How It Works
Intentions Alone Are Not Enough
- You Need To Put Them Into Action
The Intent In Action system is 100% backed by psychology to help you live a more balanced and purposeful life. The approach is to help you examine your intentions from the inside as you work towards your goals on the outside. Once you understand the reasons behind your intentions, you will be able to stay focused and sustain your actions even when life gets extremely difficult to do so. If you recognize the need for change, and you don’t want to waste anymore of your precious time, let the Intent In Action planner be your accountability partner today!
The Intent In Action Flywheel
Discover The 4 Practices To Build A Sustainable Momentum For Your Life
Imagine pushing a flywheel on a rowing machine: at first you will feel the weight and resistance of the wheel, so it requires a lot of energy to even make a move. As you keep pushing bit by bit, the resistance lowers and eventually you will find it easier and faster to row the machine. This is the flywheel effect - it’s a concept that not only applies to business, but also in life.
The Intent In Action system is divided into 4 main practices that make up the flywheel. As you incorporate these practices into your daily routine, it will become second-nature as you develop a momentum that will help you work towards your goals!
Practice #1: The 90-Day Focus
Studies over the years have shown that 91% of us will fail to keep up with our new year’s resolutions. So if goal setting works, then why do only 9% of the people succeed in achieving their goals? The answer is: most of us are doing it wrong.
Before you even begin to set any goals, you need to figure out your intentions and the reasons behind them. You need to figure out why something is so important to you that you will have a relentless drive to achieve your goals and be strong enough to push through even when circumstances impede on your goals. You need to want it enough.
The Intent In Action Planner starts with a 90-day focus so that you can do goal planning without thinking too far out in the future, but still gives you a reasonable amount of time to estimate how much you can accomplish without being unrealistic and overwhelming. This gives you the focus you need to channel your energy and drive towards your goals.
Step 1 - Come up with 3 big goals
Come up with 3 big goals that you want to accomplish in the next 90 days. Be sure to use the SMART framework to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely goals. The goals can be for work, personal, or both.
Step 2 - Reflect on your intentions
Reflect on your intentions for the goals to eliminate unwanted distractions. Ask yourself:
- Why is the goal important to you?
- What do you want to focus on, how do you want to feel or live as you’re working towards your goals?
- How will achieving the goal change your life or your relationship with others and why does it matter?
- Will it be worth it if you achieve the goals?
Step 3 - Create a vision board
Once you figure out the WHY behind your goals, create a vision board for them to remind yourself why you do what you do, what motivates you and gives you the inspiration to stay 100% focused and on track with your goals.
Practice #2: The Weekly Plan
Now that you have the driving force to start pushing the flywheel and working towards your 3 big goals, you want to break them down into weekly objectives to work on one step at a time. Just like the flywheel analogy, you are adding momentum bit by bit to keep the wheels moving.
Step 1 - Writing down 3 main objectives
Start each week by writing down 3 main objectives that you want to achieve. These objectives must be specific and align with your 90 day goals.
Step 2 - Write down your commitment
Write down your commitment for each objective so that you can actually be more committed when working towards your goals. When you’re committed to something, you invoke a strong feeling of intention and focus and it gives you the determination to succeed.
Step 3 - Set a reward for yourself
Set a reward for yourself for achieving your weekly goals. The reward can be something tangible like a treat or it can be a feeling that you want to feel once you have achieved the goal. The key is to figure out why the feeling is important to you. Having a reward is one of the motivating factors in productivity to help you work towards your goals.
Practice #3: The Daily Priorities
To make the flywheel even easier to push, you want to break down the 3 weekly objectives into daily priorities that you want to achieve in a day. The key is to help you stay focused on what’s important so that you wouldn’t feel overwhelmed with too many tasks and end up giving up because “it’s too much to handle” or “you don’t know where to begin”. Setting priorities helps you put your thoughts and energy into those tasks that require your attention the most.
Step 1 - Write down what you are grateful for
Before you even begin to write down your priorities for the day, write down what you are grateful for. While goal setting can motivate you, it can also leave you with a feeling that what you have currently is not enough. This may add pressure as you question your ability to achieve your goals and even stress where you end up abandoning your goals altogether. By starting the day with gratitude, it will help induce positive emotions for you and set your mood in the right place.
Step 2 - Write down your intention
Write down your intention for the day using a word or a phrase to help you figure out the direction on how you are choosing to be as you work on your daily priorities.
Step 3 - Come up with 3 most important priorities
Come up with 3 most important priorities that you want to accomplish in the day and then list out the steps that you need to take to achieve them. The key is to keep it manageable and realistic - you need to know what your capabilities are and not what you believe or want it to be.
Practice #4: The Reflections
The final push to keep the flywheel moving and become more and more efficient is to do daily reflections at the end of the day. This is how you can improve, make pivots, and become better each day as you work towards your goals. Remember, the 90-day focus aka, your 3 big goals should not change, but the way you work towards them, can change depending on external circumstances, intentions, and what is important to you at the moment.
Step 1 - Write down your feelings, thoughts, and learnings
End the day right and write down your feelings, thoughts, and learnings that you may have experienced during the day. Think of it like journal therapy, which has many benefits to increase your mindfulness, relieve stress, and even help you sleep better!
Step 2 - Reflect on your actions and thoughts
At the end of each week, reflect on your actions and thoughts - what went well, what didn’t go well, would you do anything differently? - to help you improve your productivity. Then complete a self-assessment on 3 main factors: work-life balance, happiness, and productivity to track your progress as you work towards your goals and identify areas where you need to make changes.
Step 3 - Reflect on the entire quarter
Finally, once the 90-day period is over, reflect on the entire quarter to identify your biggest wins, challenges, and lessons so that you can set yourself up for the next 90-day period. The process of self-reflection helps you to be more aware of your thoughts and feelings and helps you translate them into future actions/goals that matter to you.