Intention guides our actions. It is a deep strong desire that stimulates our will to pursue and focus our attention on things that are purposeful in our lives.

Having clear intention harnesses various cognitive processes such as our neural networks, leading to actions and usage of all available resources to translate our wishes into reality.

Intentionality is a cognitive skill that can be learned, and a must-have for leaders. Any professional who is eager to have a clear direction with their career, and to have successful relationships, can also benefit from being intentional.

Your intention could be as simple as to convince your company to assign you an upcoming project. It might be even broader such as to give more time to invest in your fitness, relationships or to save money for a new car.

Importance of Defining Intentions

The foremost benefit of intentionality is that it introduces you to yourself. Because to set an intention you have to first answer:

Who am I?” “What am I doing?” “What do I want from my life?” “What capabilities do I have?” “Am I clearly going in the right direction”? “What is the plan of action to achieve my goals in life?”.

Intention setting gives you a clear picture of your life, life goals, and activities. It helps you categorizes your actions as “right” or “wrong”, so you can eliminate unnecessary chaos and confusion from your life.

Intentionality gives you direction. For example, most people have multiple skills, but they are not clear what profession they want to adopt to establish a career. They spend a major span of their lives oscillating between careers focused on getting by, and fail to gain contentment, fulfillment, and happiness.

The one thing responsible for this kind of failure to achieve fulfillment, is lack of intentionality. Intention defines your goals (i.e. you want to establish your own business). With the goal to establish your own business, you are not going to search for jobs. Rather, you will be focused on developing a business plan, organizing capital, and aligning your resources accordingly.

Clear intention would keep you away from distractions like a handsome salary package from Microsoft, or an investment scheme in public bonds.

“Intentions are fundamental to focus and direct your energy towards your desired life outcomes.”

Defining a clear intention is in fact defining your life. If you are not clear what you want from life, you will end up whirling around struggles without gain.

It is scientifically proven now that intentions give clear messages to your mind. The mind creates an energy field around you based on those intentions. This field creates a favorable atmosphere to materialize these intentions. 

When you act without intention, you have no aim. The Universe will always respond in kind. Conversely, having a clear vision of what you want out of life will help the Universe offer it back to you.

“Struggle is obvious when you lose sight of the bigger picture for your life. Intentions define what will happen.”

Another impact of setting intention is that it results in your personal satisfaction out of life. You might be doing tasks that seem boring, or annoying to you. However, knowing how those skills will contribute towards achieving your ultimate goals in life, will make them more enjoyable and satisfying. 

“Even a boring task with the right intentionality, can become strategically valuable.”

Put Your Intentions to Work

Once you have set your intentions, announce them. You will create a sense of accountability towards your goals knowing you’ve set expectations. This is especially useful if you are a person of high integrity.

If you intend to succeed in your new project, tell your colleagues that it is going to be best work you’ve done to date. This way you would be more inclined to work hard toward making it a success.

If your intentions are long-term, divide them into small doable tasks, and write them down. At the end of every week, month, or year reconnect to your intentions and check your progress periodically. Your goal is to direct your actions to fulfill your intentions.

If you intend to innovate a product, hire professionals with updated knowledge and experience. Provide them the resources and tools they need to succeed. Research the market for competitive goods to gain perspective on what you want to do different and better.

“Your intention will become your reality by taking direct and focused actions.”

I recently discussed the power of intentionality, along with focused actions in order to fulfill career goals with Carina Kalaydjian. She was my recent Rant & Grow podcast guest. Carina wants to manifest her dream career, but lacked making her intentions known clearly in her resume and communication with recruiters. 

Check out how I help her to develop the right attitude, and action steps to get her career on track. I invite you to listen to our coaching session. If you’ve been looking for tips on how to be more intentional with your life, especially with your career — you’ll find them in this episode of the Rant & Grow podcast.

Just click on the play button to listen to the podcast right here.