
As years went by, I stopped setting goals and started setting intentions instead. Who am I hoping to become versus what am I planning to do?
Alis Anagnostakis, PhD
This Year, Try Setting Intentions Instead of Goals
I have found playing with intentions (versus goals) to be quite a powerful developmental exercise. It freed me up to become more attuned to the role synchronicity plays in life. I’m less concerned with rigid steps and plans of action and more open to stepping in a direction generally aligned with my intentions while welcoming opportunities when they arise.
Privileging intentions over goals has also helped keep me honest, as it’s always forcing me to ask myself: Why is this important to me? Why do I want this? What do I stand to lose if I fail to achieve this? How is this aligned with my deepest values? Who am I becoming as I make this decision?
I’ve heard Richard Barrett speak before of setting intentions versus goals and how goals actually limit your potentiality, whereas intentions leave us open to opportunities we may not have planned for, letting unexpected synchronicities play a part in our lives.
What Alis is talking about above aligns with this.
This seems to be more important now in my life as I play with shifting between a self-authoring mind to a self-transforming mind.