concepts”, images “visualization” and feelings “associated energy frequency” - all happening when we imagine. We can, therefore, share our intentions through writing, images, energy, demonstrations, and actions.
So this is what makes up an Intention: “The awareness of a potential outcome”.
That potential outcome is usually imagined.
Another example of how to use the word intention:
“I intend to focus on the breath flowing in and out of the body”.
This translates into the practice of bringing focus and awareness to the happening of the breath, for its movement in and out of the body.
Intentions are happening when we act accordingly. In that action, we are bringing the frequency of the intention, its expression and have started to attract the outcome.
OBS: Be cautious to examine the root cause for your intention as it might not be, what you initially think it is. Some intentions are coming from a state of lack, and some intentions come from a state of abundance. Read on the see more.
Why is it important to set intentions?
As human beings and creators, we begin to recognize the connection between our attention, choices, and experiences.
First, we learn to pay attention, this happens during childhood and often through stimulation of touch, feelings, speech, and food.
As we grow we start to practice paying attention to something at will, just as I am writing this article. My attention stays with the intent to communicate what is an Intention and typing away to express it.
Following the ability to pay attention at will, we begin to take action.
It is also possible to experience an event, e.g. seeing our first sunset. We then desire to repeat that experience by setting the intention to see the next one.
At the moment we commit to that intention, we start to arrange our actions towards that possibility to come into fruition.
The same may happen when we experience something that we judge as “unlikeable”. Here we can set an intention for that not happening again, but for that intention to be successful in its expression, one must discover why it happened and also discover what can be done to avoid it from happening again.
With Intentions, we can create our visions and life of our dreams. It is also how we can explore our interests, our ability to create and also a way to become conscious of how we function. But when you do not know how to set intentions, or you dont commit to a choice, then you will experience life as chaotic, random and without meaning.
The opposite of chaos is order, the opposite of no meaning is meaning.
As you practice to set your intentions consciously and commit to them, you will see more of your desires come true. See your intentions as guiding hands on a journey of self-exploration.
Take a yogi, for example, he is devoted to the intention to explore that which connects everything and is in everything. The yogi will in that devotion, bring awareness to intentions and actions, which can help him to see more of that desire, that intention.
The same is true for one who sets an intention to live healthily and energetically, that one will start to explore those intentions and actions for what that means experientially.
OBS: Become aware of the underlying cause of your intention, is it based on lack or abundance?
There is a trap with setting intentions, which many fall short to. That is setting intentions that come from a place of “lack”.
Let’s say you go through life and suddenly you set the intention to compare your personal “life” with another person's “life”. You start to notice, this person has possessions such as cars, houses, women, and relationships that you don’t have. Or you intend to buy a house but do not have the money. So you stop the intention, instead of willfully finding a way for everything to come together and manifest.
Let’s look at two different root causes of setting an intention, and only one of them will work out.
The first root cause is to be excited to explore such creations and set the intention to create that as well.
The second root cause is to judge oneself, by believing to lack these possible creations and then feeling some sort of contraction in one’s experience. Then the intention will be set to fix that lack, to feel good again.
The first Intention comes from a place of abundance, a place of creativity and curiosity. The other intention comes from a place of lack, a place of missing and emptiness.
The initiated belief associated with the intention is what we start to experience. We may believe we can create or we may believe we lack something and try and create or give up right away.
How does setting intentions work out in daily life?
Every day we go around imagining, thinking, feeling and taking action. But there are 2 distinct timings where we may efficiently and powerfully engage in setting intentions.
Before going to bed/sleep and right after we wake up.
As we go to bed, just before we fall asleep, we expect what is to come as we wake up again. That expectation can be a clear set intention for what is desired, or it can be an expectation based upon past experiences or fears.
As we wake up, we again have a chance to set clear intentions for the day, how we want to feel, what to focus on, what we will pay attention and essentially what we want to create and bring to the world.
But many of us, tend to this instead...
Wake up on autopilot, go through the same stress, the same places, say the same things and feel the same feelings. People often call it everyday life. As if it's supposed to be like that.
Are you used to just go on autopilot, meaning you replay what happened in the past, you will reimagine old intentions, old experiences and re-live them again, though its not at all the same day, nor possibility you have at hand.
Wake up and check the phone, respond to messages, and everything you need to get done happens in a hectic last-minute way, or not at all, after distracting yourself from what matters most.
Are you used to react to your environment, meaning you simply do, what other people have set of intentions, you usually will go to your phone asap, go online or be told what needs to be done?
The opposite of these 2 options is making conscious decisions based upon clear set intentions for a vision in mind.
For conscious methods to employ, try the following examples:
Set your intentions the day before. Start the day with meditation, meaning you will start your wakeful hours with observing what is going on, body/mind/environment wise, then based upon that observation, take action accordingly to what you desire to create and maintain.
Throughout the day, we can easily become distracted for what we intended to focus on and do.
Therefore it is a great aid to:
Rehearse the morning intentions 3 times by saying them to ourselves mentally and out loud.
Put our intentions on paper, by writing and describing them, drawing them or use something that will remind us of what we discovered and found interesting in the morning to pay closer attention to later on.
Sharing our intentions with someone we trust and is willing to help remind, what was shared.
Set digital timers that help us reset and reconnect on an hourly basis for what we truly set ourselves up to do.
There are endless ways for practicing to perform and set clear intentions, experiment yourself or go to our page and see the methods we have developed and having successful experiences with.
Setting intentions daily and perform them will eventually become a habit.
The decision is yours, I do encourage you to start setting intentions right now, today and begin to perform and be the one who you desire.
Hint: Set super easy intentions, to begin with as the brain knows not the difference between big and small intentions. This quickly helps you to create a habit of setting an intention and carry it out. Before you know it you will create year-long intentions and carry them out as effortlessly as the wind blows the leaves around.
Summary:
With every moment an intention is happening and acted upon. That intention is either conscious or unconscious. With unconscious intentions, we will receive randomly, with conscious intentions we will receive as intended.
Begin sooner rather than later with making clear conscious intentions:
Wake up
Observe
Set intention “Visualize”
Decide and take action
Repeat
With all-new things and training, be gentle with yourself. You are learning to take responsibility for your usage of the mind and its faculties. It will take time to master.
Thank you very much for your attention and I wish you a great day!
This is step #2 in the Ultimate Students Course for more information and to check out the course:
By
Brian Jacobsen
Mind trainer and Founder of
A Mind For You