Explore 6 Ways That lead to intentional personal and professional self-mastery
High-performance has always been a fascination of mine. From the time I was a little girl, I was encouraged to have a spirit of excellence and accomplish much. Many times in my life, I have fallen short of this goal. I would attribute this to the low points where I lacked intentionality. I was not approaching life intentionally and was reacting to my circumstances instead of directing them. My goal is to provide you with insights about how to become intentional or increase your current level of intentionality.
Have you ever been around someone really productive, that has a great attitude, is purposeful with their actions, and success appears to come easy for them? In contrast, do you know people who appear disorganized, struggle with life, are unhappy, and things seem never to go their way? Of course, we all have, and what makes these two groups of people so different? I would contend that these groups are experiencing two different life outcomes primarily because they approach and do life. One group is focused on self-improvement and mastering the Law of Intentionality and weaving it into the very fiber of their being. The other is casually reacting to environmental circumstances, not knowing there is a better, more powerful, and impactful way to live life.
What is Intentionality?
"Intentionality is the focused mental energy of bringing your thoughts into tangible reality, converting your thoughts into realized results."
An increased interest in intentionality has emerged in recent years. I would define intentionality as the focused mental energy of bringing your thoughts into tangible reality, converting your thoughts into realized results.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines intentionality as the power of minds and mental states to be about, represent, or stand for, things, properties and states and affairs. Dictonary.com describes intentionality as being deliberate or purposive. The general philosophy; the quality of mental states (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, desires, hopes) that consist of their being directed toward some object or state of affairs.
As a leadership trainer and coach, I have learned simple is better. So let's simplify intentionality a bit. I believe that intentionality is approaching and executing your personal and professional growth plan systematically and consistently with laser focus. Living with intentionality is accomplished by:
The focused mental energy of bringing your thoughts into tangible reality.
The conversion of thoughts into action which deliver the desired result.
The creation of a plan including systems or processes to help you monitor your intentionality and continuously improve.
Intentional people who positively impact their world know what they are going, where they are going, why they are going, and who they are helping. Their heart understanding of their purpose, vision, mission, and life plan serve as their anchors as they close the gap of where they are today, where they are going, and who they are taking with them.
Why Is Intentionality Important?
"Intentionality is the mental and emotional framework that creates discipline in your life. It is the force that compels you to take action to accomplish your vision, mission, and life purpose. "
Intentionality is the mental and emotional framework that creates discipline in your life. It is the force that compels you to take action to accomplish your vision, mission, and life purpose. Approaching life with intentionality means actively creating a plan with objectives and goals, consistently executing the action steps in your plan to achieve your goals and objectives. Intentionality is a lifetime discipline continually repeating this cycle in your personal and professional life as you achieve your aims.
Living with intentionality is important because, without intentionality, we can create chaos in our lives and the lives of others. Or, even worse, we become stagnant, sluggish, and dormant, not bringing any value to ourselves or the world.
Living with intentionality demonstrates that you care and are actively engaged and interested in living your best life and making a positive impact on your world.
Living with intentionality works. By applying the mental discipline and creating a positive, intentional plan, you align the right thoughts to the right actions that deliver the best results.
What Are Examples of Intentionality?
"Intentionality is the purposeful and disciplined mindset and positive, energetic force required to consistently execute plans, projects, goals, and objectives."
Intentionality is the purposeful and disciplined mindset and positive, energetic force required to consistently execute plans, projects, goals, and objectives. Intentionality is not a vague or ambiguous term. It is a purposeful life in action. When you see or experience a successful outcome, intentionality is a driving force behind the success.
Intentionality starts with the thought of accomplishing something that requires an extended effort. There are many personal and professional examples of intentionality:
Numerous studies have shown that people are 42% more likely to accomplish a goal written down. So if we want to experience a change in our life regarding our fitness level, we need to become intentional about how we will change our fitness level. For example, if I am not pleased with my current fitness level, it might mean that I have not been very intentional about starting or maintaining a fitness plan.
5 Steps to becoming more intentional about fitness
"Research shows that for a habit to become automatic, it takes 66 days of repetition."
Create a daily physical fitness plan.
Meditate on the benefits of being fit daily.
Join or go to the gym each day.
With resolution, complete the exercises you have laid out in your plan. Build this plan into a habit that becomes a life-long positive discipline.
Take another example, let's say you have a bad attitude, and your negative attitude is beginning to affect your personal and professional relationships and job performance. I had this happen to me on one occasion. I was struggling with a work project, and my attitude was terrible. It was so bad that my president called me up and said these words that altered the course of my life. "You need to be more positive." And that was all that he said and hung up. That was a wake-up call for me, and I immediately decided to become very intentional about positively approaching life. So you might ask, how do you use intentionality to change your attitude? Well, it is very easy.
5 Steps to becoming more intentional about your attitude
Take every negative thought captive by simply rejecting it and not allowing it to remain in your mind.
