Live With Intention
Live with intent
Set your course before life does that for you.
My experience
The preparation for a World Championship changed ordinary choices. When the goal became clear, training, sleep, nutrition, recovery and preparation no longer felt like loose decisions. They became part of one direction. The intention of becoming the best player I could be made much smaller choices.
I saw the same idea in a completely different situation. Before the Rio Olympics, our team had a disappointment. A new coach asked us to think about how we could help the team. I started making smoothies after practice. A little gesture. I bought the ingredients, mixed them, and served them to teammates, also to players I had just fought on training. Strangely, that service gave me energy. It reminded me that the goal was greater than my own achievement.
The more I thought about it, the better I understood that intention is not just about performance. It's also about who you want to be while you're performing. Do I want to grow? Help? Love? Learn? Serve? Inspire? Those questions change how a day feels.
The essential lesson
If you don't choose your direction, distractions will choose for you. Intent gives your effort a filter: It helps you determine what your energy deserves and what you don't.
The core principle
Intention is the bridge between what you say is important and what you really do. A goal without intention is a wish. Intention turns the goal into action.
That doesn't mean you're checking every result. Sport taught me that you can prepare well and still lose. It means you choose the direction of your attention and behaviour.
The most useful question is therefore not only: What do I want? But: Who do I have to be today to make that direction a reality? .
Apply it
Reflection questions
- 1What are you trying to build up at this stage of your life?
- 2Who do you want to be while you're working on that?
- 3What day-to-day choice would become easier if your intention was clearer?
Editorial reflection questions, derived from the principle.
Practical exercises
- Write one sentence that describes what you are trying to build in this phase of your life.
- Choose three behaviors that support that intention.
- Choose three behaviors that often pull you away.
- Determine how you want to be present before an important day, meeting, training or conversation.
- Ask yourself at night: did my actions correspond to my intention?
From the source material of the book.
My reflection
Private: Your answers are only stored in this browser.
My next step
Keep exploring