4 Steps to Create Powerful Intentions

Are you feeling drawn to make a change in your life?

Many of us have lofty goals… but months later, we have often made little or no progress. Most of the time, we’ll put it down to a lack of self-discipline or willpower. But is this always the case?

Oftentimes, what’s really happening is that we have skipped the important step of crafting intentions that align with our core values and authentic self. In a society that places a greater weight on “doing”, it’s understandable that we forget to take the time to reflect. However, a goal without a powerful “why” simply doesn’t carry the energy to create the change we’re seeking.

Believe it or not, you are the conscious creator of your own life. Anything that you truly want, you can achieve. Whether you want to improve your health, relationships or career… creating powerful goals starts with aligning your values and intention with daily, consistent actions.

The 4 steps below will guide you through the process to creating powerful intentions that support you to achieve your goals. We encourage you to take the time to move through each of the steps, and put pen to paper!

Step 1: Identify Your Core Values + Connect With Your “Why”

Creating powerful intentions starts with digging deep and getting clear on what we truly value. In other words, it’s about uncovering our ‘why’.

Ask yourself… What do you value most in your life and in yourself? Perhaps it’s family, contribution or health – or maybe it’s organisation or taking pride in your appearance. This is not so much about applying judgement to your values, but moreso about understanding what really drives and motivates you.

Related: How To Create Lasting Change

To create a powerful intention, it is then important that these core values underpin our ‘why’. Having a strong why that is deeply rooted in our values + beliefs enables us to persevere when things get difficult (and they inevitably will!). From here, we can also see why so many goals that lack a strong ‘why’ tend to fail.

Step 2: Listen to Your Inner Voice

Some people call it their intuition, or a “gut feeling”. Our inner voice can also be thought of as our real, authentic self… without the influence of our parents, friends, partner or social media.

But how often do we take the time to be still and listen to our own inner voice? These days, we all live such busy lifestyles… with many things vying for our attention and placing demands on our energy. It can be difficult to hear your own inner voice over all the noise!

Making powerful intentions requires us to step back and listen to our own authentic voice. Some great ways to start connecting with yourself is through meditation or by doing a digital detox!

Step 3: Visualisation

Your mind is a powerful tool, so don’t ever underestimate it. By directing your thoughts with visualisations, it’s possible to strengthen your intention by actually experiencing what it would feel like to have achieved your goal.

Now, you may argue that feeling a result is different to having it, but consider again why you’re pursuing your goal. Most often, it’s because of the way we think we’ll feel — or allow ourselves to feel — once we have it. By using your imagination, it’s possible to tap into that feeling now. Goals with a powerful “why” will carry more emotion, which makes this visualisation technique more effective.

The trick is to think about the result as though you already have it. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, think about how your new clothes will feel on your body, how you’ll walk, talk and show up in the world. Allow yourself to feel the emotions that go along with that — maybe it’s joy, elation or confidence.

Tapping into these emotions on a regular basis will provide you with the positive energy to push through obstacles and achieve your goals.

Step 4: Break It Down + Start Taking Action Today!

After Steps 1 – 3, you should have some strong, inspired goals taking shape! However, without breaking these goals down into manageable steps it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, which often leads to inaction. And without (consistent) action, it’s unlikely that we will make these intentions a reality.

To minimise overwhelm, start by breaking your goal down into smaller chunks. While your overall goal may take 90 days, 6 months or a year+ to reach, it’s best to break it down into more manageable milestones. Think: 1 month, 1 week, 1 day. This is where it really helps to put pen to paper to plot out the exact steps that you will commit to taking, and when.

Making plans for positive change and following through with them can be difficult. So if this is something that you struggle with, we’d suggest you download our 100 Day Challenge Workbook. This workbook will guide you step-by-step to design a 100 day challenge that excites you to start taking steps towards your goals!