Intentional Living

Intentions help us blossom to our full potential!

    A bundle of nerves had settled itself comfortably behind my sternum for weeks.  The truth had begun to arise:  I had scored my dream job... and 6 months in, I hated it.  HATED IT.  Could not even move beyond the hate to get to a place of acceptance.  I did what every 35 year old woman on the verge of a job crisis does: I called my Mommy.

     My Mommy isn't just any wisdom-from-experience Mommy, she is a certified life coach who can size up a situation in 5 seconds flat and, like a fortune teller, usually give you just the little simple thing you need.  In this case, as I had turned my car around, heading in the opposite direction of my office and headed toward a new company run by old friends, she said: "What's your intention for this meeting?"
    How simple is that? I believed I was just running up there to buy them lunch and pick their brains about how to handle the job-hating thing, that my intention was to get advice from friends in the same field.  But when the question was posed in an explicit way, I realized: My intention was to gain a job offer from them.

    That simple question and the simpler answer changed the tone of the 4 hour meeting that followed, from what could have been a bitchfest into a productive, inspiring conversation about values and company culture.  During that conversation we agreed our values were aligned in service delivery, and at the end, after delicious sushi, bonding, and brainstorming... they offered me a job.  I start on Monday.
   
     After that, I started intuitively creating a bit of space before and between.  Before clients.  Between lunch and going back to work.  Between getting out of the car at the end of the day and coming inside.  A teeny space to set an intention for the next meeting, moment, greeting.  To greet my daughter in a way that _______.  To keep the meeting focused on ________.  What a powerful practice it has become - and even more, how powerfully it seems to shift the people around me.  When my intention is strong - for example, my intention in meeting with the school director is to create a better environment for my daughter - others come around.  In the meeting with the school director, she started out defensive, her ego and identification with the school method was very, very dominant.  As I gently stuck to my intention, the conversation shifted dramatically and suddenly, almost like a bubble popping, her ego seemed to vanish and we commenced a very productive, calm, and constructive solution-focused conversation.  Intention!

     Try this: Put a little post it note on the dashboard.  Create it with intention.  Write something on it that will remind you to give yourself the gift of space and intention between events.  On the back of my visor, it says "I am becoming the person I am".  This little reminder helps me move toward that goal a little more every day.  Post your post-it message, if you're comfortable, and let us know how it changes your day-to-day harried world!