Stop right there ✋🛑
Have you read part 1 of this blog post? 🧐
If not, click here and read that first. I promise it's short.
This article is the second in a two-part series. It's intended to offer solutions to each of the common problems listed in part I. Stay tuned as next week's focus will be exclusively on SETTING INTENTIONS; the secret sauce for your success.
If you want a head start on checking out that blog post you can see it here.
Are you ready for the SECRET SAUCE?
Instead of making resolutions learn to SET INTENTIONS
Passion Does NOT Fuel Commitment. Purpose Does.
The emotion of passion can only take you so far. When passion turns to pressure you need to shift your focus. If you're thinking "Heck, I do my best work under pressure"; I hear you, but this is a different kind of pressure. It's the kind that silently eats away at your energy reserves and is always running the "you can't do this program" in the back of your mind. Conversely, when you align intentions with your true purpose you will run on an endless source of energy that keeps your passion alive.
Passion ultimately burns out, but purpose burns steady on a low flame. Purpose is a program that is always running in the background of your operating system. Your Purpose can override any other program if you just keep poking those flames. You can keep the fire of your purpose burning by directing daily intention towards it.
When you get really intentional about fulfilling your purpose, commitment comes naturally. A commitment requires a plan for how you will honor it. When the plan starts to get tedious, boring, and hard setting intentions will keep you laser focused on the ultimate goal.
Start from where you are; The Present
When we think of getting a fresh start let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Whether you’ve amassed big achievements over the past year or you're wiser for the wear you have plenty to work with going into 2022. Review your efforts (notice I didn't say results) over the last year and make note of what you would have done differently. Take stock of your successes ( I promise they are there). And then start from where you are. No need to reinvent the wheel. (I know, I've hit my cliche quota in this paragraph.) The intention to be present will keep you from arguing with your past or skipping the necessary steps to get to your promising future.
Intentions; The solution to our modern-day Dopamine Dilemma
Intentions are fluid just like your life. Wayne Dyer said, "We are only ever in two places in our lives. We are either growing or we are dying". That means as long as there is breath in your body, you are in a process of evolution and growth.
Your intention can change along with you as your interests evolve and/or the process you are engaging in becomes tedious and less exciting. Your brain is always looking for its next dopamine trigger. Dopamine, the chemical that regulates the pleasure center of our brain, responds to the excitement of instant gratification. This is the main reason that shiny object syndrome hits in the middle of the important processes & plans we set in place to get us results. We get bored and tired of sticking to the minutia of working towards achieving success in any given area. When you align an intention with your experience as you live it you can choose a new intention as needed and redirect your focus to add excitement to satisfy your brain.
Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit
A general rule of thumb for healthy relationships is, it's best not to make promises you can't keep. The most important relationship that applies to, though often overlooked, is your relationship with yourself. Everything changed for me when I started to get really intentional about the things I told myself I was going to do. In setting the intention of integrity (doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it) I practiced setting myself up to win. I gained so many small wins by honoring my commitment to myself that pretty soon I saw myself as a big winner. Quitting ceased to even be an option. That's the only reason you are even reading this article right now.
Broken promises to yourself only reinforce a sense of failure and futility that fuels an unwittingly destructive cycle. When you are careful and thoughtful with what you tell yourself you are going to do you take your commitment to yourself seriously. Only tell yourself you will do that which you absolutely know you can follow through on. The rest of your goals and desires should be fueled by strategies and action plans you commit to one step at a time. Intention can keep you focused on all that action.
In all of your endeavors, intention can offer you a direction for your thoughts that leads towards a win every time. It's pretty easy to win at intentions, am I right? An example of this would be setting an intention to enjoy the journey. This translates to focusing on the process of building the skills rather than the results. The big win comes at the end when building the skills gets you the results. You are a winner just by taking the journey.
Stay tuned as we take a deeper dive in to intentions next week. Comment below with any questions or to start a chat. I'd love to hear from you.
Om Shanti & Namaste
And remember, Happiness is a Choice
