Intent… what is all the buzz on “intent” anyway

diane mickelson(c) Diane Mickelson

First of all we need to get on the same page…. What is the heck is intent anyway? Intent is the planning and desire to perform an act; it is something that is an aim or purpose; it is firmly fixed, concentrated, having the attention applied, engrossed; it is having the mind and will focused on a specific purpose. As a noun intent has an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions, “his intent was to provide a new translation”, “good intentions are not enough”. Some adjectives of intent are: absorbed, focused, fixed, earnest, committed, concentrated, occupied, intense, fascinated, steady, alert, attentive, watchful, etc.

How do you “do” intent? It depends on what you feel is right for you. Sometimes I hold an intention so close to my heart that I think I emit this desperate vibration of lack so when I let it go in a Buddhist way of detaching from it, or lose the neediness of craving for it, it comes much easier. (Perhaps – trying too hard, huh?) But on the other hand if it is with me all day long as a given, it does speed the process along. In any way the feeling of certainty that it is already there for you – is the one “thought” you are looking for. When you know you are getting it 100%. You do not question or manage how or when, sometimes the universe has its little jokes on how you are presented what you want, but a sense of humor is never an unwanted trait. Chose what feels good for you. Experiment. See what happens…

This all seems simple and unrealistic, doesn’t it? The truth of the matter is that you can have anything that you want by simply intending to have it. Let’s start with the basics of using the intending technique, and learn why it is so powerful

Anything that you ever do in the world, at least while you are conscious, is done by you first intending to do that thing. Human beings are creatures with complete control over our bodies and we decide what happens and what doesn’t. Obviously and thankfully, this does not apply to things like breathing, controlling the operation of our internal organs, and other autonomic processes.

For now, let’s just agree that if we decide to stand up, sit down, write a letter, drink a beverage, go for a bike ride, buy a cup of coffee, eat a pizza, take a nap, etc. that all of these things would be done because we made a conscious decision to do them – we intended for them to happen.

Pretty easy to follow, huh? So if one can intend to do pretty much anything that we can imagine, and successfully pull it off, why aren’t we rich? Why don’t we intend to have perfect health? Why don’t we intend to have a satisfying personal life? Well, we can. But since we haven’t seen this amazing power of intention do anything other than allow us to control our day to day life; we have trouble believing that it is capable of so much more than that. That is the trouble, we don’t believe it, and so we can’t see it in our mind’s eye that anything is possible by simply intending for it to happen. So if that is the case, perhaps we need to train ourselves to believe in the power of intention by practicing it. We are already very good at this, so let’s take it to another level.

So let’s pick seven things that we know with 100% confidence that we can do, but we don’t already do on a consistent basis. Here are a few examples, although you all should be able to come up with the ideas that are appropriate to your own situation. Also, these should be things that can be done over short-term…one day. The idea here is to train yourself to believe that you can wield this incredible power of intention.

I intend to leave the house at a specific time today and not early or late. I intend to have a smile for each person I see today. I intend to stay caught up on my email all day today. I intend to get outside for at least 30 minutes today to get some fresh air. I intend to think about something that makes me happy during my walk today. I intend to show gratitude to Loren and my kids today. I intend to get to bed by 11 tonight and get at least 5 hours of sleep. See, all intentions… are you starting to see the point of this exercise? None of these things are very difficult, and none of them are very time consuming. In fact, most of them will not take much time at all. However, each of them represent something that I normally don’t accomplish on a consistent basis…

Forget for a moment the positive impact that actually doing those things will have on me, the point of the exercise is for me to intend for all of those things to happen and then to follow through with that intention. By doing so, I have proven to myself that I have the power, with little or no time expenditure to do things that I otherwise may have put off. By intending to do those things, and then following through on that intention, I have started to develop confidence in my abilities to control my life and to make things happen simply by intending for them to happen and then doing them.

Now that training is over, let’s move onto something bigger. Intend to not raise your voice at home for 5 days straight. Intend to watch 30 minutes less of TV for those same 5 days. Intend to get up 10 minutes earlier for each of those 5 days. Intend to compliment someone for 5 days in a row. Intend to drink 1 cup less of coffee (soda, etc) each of those 5 days. Now assess what you have accomplished in just 5 days. Between getting up only marginally earlier and by just partially limiting your TV time, you have added 200 minutes to your life that you can do whatever you want to do with. You have become a more pleasant person to be around at home. You friends and family love all the compliments that you have been showering them with. You have eliminated 5 cups of caffeine from your diet. You accomplished all of that in just 5 days!!! If you can do all of that in just 5 days, imagine what you can do by using the power of intention to gain wealth, overcome personal limitations or simply enjoy your life to the fullest. Practice it every day, every week, every month, and every year. You can literally accomplish anything that you can imagine by simply intending for it to happen. The power is limitless, as is what you intend to do with it. It all starts with intention… followed by the “do” part. Intention without the “do” is nothing….

By the way, just a few minutes ago, you intended to read this, now look what you did… you followed through with the “do”…. good for you. Now I intend to get that 1 cup of coffee I planned for today. Thanks for joining in…. what do you intend? Oh, by the way, let’s try our hardest not to spoil the word intend by making it into a kleenex word… over-using it to the point that it has no meaning… right now it is an extremely powerful word – intent… I like the way it rolls off my tongue… now for coffee….

Diane Mickelson (PhD, MS, BS) has 35+ years as clinical/educational psychologist and clinical hypnotherapist. Check out the services she offers along with her husband, Loren (PhD, MA, BS).  They bring a varied eclectic educational and experiential background to help facilitate an individual’s change. Take  advantage of their free newsletter – www.drsmick.com. Diane writes a daily blog at www.dianesmusings.com – check it out. They look forward to helping you facilitate a change in your evolution.  Change is here NOW!

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Takara Shelor
Follow Me