Did you know that each and every day, your brain is either working for or against you? Well it’s true. The brain is the captain of the ship and it is constantly sending commands to your body about what it can and cannot do. I always warn clients about this fact when undergoing any process of change because failing to control the message your captain is sending to its ship is a mistake that can sabotage all that hard work you’re putting in.
The quickest and easiest way to be in control of that message is to set a specific and descriptive intention for the thing you are trying to achieve. What is an intention you may be asking? The dictionary defines intention as: an aim or objective, something you plan to do or act on, or the quality or state of having a purpose in mind. I like to get my clients to set what I call ‘Positive Intention Statements’ daily as a habit because it assures that they will be reminded to point their conscious and subconscious attention towards that which they are trying to achieve with me.
The power of setting an intention comes from narrowing your brains focus in on the target you are trying to hit. Think of your brain like a Google search bar and the intention as the thing you want Google to search for. Just like when searching for anything on Google, the trick here is to be as descriptive and specific as possible. But more importantly, getting in the habit of instructing your brain to be on the look-out for the target you wish to hit, drives it to subconsciously (automatically) work on hitting it.
Take a second now to think about one area of your life that you are trying to improve. Now consider what the end goal is and write it down with as much clarity as possible (remember, the first step to achieving anything is to start with the end in mind): _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now consider what your first step must be to achieve that end goal (starting with the end in mind allows you to break your end goal down into steps, plotting out the plan of ‘how’ you will achieve it): __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
And finally turn that first action step into a ‘Positive Intention Statement’ (instructing your conscious and subconscious attention to drive that result to happen): “I will… __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Failing to set intentions daily, I warn clients, is really just a missed opportunity for success. Don’t miss the chance to drive YOUR success to the next level; make daily intention statements your new performance habit by repeating this exercise every day.
Until next time, remember, make every performance count!
Coach Susan
