Keep the Momentum: Intentions, Values and Goals
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. ~ Pablo Picasso
I needed a vehicle for the snow, and my current sedan wasn’t going to cut it with this year’s heavy snowfall. Having the freedom to roam for work and for pleasure without weather or roads as obstacles was important to me. I knew I didn’t want to give up my car, that I had only so much money to spend, and I knew I wanted a truck—not just any truck, but the darling of all used trucks, a Toyota Tacoma 2004 or earlier with less than 150,000 miles. I had been looking for this particular truck for many, many months but it wasn’t until I actually stuck it on my vision board, set my intention, and focused on it being a reality that it manifested.
Each year I set my intentions and goals, align them with my values and vision to set my road map for success for the coming year. It takes concerted effort, energy and action to make these things happen, and goal setting helps me see into the future, understand what I want, create a plan and stay on track to get it done. But I will let you in on a secret: these things happen, I truly believe, because of the intentions I set not only for the year, but the ones I set daily, as they are the steps I take each day to live my values with gratitude. They allow me to focus on the moment, and to summon the emotional and physical energy needed to get things done. In other words, achieving my goals has more to do with how I take the journey. How are my goals supporting the things that matter most to me in my life? What internal dialogue am I having about a situation, what am I attracting or repulsing, and how am I releasing my vision in order for it to manifest? I look at what I am attached to that isn’t serving me, how I am “needing” control, where I am holding up the process: am I living in the moment, what sort of limitations am I creating due to my belief system, reactions and fears? I share this little bit of personal insight so that those of you who set goals and sometimes fail to achieve them, or find that goal setting can lead to a sense of being a failure so you avoid it, will see how you can do one thing at a time by setting an intention and staying focused on seeing it through. The intention can serve as a reminder for how to live out each day, for who you want to be, what you wish to contribute, and how you choose to move in the world.
Sure, it’s just a truck, but it would not have happened without aligning my actions and strategies with my values so that I was able to be more effective at actualizing the goal. By setting the intention, I was able to get out of my head and sidestep the problems and perceived limitations of not having the truck. I was able to take the power of change in my own hands and make it happen. Believing in what you want allows you to control your response, and that response will help you manifest your goal, whether it’s a truck, or finding a new job, or trying a new sport, or reaching out to an old friend.