Set Clear Intentions

SUMMARY

Intentions are those reasons for doing things. It's your purpose. It's why you get up every single day and be who you need to be, to do the things that you need to do, so you can have the results that you want to have.

Unfortunately, because of life experiences and what you have made them mean (and all those things that I’ve already talked to you about when we dealt with identity and Emotional Intelligence), you can sometimes forget those things and fall into the trap of being in that rut.

This week, I want to show you how to think differently and do things in a way to set you up for a more fulfilling future.

TRANSCRIPT

Do you sometimes feel that you're never really getting anywhere? It's like everything’s the same every single day: Same stuff, different day. The days quickly turn into weeks, the weeks into months, and the months into years. Then, when you look back, you go: How far did I come? What did I get done that I was trying to achieve? What's this all about?

Well, that's okay. A lot of us fall into this place at some point in our life. So, stick with me because this week I want to show you how to think differently and do things in a way to set you up for a more fulfilling future.

Hi, this is Grant Herbert, VUCA Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to continue our conversation around all things Personal Leadership by helping you to Set Clear Intentions.

Intentions are those reasons for doing things. It's your purpose. It's why you get up every single day and be who you need to be, to do the things that you need to do, so you can have the results that you want to have.

Unfortunately, because of life experiences and what you have made them mean (and all those things that I’ve already talked to you about when we dealt with identity and Emotional Intelligence), you can sometimes forget those things and fall into the trap of being in that rut.

I had it described to me once that a rut was ‘a grave with both ends dug out’ (which is a little bit gruesome to be thinking about). But, at the end of the day, we start and finish our life at some point and it is what we do and achieve within the middle that's going to determine whether or not we feel like we've made a difference.

What most of us do is spend more time planning what we're going to do for our holidays or a weekend away than we do on our whole life.

Those of us who are in business will spend lots of time and effort putting together a plan for our business, our practice, and our career, but I'm talking about making a shift here from being scattered, “seat-of-the-pants” mentality; just getting up every day and seeing what's in the inbox and what's ahead of you and reacting to crisis after crisis or what's going on, to being more intentional and planned and knowing exactly where you are going and why.

To do this, I want to introduce you to the 3 elements of my Intention Framework™.

Then, over the coming weeks we'll go deeper on each of those and incrementally learn not just “why” and “what”, but “how” to do things differently. So, when you get up of a morning you know exactly “why” you're doing what you're doing in that day (not why at a surface level, but at a higher level).

Then, in those times when things are a little bit tough, when things aren't going as you were hoping that they would go (because we are human and that's what happens as we navigate this thing called life), you’re still able to keep your eyes on the prize and see where those things fit into the plan of you fulfilling your purpose while you're on this planet.

Let me give you these 3 areas that I believe you need to have clarity on so that you can set yourself up to go where you want to go.

It is said: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” (which really is an oxymoron because when you look at it, it says we are planning to fail so we've actually planned). Anyway, this is a great quote that has been said many years ago and has got a lot of truth in it, but I want to go a little bit deeper than something that we can just put on a meme. I want to make sure that this episode will push some of your buttons. I want to inspire in you the desire to go back to those things that you have forgotten.

During the previous episodes, I talked to you about how your interpretation of your experiences will have an effect on your ability to dream and to keep those things out in front of you that you once wanted, to be congruent with the reasons that you gave yourself for getting involved in those things in the first place.

So, as we go through this, what I need you to do is put your “big voice” hat on, not your “mini- me”. If you haven't had an understanding around that, go back to those episodes that I've done over the previous weeks, around your Identity and Intelligence.

For those of you who already have an understanding around this, you'll see why this is the foundation for what it is that I’m going to talk about today.

Alright, let's roll up our sleeves and get started.

The first element that you need within this framework are VALUES.

What are your values?

This is a great question which I believe you’ve also been asked at some point in your life.

Most people, when I ask them this question, find it difficult to answer. This is because this is not something they have focused on. They may have thought about it at one point but it’s not something that they think about day-to-day; it's not front of mind, so they have to consciously think about it.

The other challenge with values is that for a lot of us, we have been working against those values subconsciously (not even knowing it) and therefore, they have slipped out of mind again.

It's been said that where you invest your time and your money will tell you what you value. Although I don't believe that to be totally true, there is some evidence in that based on what I've seen in my own life and the lives of those I get to work with around the world.

Let’s take a look at my own situation as an example: In my corporate career, my number one internal value is my integrity. Externally, my number one value is my family. With those being my values, I set off on my corporate career, progressed and did the things that I did so that I could give my family the lifestyle that I wanted them to have.

Unfortunately (and this is the experience I have with most people I talk to) it was at the detriment of what I truly valued. What it meant was I didn't get to spend much time with my family because I was off being the corporate executive and doing what I needed to do (so I thought).

This is where it can become incongruent with who you really are and you can start getting disillusioned, disenfranchised and disappointed.

So, reflect on these questions:

What do you really value? What or who is the most important to you: Family? Friends? Health?

Only you can answer these questions.

So, the first area is getting clarity around your values.

The second area to get clarity around is your VISION.

Your vision is what you have in front of you. It's what you can clearly see even though it's not there yet. Through your mind's eye, you can visualise where it is that you are going and you have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve by when. It's a bigger picture view of what you want to be ahead of you in your life.

I'm not talking about a vision statement here like in an organisation which is full of great marketing words that emotionally touches others. What I'm talking about here is having a vision that you can articulate so it touches you. So that whenever things come your way, you can clearly and quickly know whether or not they're a right fit for you.

Are they a part of your vision?

The third area is your MISSION.

What is it that you are setting out to achieve whilst you're here on this earth?

What’s your higher purpose for being?

Like I said about having a vision, it’s not about a mission statement of why you exist nor is it going to be all about external things. Instead, mission is about why you believe you’re here.

Why do you believe that you get up every day to do what it is that you do?

When you have a clarity around your mission, you can then have a look at what it is that you're doing and realise whether or not you are actually on mission or whether you are just doing everybody else's mission.

So, those are the 3 elements of the framework that I use to help people to set their intention to make sure that they put together a plan for their life that is based on what's most important.

Once they are clear about their values, their vision, and their mission, they have something that they can do a check through; a filter that they can use so that they make sure that they're investing their energy in what they really want to do.

Well, that's it from me for this week. Join me again next week as we continue this conversation around intention by having a look at your values.

I'll see you then.