Lets Talk ‘Getting Intentional’*
Distinguish what you want and why you want it. I heard it once said that “Vision is the impulse pulling us to distinguish who and what we are capable of; it’s the divine adventure into self discovery where our greatest attributes are activated.”
What are your life dreams? Have you ever thought about it? When was the last time you just laid in bed and said, “God, what are the dreams you have for my life? What do you desire, living through me?”
You and I are worthy of living a life of bliss, fulfillment and abundance, but unless we’re clear about what that is and unless we put our time, treasures and talents into that vision it’s inevitable that we’re going to experience much of the same kind of life that we’ve been living. Why? Life doesn’t change unless we change!
All of us have had dreams and aspirations throughout our life and our job is to partner with our dreams, put feet to our commitment and step into action.
In general, your dreams fit into the following categories:
- What you would like to have or own
- What you would like to do or experience
- Where you would like to go or travel
- Who you would like to be or become
- What you would like to contribute
Let’s talk leadership for a moment. What are some of the common dreams of a leader?
- Philanthropy and making a difference
- Self?Actualization
- Mastery of their chosen craft
- Recognition for their achievements in leadership
- Recognition for their organizational achievements—income and sales volume relative to their perceived interpretation of the quality of leadership they offer
- Promotions
- Group Awards
If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there. The greatest gift you can give yourself is a purposeful intention; believing it to be possible and acting as if it will happen.
What is intention? It’s basically what most people would call a goal. I define intention as that which we desire achieving or experiencing and having a plan to attain it. I believe goals have a negative connotation for most of us because it’s really nothing we can control and most of us have experienced the anxiety, frustration and the attachment that transpires when we set a goal and move toward it. Most people get so caught up in the outcome of the goal and it diminishes their ability to enjoy the process and stay focused on the pleasurable feelings that bring the goal to fruition.
Let’s face it. All we can control is our attitude, our thoughts and our actions. Even that can be somewhat challenging. The secret of manifestation is enjoying the process, growing from the experience and staying detached from the outcome.
Most people give the majority of their attention to whatever is happening in their experience right now; meaning if the results pleases them they feel good, but if the results do not please them, they feel bad. Think about that. It’s really going about life the hard way. If you only have the ability to see what is, then things cannot improve.
You’ve got to get out of the story and into the good feeling gratitude place. You must keep your mind anchored to what you desire while finding the gratitude and fulfillment in your moment?to?moment experience. It’s in all of that where you learn to find an optimistic disposition and gratitude for what is, which supports the attraction that pulls your desires toward you and improves your moment?to?moment experience regardless of the immediate result.
When you learn how to deliberately focus your thoughts toward good feelings, regardless of what is happening to you externally, it is not difficult to find happiness and maintain it even before you accomplish your deepest intention. The feelings of struggle happen because of the continual comparison of where you are right now in relationship to the objective or intention you are striving for.
When you constantly take score, noticing the distance that still needs to be traveled, you amplify the distance, the task and the effort; and that is why it feels like such an uphill struggle. When you choose to care more about how you feel, instead of what is happening externally, whether it’s good or bad, and choose thoughts that make you feel happy, you then develop patterns of thought that will eventually bring your desires into fruition. Why? Because you’re in your business, not life’s business or their business or God’s business. You become powerful, you believe in yourself and then naturally take actions based on what you can control and it’s through that process you then realize that your value is not in the outcome or the achievement, your value is in what you can generate in the moment; the power to make decisions that are in your realm of control. When that becomes your greatest focus, making powerful choices, and it becomes a habit, anything you truly want will eventually come to be.
Assignment: Write about the following:
- What do I most want to achieve in my business within 90 days and why?
- What do I most want to achieve in my business within one year and why?
Living an EXTRAORDINARY life is a choice. What’s yours?
Steve Q. Wiltshire, CEO
Lifeline Coaching & Education, Inc.
*This is an excerpt from Week 1 of my 30-Day Recruiting Mastery Boot Camp ecourse only available through Lifeline’s Million Dollar Protege Gold Program
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