Page 8 - August 2017 Voices

goal. Set it too low and it can become a ceiling— at, you won’t take advantage of your strengths,
you reach the goal and stop, when you would and may neglect to set appropriate subgoals to
have continued had the goal not been there. Set build your strengths further.
it too high and you can become frustrated and If you don’t know what you struggle with, you
discouraged, and stop trying. can set yourself up for failure. You may overlook

What’s an Intention? the need to enlist allies, hire experts, and use tools
An Intention, as I define it in my class, Set and systems to shore up your weaker areas. Left
Powerful Goals that Motivate You, is very different unaddressed, those weaker areas can trip you up,
preventing you from reaching your goal.
from a goal. Specifically, an Intention does not
focus you. Rather, it expands your world of possi- I recommend several different approaches
bilities. Contrast these two statements: to self-knowledge. One is journaling. Another is
using scientifically validated assessments. (Try
• I will take 10,000 steps daily the free VIA Character Strengths assessment
• I will find new fun ways to move my body by clicking here. Yet another is to humbly ask
daily your spouse and co-workers each for a single

The first is a goal. The second is an Intention. improvement suggestion.
When should you use Intentions? Set a Trial Goal
Use an Intention when you’re exploring When exploring a new domain, don’t
possibilities. Suppose you have a goal to lose set performance goals. You should only set
weight, and you plan to use a better diet and more performance goals when you are applying a
exercise as approaches to achieve that weight loss known solution to a known problem. For your
goal. And suppose you realize you hate walking, first goal, we already know that we don’t know
running, and jogging—you’ve tried it again and how exactly to set goals for ourselves. We are
again, and failed every time. just starting out.
If you immediately set a goal (or sub-goal) When exploring a new domain, set a trial
to take 10,000 steps daily, you’ve not addressed (learning) goal. I first learned this as a high school
your obstacle of hating these forms of exercise. freshman selling Christmas candles door-to-door
You’re focusing yourself on using your willpower as a fundraiser. I had foolishly set a performance
to force yourself to try again something you goal for myself to sell 50 candles to earn a special
know is hard. jacket. I quickly became frustrated because it
If you were instead to set an Intention to find was taking me forever to sell each candle. My
new fun ways to move your body daily, you’re performance goal seemed completely out of
opening up. You’ll start to notice options. Oh, a reach.
Zumba class opened up. Oh, that cute co-worker The first real goal I accomplished was, “find
walks at lunch. Oh, some friends are hiking this out how many doors I have to knock on, on
weekend. Oh, there’s a free dance lesson coupon average, to sell one candle.” The next goal I
in my junk mail. accomplished was, “figure out how many doors
Intentions are a vital part of adjusting your I can knock on in an hour.” The first answer was
goal pursuit. When you find your progress on seven, and the second answer was 14. I was selling
a goal blocked, use Intentions as part of your two candles an hour. It took me four hours to
toolbox to craft potential countermeasures. puzzle this out. I had sold eight candles.
I now knew I needed to invest roughly
Know Thyself another 21 hours to get that jacket. My frustra-
In order to set the right kinds of goals for tion vanished, because my learning goals told me
yourself, you need to know yourself. What you what I needed to know. I was finally applying a
want to do in life? What are you good at? What known solution to a known problem. Now all I
do you struggle with? had to do was show up, do the work, and try to
If you don’t know what you want to do in life, figure out how to walk faster between doors and
you are at risk of setting goals that will fail to increase my close ratio. I now shifted fluidly and
motivate you, that take you in the wrong direc- naturally from a learning goal to a performance
tion, or both. If you don’t know what you’re good goal: 42 more candles, probably requiring 21

8 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 2 AUGUST, 2017