Reframe your thoughts by turning every negative thought into a positive thought.
Write down the positive thoughts that you want to realize in your life.
Several times a day, recite what you have written down until these thoughts manifest.
Be patient with the process, none of us are perfect, and the key to attitude self-mastery is all about consistent daily discipline.
What is the Law Of Intentionality?
"The Law of intentionality is defined as the cause and effect of becoming accountable to a personal growth plan that started as a selection of positive thoughts consistently converted into positive actions that create the desired results."
The Law of intentionality is defined as the cause and effect of becoming accountable to a personal growth plan that started as a selection of positive thoughts consistently converted into positive actions that create the desired results. The Law of intentionality is the opposite of the Law of Diminishing Intent. John Maxell states the Law of Diminishing Intent says, "The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it."
There is a cause-and-effect result for every thought and action that we take in life. When we apply the Law of Intentionality, we are putting in motion our future potential of achieving our desired personal and professional self. We are creating the necessary positive energy that is required to develop a personal growth plan, activate our motivation and self-discipline, and accelerate our potential through the consistent execution of our plan.
Our consistent self-discipline and focused intent allow us to become clear on our vision, mission, and life purpose and effectively block out the noise and distractions that try to derail us. In John Maxwell's book the 15 Invaluable laws of growth, he lists out several characteristics of a person who is living with intentionality.
8 Maxwell Behavioral Characteristics of Intentional Growth
Insists on starting today
Takes complete responsibility to grow
Often learns before mistakes
Perseveres long and hard
Fights for good habits
Follows through
Thinks like a learner
Relies on character
When we begin to apply the Law of Intentionality to our lives, we set our path on the cornerstone of success. Every successful outcome started with a thought that became a reality through consistent execution of a series of action steps. The Law of Intentionality is a game-changer in building strong personal and professional relationships and achieving a purposeful life. It is the key to freedom from the chaos and noise that tries to rob us of our joy. Applying the Law of Intentionality to our life is the first step to changing our course and embarking on fulfilling our true potential to live our best life.
Barriers and Hindrances Of Intentionality
"Intentionality barriers and hinderances are the mental, physical, and relational noise and distractions constantly competing for our attention and taking us off course."
The barriers and hindrances of intentionality are the primary reason we give up on trying to live an intentional life. These barriers and hindrances come in many forms. They are the mental, physical, and relational noise and distractions constantly competing for our attention and taking us off course. Overcoming these barriers requires strong mental discipline, perseverance, and a system.
6 Ways to Overcome the Barriers and Hindrances of Intentionality
Determine to become committed to living an intentional life.
Create a written plan that includes your life vision, mission, purpose, goals, and objectives.
Everyday complete at least one action depending on the complexity of your plan to move you closer to achieving your goal or objective.
On a daily basis, keep track and measure your success in completing actions steps.
Celebrate your successes weekly because every action step completed moves you closer to achieving your goal.
Review your plan and adjust it weekly. This will help you stay focused and prevent distractions from taking you off course.
How To Become Positive and Intentional
"Becoming an intentional person is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and humanity. Intentionality brings peace and harmony into our personal and professional lives."
Becoming an intentional person is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and humanity. Intentionality brings peace and harmony into our personal and professional lives. Purposeful and intentional people know how to deliver value to others. They are focused on mastering and conquering their selfish nature for the greater good of all people. Where you see the greatest good in your world is where you will find the most significant level of positive intentionality in action. But, how do you become intentional? All of us desire to change our world for a better place, but how do we actually do this? It starts with the desire to build a positive and intentional life.
10 Ways to Build a Positive and Intentional life
Resolving to become a positive person.
Resolving to become an intentional person.
Understanding your life purpose.
Establishing a life vision and a mission.
Create a life plan with measurable goals and tactics.
Consistently executing against your plan daily with discipline.
Maintaining your positivity and flexibility.
Monitoring and recalibrating your plan as needed.
Celebrating your daily wins.
Building relationships with others on the intentionality journey.
Conclusion
What is stopping you from increasing and releasing more intentionality into your life? I hope the answer is nothing!! Life is so much better and fulfilling when we realize our life purpose, vision, and mission. Mastering the Law of intentionality in your life is the first step to achieving quantum leap results in your personal and professional performance. Bringing the discipline of intentionality into your life helps establish the core foundation to positioning yourself for success both personally and professionally.
John Maxwell states, "A person's potential implies possibilities, it heralds hope, and it unveils greatness." Do you desire to become intentional or increase your intentionality? Leveraging the Maxwell 15 Laws of growth program, we have developed a 7-Week online mastermind workshop. This 7-Week workshop will explore the Law of Intentionality in-depth and provide you with a concrete plan to engage, activate, and accelerate your intentionality.
I hope you have enjoyed the encouraging message designed to inspire you to become your best self and live your best life!