How to set intentions the right way

The way to become the star player of our life is by setting intentions clearly.

“The scenario of your life is not written by some external power; it is not a result of coincidence nor predetermined by destiny. You write the story of your own life and you are its star player.” – Daisaku Ikeda

INTENTIONS ARE DIFFERENT FROM GOALS

Setting intentions is different from setting goals and that being said, having clear intentions is more important than setting goals. ‘Intention’ is being aware of what you want to be. Goals are what you are aiming to do in order to fulfil that intention of yours. I would say that intentions come from the heart whereas goals come from the mind.

If you just set a goal or a resolution without a clear intention it might soon be forgotten. If you set goals backed by intentions that come from heart, it becomes powerful!

Example

1. If you only set the goal of losing weight this year, it is more likely that you will want to give up exercising or eating healthy if you have your flow broken just once or twice. To really achieve your goal, you must set the intention that this year you want to be healthy and give topmost priority to self-care and your overall well being. This way you will naturally want to set a goal for it and start by exercising and eating healthy.
   
2. If you just set a goal of studying 3 hrs a day, you might soon forget about it. In order to achieve it, you must first set an intention from your heart that you intend to give your best in your studies this year. Make sure the ‘why’ for your intention is strong. For this goal, your ‘why’ can be to make your parents happy, to get admission into your dream college or to become the master of your subject. This way you will more likely be wanting to study yourself and trying to make time for it.
   
   This way even if you are not able to fulfil the 3-hour goal every single day or even if you are not able to exercise every 5 days, you will want to come back to your intention again and again because it came from your heart.

[bctt tweet=”An intention doesn’t require perfection, it sees progress.” ] However, how much you are able to stick with your goal depends on how much strong your intention is. But you can always strengthen your intention- your inner resolve.

HOW TO SET INTENTIONS THE RIGHT WAY

Setting intention requires you to come back to your true self, assess your life deeply and listen to what is really there in your heart even if it is for just 5 minutes in silence. There might be many things that run in your head but setting intentions will be easier when you think of questions such as,

1. ‘How do I want to spend my days?
2. ‘What is truly significant for me?’
3. ‘What kind of person do I wish to become?’
4. ‘What are the things I need to cultivate in myself?’
5. ‘What do I need to let go in so as to bring in more happiness and peace?

I feel if we reflect upon our life state and on what we truly intend to be, we will naturally set our goals high and work on achieving them.

Here are my top intentions for 2020

1. This year I intend to make my faith stronger – “To pray without a doubt.
When you pray without doubt,
All your prayers will be answered”

So my goal for this is: To pray abundantly which for me is chanting ‘Nam– Myoho Renge Kyo’ for at least one hour a day and read NHR (New Human Revolution) every day.

2. This year I intend to work on my self-discipline and determination more.

In order to achieve this, my goal is to wake up at 5 am again (I already have) because it makes me happy and gives a good tune to the rest of my day.

3. This year I intend to give my health and well being a top priority. In order to achieve this, my goal is to eat healthy, moderately, continue exercising regularly and also meditate at least twice a week for 15-20 mins.

4. This year I intend to spend my time more productively and make the best use of the 24 precious hours. I want to do everything slowly, one thing at a time.

In order to achieve this, I want myself mainly to read, write and study this year.

One thing I have come up with in order to know if I must do something or not is by asking the question, ‘Will this be of any significance to me in future?’ If the answer is yes, then I am doing a productive thing and if the answer is no, then I must not spend so much time and energy into it.

5. I am a teacher by profession so I intend to be a good teacher for my students. I want to grow knowledge in my subject, Sociology too.

For this, my goal is to study for at least 2 hours each day and start learning and practising Bengali so it will be easy for my students to understand better. I must not forget that “Faith manifests itself in daily life”.

6. I intend to be eco-friendly, conscious and strive my best for it. To take it as a challenge this year.

7. Lastly, I intend to have love and understanding in all of my relationships including the relationship I have with myself. To be kind and patient to others and to me. This journey is all about love and compassion. Let there be no judgements, complaints, criticism but only love and respect, never forgetting that we are all emissaries of the Buddha.

HOW I AM SET ABOUT TO ACHIEVE MY INTENTIONS

1. Through action: This is obvious, intentions are useless without action. For its power to work, we must be willing to cultivate them into action.

2. Through Silence: Intentions require us to come back and be in touch with our true self. We must come back to our self, our intentions again and again. And there are various ways to be in touch with oneself, by meditating, by journaling and by conscious self-reflection.

3. Through Prayer: If we really know how to pray, prayer is the strongest way to connect with our self and achieve all our intentions. When I pray I am able to reconnect with my true self and reconnect with my intentions, my dreams, my vow. I would have forgotten my resolution, my intentions, my vows but because I pray, I renew my determination to fulfil it every morning and evening. This way by praying, I am never far from my self and my intentions.

You can share your intentions too in the comment below. It would be encouraging. Let us all know what our heart wants this year, let us set our intentions clear in front of the Universe, work for it, share it and create magic in our lives.

The Universe is listening to our demands and also seeing how much we are willing to work for it.