Life
Trek
There's no way to dispute the connection between intention and outcome.
Throughout the ages, this simple formula (Intention + Capacity + Action
= Outcome) has generated countless words of wisdom from cultures around
the world. Consider the following examples:
"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so
is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is
your destiny." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5, c. 500 BCE)
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds." (Paul of Tarsus, Romans 12:2, 50 CE)
"If you can change your mind, you can change your life. What you
believe creates the actual fact. The greatest revolution of my
generation is the discovery that individuals, by changing their inner
attitudes of mind, can change the outer aspects of their lives."
(Williams James, The Will to Believe, 1897)
"Truly, 'thoughts are things,' and powerful things at that, when
they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning
desire for their realization in the material world. Our brains become
magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds and,
once magnetized, these 'magnets' attract to us the forces, the people,
the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating
thoughts. Success comes to those who become success conscious. Failure
comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure
conscious." (Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, 1937)
"Dr. Karl Menninger once said, 'Attitudes are more important than
facts.' That is worth repeating until its truth grips you. Any fact
facing us, however difficult, even seemingly hopeless, is not so
important as our attitude toward that fact. How you think about a fact
may defeat you before you ever do anything about it.
On the other
hand, a confident and optimistic thought pattern can modify or overcome
the fact altogether." (Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive
Thinking, 1952)
"It
is comfortable and natural to say, 'I'll believe it when I see it, and
not a moment before!' But the universal principle works the other way
around: 'You'll see it when you believe it, and not a moment before!'
If, for example, you believe strongly in scarcity, think about it
regularly, and make it the focus of your conversations, then I am
confident you will see a great deal of it in your life. On the other
hand, if you believe in happiness and abundance, think only about them,
talk about them with others, and act on your belief in them, then it is
a very good bet that you are seeing what you believe." (Wayne Dyer,
You'll See It When You Believe It, 1989)
"The First Principle of Creativity simply states that your thought
creates. Therefore if you want to create an experience, you must begin
by having a clear, focused thought of that experience. The First
Principle also states that whatever you clearly focus on, you do
create, whether or not you want to. Clear focus is the mind's magic
wand. It points your creativity in a particular direction and channels
your experience behind it. Wherever you clearly focus, you create."
(Sonia Choquette, Your Heart's Desire, 1997)
"Every successful endeavor first begins in the mind as an idea, a
thought, a dream, a conviction. As any great athlete, entrepreneur, or
performer will tell you, 'You can't do it, if your head's not in it.'
You also can't do it if you don't know where you're going, or why, or
how you're going to get there." (Gayle Reichler, Active Wellness,
1998)
"It's all invented. No matter how objective we try to be, it is
still through the structure of the brain that we perceive the world. The
mind constructs a map of reality that has to do with our very survival.
It also strings together events into story lines, using dreams and
reasons, whether or not there is any connection between the parts. Since
it's all invented anyway, we might as well invent a story or framework
of meaningthat enhances our quality of life and the life of those around
us." (Rosamund & Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility, 2000)
Perhaps this sheds new light on Margaret Meade's famous comment:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can
change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." This
quote has served as the rallying cry for many a fledgling movement. But
it speaks not only to the power of small groups; it also speaks to the
power of thoughtful commitment without which no small group has ever
changed the world. Without intention there is nothing.
That's why Tim Gallwey suggests that once we approach the situation we
find ourselves in, whether at work, home, or anywhere else, we need to
approach the intention of what we want to happen with that situation. If
there's any way to love the work we do, it's to feel as though we have
chosen our work rather than to have it forced upon us.
But shifting into the mode of being at choice can be a daunting task.
Many of us feel stuck, constrained, and victimized by a wide variety of
factors, ranging from the almighty paycheck to office politics to
entrenched life positions. "Better the devil we know than the devil
we don't know" is a mantra that has kept many people in check with
their old, tired ruts long after a change was indicated.
At times like these, Gallwey encourages a "conversation for
choice." It may be awkward, fearful, and otherwise intimidating to
honestly face the questions of what we want out of life in general and a
situation in particular, but there is no better way to move forward than
to discover and clarify your true intentions through the power of
conversation.
Fundamentally,
this is what the coaching profession is all about. We assist people to
get clear about where they want to go and how they want to get there,
including all the details of when and why. The coaching conversation is
all about choice. Sometimes that choice works within the bounds of
existing commitments and circumstances. Other times it moves us in
totally new directions. But in every instance it seeks to honor and
express our true intentions.
I have written before about Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist who
conditioned his circumstances in a Nazi concentration camp by choosing
the attitude he would take in relationship to his oppressors and the
lessons he would learn from his terrible losses, including the
extermination of his wife. Frankl could not change his circumstances,
but it was his intention to survive with dignity and grace. And his
choices enabled him to do that.
Choices are always made in the context of commitments and constraints.
For two years, for example, my wife and I maintained a commuting
household, across 600 miles, so that we could honor the commitment to
our son who was in his junior and senior years of high school. We could
have viewed that time as a necessary evil, limiting our options as well
as our outcomes. Instead, we chose to make the most of that time,
developing new communication patterns, relationships, and opportunities
for both life and work.
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