Live with Intention in the New Year

Your life experiences have led you to possess a certain set of expectations. And then these expectations color your view. They become the filter through which you experience life, thus reinforcing your expectations. This is a natural, though very limiting, phenomenon. It actually blinds you to experiences that differ from your expectations, binding you in a self-perpetuating spiral of experience.

This happens to everyone whether you are conscious of it or not. Once you become conscious of this fact—and begin to choose empowering intentions—you are still in a self-perpetuating spiral of experience, but, because you have consciously chosen it, it is a positive, growth-oriented one.

Your mind is always going to be doing something, why not have it work in auto-pilot for your benefit? An intention is just a sort of mental touchstone, something to return your thoughts to over and over again. Don’t worry when your thoughts drift; it is actually the experience and effort of returning to your Intention that strengthens and reinforces it.

Setting empowering intentions is as simple as deciding what you want to experience in a situation. It can be done at any time for any situation: at the beginning of each day; at any point within any relationship; to manifest a particular project outcome; to affect health conditions; to redirect financial circumstances; to experience pleasant travel; to support specific goals; and, at any point you want to turn around a negative experience. Here are some guidelines for developing empowering intentions:

1. Empowering Intentions are based in reality. Intention must relate to the challenge as well as the goal. Intention is not wishing.

2. Empowering Intentions acknowledge feelings. Feelings are your friend. They carry a lot of energy, and this energy attracts the object of those feelings. The more you infuse intentions with positive words and meanings that matter to you, the more powerful they will be.

3. Empowering Intentions focus on moving toward, not away from. State intentions in terms of what you are manifesting. Avoid the word “not.”

4. Empowering Intentions are stated in the present tense. State your intention as if it has already come true. Think of it as a reality that already exists which you are now choosing to join.

5. Empowering Intentions are in alignment with Universal forces. There are forces greater than you, natural laws that you will not change. Seek to observe and understand these so that your intentions are powered by their flow.

6. Empowering Intentions require you to claim what is possible for your life. Sometimes the hardest thing about building a good, happy, productive, fulfilling life is deciding what it will look like…and then actively claiming it.

Living Intentionally is POWERFUL. It activates and directs Universal energy so that you achieve more and experience more pleasure, more joy, and more peace. It creates alignment with reality that results in an ease of life, less struggle. Remember, Intention is a force to reconnect to, not something for ego to accomplish. Intention is about getting into alignment with the Universe, not trying to will things to be.

Let’s start now. 2014 opens like an empty canvas before you. What would you like to experience in it? Each of those 365 days gifts you with about 16 hours to fill with activity. How can you be sure a good portion of that activity is toward the life you desire and not empty, mindless time-spending? You begin by developing a vision for the life you desire. Here’s your assignment: take a few, undisturbed moments and ask yourself, “What would I like to experience in 2014?” Close your eyes and envision it in full sensory experience—what it looks like, what it feels like, the tastes, the sounds, even the smells. Write it down (“My Vision for 2014”) and display it prominently in several places (your planner, your computer, your car, your bedroom, your bathroom). Every morning, look at the vision you have written and think about what the day ahead may hold, and come up with an empowering Intention—a one-sentence mental touchstone—that you can return your mind to over and over again to keep it directed and focused. Pay attention to the way things begin to flow, and the surprises and coincidences that support your intention. At the end of each day—and at the end of each month—be sure to acknowledge and appreciate the things that have moved you closer to your goal. You’re going to be somewhere a year from now; why not be a little closer to the life you dream of?