Intentional Intent

Intention. Much has been written and discussed about the importance and power of intention. But have you ever given any thought to the practice of being intentional about your intent?

The power of intention is all about being clear about desired outcomes or purpose associated things that are being said or done.  The power is that through clear intention we set a compass for the words and deeds that is aimed at a clearly defined outcome.  Without intention conversations and activities risk becoming random prone to wandering aimlessly.

But to be of any value the intention needs to be clear for the moment at hand.  Every meeting, every encounter, every activity, and every moment in your day has some different purpose.  And while you may enter your day with global intentions such as being authentic, such global intentions do not necessarily direct the specific encounter or action.

A personal practice I adopted that served me well in my days working as healthcare Executive was to take just a couple of minute pause before every meeting or activity to set aside whatever just took place previously and to mentally define my intention for the next meeting, group, or individual who would have my time and attention. This was sometimes difficult in a busy and crammed day running from calendar event to calendar event. But what I found was that just a couple of minutes time spent in transition from event to event and setting my intention for the next event made the next meeting and discussion richly focused on the purpose of the time and group immediately in front of me.  And absent doing this it would often be too easy to allow the thinking and energy of a prior meeting and its associated problem to bleed into my thinking while in the next conversation. 

Being intentional about your intent is a powerful tool in navigating your day and bringing the most value to each moment and every interaction.  It’s easy and takes very little time or effort.  And the payout is improved engagements and outcomes.