Intention vs In-Tension: Harness the Power of Purposeful Action

There is no shortage of notable attributes of the successful. Grab a handful, sit them around the table, interview them and your head would spin with considerations of contributions to success. As in, what made them successful. But if you boil almost all of them down (not literally of course) there is one key similarity across the board. Successful people are more Intentional than average people.

Understanding intention

But to understand this a little better we have to first better understand the overused word of intention. It quite literally means intent, determined to do. Intention is the pre-meditation of action, any and all. It is to act with purpose. It is then the opposite of Inevitable, and yet also the creation of inevitability. The distinction between the successful and the unsuccessful is in their ability to curate and create their future, where the unsuccessful believe life is circumstantial, the successful believe they can create their future.

The high-performing have an innate ability to envision their future in a much more articulate and tactical way than most. They can not only imagine but are quite quickly able to put this future version of themselves into word, by a large measurable difference.

This is an important distinction, as to be able to articulate it suggests that they spend far more time thinking of and envisioning this version than others, and the studies support it. Research has shown that in groups of recognized high performance, these individuals report thinking of their future self as often as every 60 seconds where compared to others as little as once per week.

Ok, so If I still have you. You get it. Intention. Cool. What does that mean for me? 

Defining Identity

Well, as above the value is in your ability to dream. Having the ability to consider a future version of yourself is not only good for goal setting, but most importantly Identity. Because while the study suggests that the successful are so, because of intention, the result of that intention is in their ability to quickly assume and create an identity.

What separates most people is in their understanding or acceptance of identity. One camp of people appears to think identity is the result of behavior, the other camp believes that behavior is the result of identity. Meaning some people think their Identity is what they have done in the past, others believe identity is what I do today.

The people who choose their identity, do things in alignment with their identity. People who identify as healthy do healthy things. People like us do things like this. This is the power of affiliate. It is in your ability to change people's Identity. From people of negative identity to positive healthy identity. This is not done by transporting them to the mythical end, and then they can decide they are healthy, no this comes in choosing to do something in support of that future version each day.

Identity is most often tied to profession. I am an astronaut. The question then becomes are you only an astronaut once you have arrived in space, or do you become an astronaut when you begin doing astronaut things?

These things, regardless of what they are, are intentions. The purpose of what I am doing is in pursuit of: x.

This is the deliverance from tension.

The world, especially today, is filled with a reminder we have no control. Everywhere we look, freedom seems to be eroding, and people are becoming incensed in response to. The masses today seem to have accepted that we have no intention, and we must instead live in reaction. Reacting to everything, mandates, restrictions, life, liberty, existence. We are a society of reaction.

We are a society absent of intention. But you don't have to be. This blog is not about social justice and reform, it is about personal performance. That, however, is the fastest route to social reform. The sooner we can improve the person, the faster we improve the people, and those performing people improve the world.

Reactive people, do reactive things. Proactive people, intentional people do not react at all, they create.

So how do you make the shift to becoming an intentional person?

Imagine, and fixate on a better version of yourself. To do so, consider these three questions:

• Consider how you perceived yourself in the following situations the last several weeks or months- with your significant other, your work, your kids, friends and social situations, strangers.
• Now as, “Is that how I really see myself being in the future” How would my future self, my ideal self, look, feel and behave differently in those situations?
• If you could describe yourself in just three aspirational words-words that would sump who you are at your best in the future- what would those words be? Why are those words meaningful to you? Once you find them, put them in your phone as an alarm three times a day to go off. Reminding you to be intentional.

Intention is a skill, and the better you are at it, the better your future. Your future identity will thank you for today. It will take work like all skills. As the noise of the day sets in, it will be harder to think of tomorrow. But this is when you must think of it the most, what would my future me do in this situation?  Not what would past or current me do.

Behavior creates Identity, and Identity assures behavior. Be intentional, live with purpose, be proactive. The world needs it. We will change the world.

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