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Why Intention is Everything

I have met thousands of women in my lifetime that all have this one thing in common: there is a HUGE disconnect between their every day activities and their goals. They have visions of perfect lives, but the reality of living those lives is too overwhelming so they just give up and numb themselves until they can forget what they ever really wanted. Is that you? It certainly is me. I have struggled with the endless cycles of perfectionism, disappointment, and self-loathing since I was a child.

The good news is that you don’t have to struggle with that cycle for another day. There is a better way.

It all begins with intention. It begins when you decide on a direction. Maybe you get there, and maybe you don’t. The secret to success is concentrating on the journey and not the destination. Too many of us get hung up on the ending that we forget that each step in the direction of our dreams holds its own lessons, wisdom, and joy. When we stop focusing so much on the outcome we can begin to center ourselves around the identity we need to create in order to become the kind of person who gets to the outcome.

For example, you might have a goal to lose 100 pounds. You sign up for weight loss programs, buy a gym membership, and use every ounce of willpower to lose the first 20 pounds. It sounds great, but it’s not sustainable. As soon as your life gets hard because your parent gets sick, your job requires mandatory overtime, or your seasonal depression kicks in the weight comes back with a vengeance. You tell yourself that you are a failure, that you can never finish anything, and that you are a terrible person. You create an internal struggle that can only be numbed by food and countless hours doom scrolling on social media.

I am here to promise you that you don’t have to do that ever again. Instead of focusing on a goal, focus on your intention each day. If my intention is to be the kind of person who doesn’t eat when she’s not hungry, your brain works on a different problem in a different way than a person who needs to lose 100 pounds as soon as humanly possible. For those of us with complicated lives, being a person who eats well or who moves her body daily is much more attainable and long lasting. This is a more do-able life which will eventually lead you on journey to your best self. Will you ever lose that 100 pounds? Maybe. Will you, through consistent effort on the next right thing, make progress on being healthier? Most definitely.