Would you like to feel personally more satisfied, more often? And at the same time achieve better results? Here’s a subtle, simple and reliable approach that I highly recommend to you…
Crafting What You Want
When coaching leaders through a difficulty, I notice that one of their biggest shifts comes from this one question: “What is your intention here?”
They think about it—then they get a knowing smile on their face as they clearly express the experience they want to create and their targeted outcome. (I love it every time).
The impact of the “What is your intention?” question has a rich quality to it. It clears away the cobwebs, very quickly removes doubt and confusion, and paves the way for clear purposeful thinking—and thereby clear purposeful action!
Segmenting Your Day Is Really Very Effective
I know from my personal experience that my aspirations are more easily realised when…
…before a meeting
…at the outset of a project or
…at the start of the day, I’m 100% clear on my intent.
Not only is it very useful to be clear on your intent for the meeting/project/day, it’s even more worthwhile to be clear on your intent for each segment of your day…
- For the first two-hours of the day, you might intend to make the phone calls you need to make, creating win/win outcomes in each.
- In the next segment of your day, your team meeting, you may have the intention of having your team happily support one-another.
- And then, in the afternoon executive meeting, your intention could be to listen so well that you understand the perspective of a peer who’s been troubling you of late.
This is an opportunity to more carefully aim your arrow so it travels more accurately towards your target…
Propel Yourself to Better Outcomes
There’s another distinction that’s important to creating your more accurately travelling arrow: As well as being clear on the physical aspects of what you intend, also be clear on how you intend to feel during and after the event.
When you’re entirely conscious about the experience you intend to have, adding in how you intend to feel during and after that experience, you’ll naturally create a lot more certainty about the way forward—and you’ll be propelled to generate highly satisfying outcomes.
When you manage your mind’s attention, about what you want to accomplish and how you want the experience to feel, you put yourself in a fine position to realise your intent.
Your Leadership Call to Action
My intent is to provoke you to script your day today, tomorrow, the next day, and so on. I want you to have a clear intent about what you want to achieve AND the sensation you’ll experience during or after the process.
Are you up for inserting this scripting exercise into your day—consciously and constructively putting attention on your targeted experience, presenting you with a clear path for realising that experience? Go on, give yourself a much better chance of having an ideal day every day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Carolyn Stevens has worked with leaders for more than 25-years—hundreds of them.
She’s supported leader after leader (including those who previously struggled to confront the difficult, let alone persuasively deal with the it) flourish—and become confident, courageous and impressively influential.
Carolyn is authentic and results-oriented. She draws on an eclectic array of approaches, tools and techniques to suit the situation.
