It’s one of the most important things that I’ve ever been told to do and something that I don’t do nearly enough: whatever you’re doing, set an intention. It changes everything.
Setting an intention is a means of taking control. It gives your mind a set of helpful markers, by which to judge how the conversation/event/day has gone. It’s especially powerful if, like me, you’re prone to unhelpful thought patterns, or if your brain naturally tends to focus on the negative.
Often, I only remember this once the moment has passed and I’m already feeling bored/worried/hopeless etc.
For instance, my favourite hobby is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and yet, I’ll sometimes leave class feeling absolutely awful. I drive home, mulling over every mistake, replaying every time I was dominated or submitted and basically deciding that I should just quit and do yoga. Nine times out of ten, this happens when I didn’t set an intention.
In contrast, when I do take a moment to set a goal before class, whether it’s aiming to get a particular sweep/ submission or something more vague like trying to attack rather than defend, I always come away feeling better. Heck, often it’s the highlight of my week!
When I set an intention, I give my mind a set of goal-posts which allows me to measure my success and progress. So even after a session where things don’t go my way, I can usually identify areas of personal growth and things to be proud of.
In fact, it doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m successful at all. I feel great, just for the trying. I have so much more fun when I have a goal in my mind, mostly I think, because I feel less helpless. That’s the crux of it, really.
Without an intention, I feel like a passenger: a victim, not only of events, but my worst thoughts about those events.
If I don’t have a means of judging progress, then my brain will do what it always does – it’ll focus on the negative.
I’ve made a real effort to set goals before Jiu-Jitsu and been fairly consistent for the past six months. I set a mental target before I head to class and jot down a few notes when I get back, looking at what I did well and where I’ve made progress. It’s made a huge difference to my BJJ confidence, not to mention the amount of fun I’m having!
The next step is to try this elsewhere, in other areas of my life where I’m currently a little aimless. But I’ll save that for another day. My intention is to help you to learn through my mistakes, in the shortest amount of waffle possible! 🙂
Anxious-Ambition.com 