Are You Suffering From Intention Deficit Disorder?

Are You Suffering from Intention Deficit Disorder?

By Steve Chandler

I remember how so much of my life was wasted when I suffered from this syndrome. I had no idea what I wanted. So looking for a job became a desperate roll of the dice. And even when I had a good job, none of my conversations were shaped by my intention...so my career really didn't go anywhere.

Is it any wonder? How can you go somewhere if you have nowhere you want to go? Without intention, life is about avoidance. You wake up in the morning and your mind begins to picture what it DOESN'T WANT. Once it gets those pictures, it spends the day taking evasive action.

That's when life is spent running FROM things, not moving toward anything. That's what intention deficit can do. I run from creditors, family members, people at work I'm intimidated by.....I avoid activities that would actually help me achieve my goals (if I had any.)

But that's just it. Without intention....without knowing what I'm up to...why I'm doing this…what I'm working for, I lose heart. I lose energy and I never experience what I once experienced as a child...enthusiasm.

Emerson said, "Nothing great was ever created without enthusiasm." How true! And I would add, no enthusiasm can be generated from a life without intention...without a peaceful, joyful inner compass.

The great ballet master, George Balanchine, who taught so many ballerinas to go from good to great to world-class, said "I've got more energy now than when I was younger because I know exactly what I want to do."

I like to read that quote at least once a month. Because it highlights the true source of energy!

AND NO NEED TO STRESS OUT

Once my intention is set, there is no need to stress out over outcomes. The inner intention is enough. When I am able to do a pure mind shift from directionless survival to quiet intention, it is so effective. For example: Prior to answering a nasty email, I can shift my mind from anger to peaceful acceptance through this simple inquiry, "What's my intention here? What kind of relationship would I like to create here? How would a good relationship help me stay tuned into my primary intention?" And from there I can craft a gentle, generous, compassionate response, instead of an emotional reaction. Intention does that. It's the compass.

Stressing out over hitting my goals is not the same as caring about hitting them. No performer, when tense, or stressed, performs well. No leader does. No sales person. No fundraiser. No parent. No lover.

A stressed-out, tense performer only has access to a small percent of their skill and talent and intelligence. (Do you want a tense person shooting a free throw, or kicking a long field goal in the last moments of the game, or a confident, calm person?)

Most people stress themselves out as a form of "really caring" about hitting their goals. But it's not caring, it's stressing out.

Caring is relaxing, focusing and calling on ALL of my resources, all of that peaceful magic, that lazy dynamite that I bring to bear when I pay full attention with total peace of mind. No one performs better than when they are relaxed and focused.

Most people try using double negatives and triple negatives as a way to motivate themselves. They intentionally upset themselves over the prospect of NOT reaching their goals. Selling or leading or building great relationships is not possible when one is that negatively stressed out.

It is not necessary to stress. Only to focus and remain focused. Anything you pay peaceful attention to will expand. Just don't spend your attention elsewhere. Spend it where you want the increase: in clients, customers, money, whatever. In a relaxed and happy way be relentless and undivided and peaceful and powerful. You will succeed.

Acknowledge and praise and support everyone and everything around you and you will actually see how they all support your intention!

Or, as Charles Fillmore said, "There is an inherent law of mind that we increase whatever we praise. The whole of creation responds to praise, and is glad. Animal trainers pet and reward their charges with delicacies for acts of obedience; children glow with joy and gladness when they are praised. Even vegetation grows better for those who love it."

Intention is something internal, generated from the kingdom within. Tom Robbins said, "We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love."

We look for friends and lovers and contacts to reassure us that we are loveable and worth something. Instead of finding the love inside we have to give. Always already there. Once my intention is set and pure, and I know where I'm coming from, I don't have to make a lot of difficult decisions anymore. Life just flows. That's the value of making that primary mind shift from fear and chaos to orderly, loving intention. It's a mind shift.