A little while back, I discovered a website a that I really connected with called iJourney.org (now called Awakin.org). It's simply a blog and community of positive content and writing, from a very simple, human, spiritual perspective... with a lot of common sense ideas about how to handle, navigate, and deal with change, challenge, and the unexpected. It's slogan is "Go within or go without." I LOVE that! One of the big themes and ideas I talk and write about is "everything you need is already inside of you." One article I particularly loved was by Gil Fronsdal titled, "Bringing Attention to Intention." While it was written in 2006, it's still pretty timeless in its message. He begins with this idea:
"The greater our awareness of intentions, the greater our freedom to choose. People who do not see their choices do not believe they have choices. They tend to respond automatically, blindly influenced by their circumstances and conditioning. Mindfulness, by helping us notice our impulses before we act, gives us the opportunity to decide whether to act and how to act."I can't help but think how powerful this is to our personal and professional success. We create our vision, mission, and plan, then we go about executing our intentions. The universe picks it all up and takes it where it's supposed to go. The people, places, and things that have opened and closed for me this year are all a part of my intentions unfolding. Fronsdal says, "Our intentions – noticed or unnoticed, gross or subtle – contribute either to our suffering or to our happiness. Intentions are sometimes called seeds. The garden you grow depends on the seeds you plant and water." How much harder is it today to plant the seeds and water them? It's definitely harder but the process and outcome are the same. Now is a good time to think about how our intentions have unfolded and determine which ones didn't quite pan out and why, and which ones unfolded more unexpectedly. Fronsdal ties it all together with, "Self-consciousness and self-preoccupation may be exhausting, but not awareness. As we become clearer and wiser about our intentions, we find greater ease. We begin to act with less and less self-concern." This is an amazing promise. The fact that I can find greater ease and less exhaustion is a wonderful reason to work on that clarity and to use the wisdom I already have. Bringing attention to my intentions is really about a good look at myself in the mirror and asking others who I trust and admire to mirror me. Taking what I see and bringing that into harmony with my motives, intention, and mission assures me I will continue to get picked up by the universe and led to exactly where I'm supposed to be going. As professionals and business people today, having a clarity of purpose and intentions in our personal and business relationships, and putting that out there as a branded entity, can greatly increase our chances for success. Ask yourself...
- Am I authentic?
- Am I being honest?
- Am I paying attention to my intentions?
