Intention Setting

I'm going to share with you guys one of my favorite things to think through, one of my favorite exercises to do when I get to meet with leaders and teams in the hopes that it will inform you and the thinking that you have about this year, this coming quarter, because even if you don't directly lead a team or have the structured rigor of a corporate environment, doing this exercise for yourself personally, professionally, and if you have the chance with your colleagues and with your teammates can be really powerful. It can help you tap into knowledge that you didn't even know you had. I'm not saying that to be woo-woo. I'm also not saying that because I think you're out of touch. I'm saying that because when you create the space to have these visioning conversations, you really do open up the potential to think about things in new ways, have new realizations, and set those intentions, those priorities, those goals, and make them doable in a way that maybe didn't feel possible before.

I'm going to tell you a little story. I was really excited, like a kid at Christmas, and not just because it was the holidays, when my best friend, who's also my husband, (I know. Does that make you sick? The sappy love story there) said, “I don't know what to do. I've got to do this planning event with my team and I don't know where to start.” I responded, “are you kidding? This is literally what I do for a living, and it's my favorite thing!” I pulled together some of my favorite questions and framed them for what I knew about his team, what I knew about their focus, and his objectives for this coming year to help with his decision making. I'm going to share those with you.

If you're thinking about doing this exercise, the first thing I want you to remember is that your intention is to be open to what you don't already know, and to be open to hearing what you already know from a new perspective.

Okay? It's valuable just to let other people say out loud what they already know. When they hear it out loud, when we say things out loud that we've been carrying around in our mind, or our heart, it can help us listen to it in a different way. We can check to see if we still believe it or think it, if it's still accurate, and then refine it.

If there are goals that we have, saying them out loud, especially in a supportive group setting, can help us deepen our own commitment, which will help your beautiful brain have that self integrity that's necessary so that you can see it through. Okay, so we're going to create an open space. Even if you're doing this exercise alone, I want you to try to apply that same principle.

What can you say out loud? What can you put into writing? You're welcome to say it out loud. If you're giggling at that, I mean it. You can say it out loud in your car, in your office, in your kitchen. Saying it out loud is impactful. You don't have to. It's not necessary, it's just another level where you can have that self-reflection go even deeper.

Here's what you're going to do: You are going to ask these questions of your team, of yourself, and you're going to pause and listen for the answers. Sometimes, we like to think that we know everything, so we short-circuit and don't even ask the question, we don't give space or breathing room for the answers to show up.

This is part the magic of coaching work, part of the unlocking of that deeper knowing. So I want you to pause right now and, just for a second, ask yourself the question. I'm sincerely saying to ask yourself the question. I want it to run through your mind. If it doesn't come out of your mouth, you can run it through your mind, you can put the words on paper and answer this one question: What is my intention for the next three months? When I say intention, you can think of it as actionable goals, or you can think of it as an experience you want to have. 

And if the tangible planning piece isn’t clear yet, you don’t have to force it. You can think about the intention you have for how you want to feel. What is the dominant experience, the dominant emotion, what theme do you want to live this next couple of months? That’s a good kickstart question; if you want to take this work deeper, pull up your notes and look at these questions yourself.

Now, these questions are not set in stone, this is just a sample of some of the questions that can help you get to the root and the heart of what you want to create in this coming season, in this coming year, and in this coming decade. 

You are welcome to, invited to, and encouraged to edit these to make sense for you. If you want to talk about how to facilitate these conversations with your team, yourself, and your leadership, that’s what I’m here for as a leadership coach. That’s what I love to teach and share with you in my program. 

I look forward to talking with you more. If you are interested in learning about that, you can also hit me up at tarah@tarahkeech.com. I would love to tell you more, show you more, and if you want to do this exercise with me as your facilitator, I am open to that too! That’s one of my favorite pieces of work to get to do because I love to witness and facilitate teams(and the individuals within those teams) connecting to that bigger vision, identifying why they’re doing what they’re doing, and carrying it forward. 

I hope you really enjoy thinking about what it is that you want, and I wish you all the best.