Blog
The Process of Setting Intentions
by Amy Riley
October 7, 2010
I know that it’s powerful to set intentions, to tune in with how I want to feel and what I want to accomplish. When I set an intention, I know I’m lining up my thoughts and actions with an outcome I’m inspired about. I’m creating my own self-fulfilling prophecy. It feels great! I have many examples of how it’s worked well for me.
But, there’s a problem: I find it challenging to keep with a regular practice of setting intentions. I forget to do it. I used to set a daily intention in the shower each morning – which worked well – yet, that was before I had kids and now most of the time I sleep until they wake me up and I’m jumping straight into my day with no time to set intentions…or so I tell myself. And if I do remember to set a daily intention, by the time my day is done and I’ve experienced the different segments of my day, I forget what the intention was or how exactly I thought it pertained to what was going on that day.
In Tiara this month we introduced a concept that brought relief to those like me – who know the power of setting intentions and don’t find it easy to remember to set intentions they can remember. This concept is segment intending.
We can set an intention for a segment of our day. A segment could be the morning, a work meeting, the drive to daycare, a series of phone calls, dinner…you get the picture. Any length of time will work. You can set an intention before you go to bed for the time that you’re sleeping. “I intend to wake up in the morning feeling rested and energized.”
For me, when I set an intention for a segment of my day, it is much easier to tune into what I would most desire for that concrete period of time. There’s less pressure to get it exactly right because I don’t have to live with it for a whole day!! It allows more room for playfulness. Throughout the day I can try intentions that are more feeling-focused like “I want to feel peaceful and have fun as me and the kids are getting ready to go to daycare” or ones that are more specific like “I intend to complete an outline for the training by 3pm.” And, by segment intending, I get more immediate and simply more feedback about what intentions are being realized for me.
I invite you to try it. Set an intention for a segment of your day and see what happens. Then let us know: What intention did you set? And was your intention realized?
Segment Intending has been powerful for me. The card #55 is about this and says you expand your time by practicing this.
I agree that it is easier to be successful when I can have an intention for part of the day. For example today I was becoming overwhelmed at work with all of my deadlines and requirement to be creative (sure I can just be creative on the spot) so I stopped and said “For the next few hours my intention is to trust perfect timing” and at the moment I feel on track again!
Holly, you are a shining example. Thanks for continually exploring and playing.