I mentioned to someone recently that I believe I am more intentional in my thoughts and actions as we enter the new year. Qualifying what I said by stating that I did not obsess with timelines, completion dates, and large to do lists to focus my daily activities in a more intentional way.
They found this odd. How could I be more intentional without holding myself accountable through common tools? Where I clearly state the goal, break it down into steps and then map out each day towards its completion? Achieving focus through these types of processes and tools.
After reflection, I discovered that my style of realizing intention was different than theirs. I have developed a keen sense of where I need to end up in many situations, but never confine myself to pre-determining the path (that I think I need) to get me there.
What I find myself doing, is to go deep into learning about options when a goal becomes clear and achievable to me. This is where my focus and intention derives its strength. By reading, listening to podcasts, or researching YouTube for example. Asking more questions. Exploring something I heard about that might be relevant or adjacent to what I want to accomplish to discover what value it can provide.
I deeply believe that there are many ways to achieve something. Believing that there is no one “right answer” but only answers, that may be effective to varying degrees, that fit the situation or aspiration that is in front of me at the time.
Finding options and making them explicit can be key to creative solutions. Once identified, they can be mixed, taken part and put back together differently, as pieces of a puzzle. This can ultimately create a stronger strategy towards an intention or goal. Testing and prodding. Always wondering, what else is there that might help? Questioning what don’t I know that I should, before moving further (this question of what I don’t know always scares me).
It involves more upfront effort. Many times, it is a bit slower to where it looks like I may be indecisive. At its core, the process I use, implies that I tend to let things come to me. Knowing where I want to get to, gives me the advantage when searching for options to find those things that will fit where I want to go.
Decisions actually become easier when approached this way. Risk is minimzed as well as increasing the probability of success. Making life a bit easier in the long run.