We humans are funny. We find peace and reduced stress when we learn to live in the present moment and yet we are – by definition – always in motion towards a future of our own design. On the one hand we need to focus on getting our work done so we can leave at a reasonable time and go home to take care of our family. On the other hand, it’s the joy of taking care of our family that motivates us to get through the day. On a grander scale, we need to focus on delivering on today’s work product so we can go for the Next Big Thing in our career, and yet it’s networking and preparing for the Next Big Thing that helps us land that opportunity. How best do we allocate our time – and more importantly, our energy – in pursuit of our desired future?
I’ve spent a lot of time working on this, and finally came up with a system to teach I call Intentions, which allows us to balance our energy and thoughts today and help us achieve what we want tomorrow. In January we’ll be exploring how to use this system to build life-changing intentions for 2013.
Learning to live in the balance of our present and future is a real art, but one worth mastering.
Managing The Tension – Staying Oriented
While it’s an art, I’ll tell you the secret of one of the key skills that will help you reach your desired future faster and more easily than you might have thought possible. The secret is learning to manage this tension between present and future. It’s in focusing on the present while holding your future vision of success in your mind at the same time. Why? Because that future vision of success is what keeps you oriented towards your goal.
Imagine you’re walking from the East Coast to the West Coast. Each step doesn’t move you very far towards your goal, but together they make your journey. If your orientation veers from North, to West, to South to East every few steps, your progress will be quite slow. However, if you remain oriented West at all times, when you veer North or South you’ll be doing it purposefully – to avoid a mountain or something – and reach your goal much more quickly.
Your intention – your clear vision of the future you are walking towards – keeps you oriented as you focus on each step in front of you. But how to stay focused on that goal?
Staying Oriented Towards Your Desired Future
My system for staying oriented appropriately has varied from New Year’s resolutions to daily journaling and lots and lots of sticky notes around my pc display screen. My sticky note might say “I add a strong women’s voice to the leadership dialog,” and remind me of my intention for InPower Women. The idea is to focus on the tasks in front of me except for when I take time to think about what I am seeking to become in my future – like when I’m tired of working, or enjoying my morning coffee. But the stickies have a limited life because pretty soon I’m used to looking at them and they fade into the office milieu and stop being meaningful. Once in a while I’d come across a sticky in an unusual place, however, like the inside of my kitchen cabinet or a file folder, and these little surprises were quite fun and fresh. I kept wondering how I could place these surprise stickies in places I’d be sure to run across them.
Announcing: Notes To Self
I’m excited to announce that I’ve just automated this little sticky note surprise trick, and I’d like to offer you the chance to try it too, free of charge. I call it “notes to self” and you can sign up here to set your 2012 year-end intention and receive little sticky note surprise emails to help you stay focused on what you want to achieve by the end of December, 2012. I’m thinking of making it a regular feature, so give it a whirl and let me know what you think!
How do you set your intentions for the future and stay focused on them? What tricks work for you? Share your secrets below!
