Right Place. Right Time. On Purpose.

James Altucher said it best: “No one is ever in the right place at the right time without the right reason.” Well defined intentions are your personal list of “right reasons.” Bring your intentions to life, and they will bring life to you. Just don’t be surprised when you find yourself in the right place at the right time more often.

When was the last time you wrote down an intention? Never? You are in good company. Here’s why you should start now:

4 compelling benefits of deliberate, written intentions:

Unique perspective on your life
- Articulating an intention forces you to step back and think strategically.
“Force multiplier” for goal setting and achievement
- Goals that are an extension of clear intentions have purpose and are intrinsically motivating.
- Exploring intentions before setting goals creates momentum so you hit the ground running.
Prevent information overload
- Part of setting intentions is determining relevant types & formats of information. These parameters enable a focused search for specific info, which prevents overload.
Remove self-judgment
- Setting and adjusting intentions is a perpetual process. Not resonating with an intention? Simply adjust or eliminate it – judgment free!

Goals and intentions are closely related and mutually supporting, but they are NOT the same thing. My coach Burton loves to remind me that “We are only in control of what we bring to life, not what we get from it.” Intentions are things we bring (and therefore control). This is why I suggest setting intentions BEFORE setting goals. Here’s a brief contrast of their characteristics.

Intention:
- Strategic, deliberate connection between values and responsibilities.
- Measurable & controllable INPUT target (something we bring).
- Creates motivation.
Goal:
- Quantifies progress, results, impact, accomplishment, etc…
- Measurable OUTPUT target (something we get).
- Creates focus & accountability.

Want to see the impact of a single written intention? Take a few minutes and construct one using the process below. Then watch what happens.

Step 1: Review current personal values

– Take Extreme Ownership –

– Maintain Simplicity –

– Bring Leadership –

– Think with Humility –

– Act Decisively –

Your values are the central themes in your life at the present moment. They are the natural anchor point for any future actions. Mine are listed above. If it has been longer than 12 months since you updated your personal values, I recommend taking a few minutes and completing this values exercise.

Step 2: Identify current Areas of Responsibility (AOR)

– Personal –

– Husband –

– Father –

– Professional –

– Friend –

– Human –

AOR are simply the genres of life in which you currently have some measure of responsibility. My AOR list above includes only the relevant general categories. It turns out that a detailed AOR list (including sub-categories) is useful for tactical task & time management. I’ll cover that in a future post.

Step 3: Connect personal values with responsibilities

Q: Which AORs am I targeting for improvement?

A: Father, Husband, Professional

I noticed a common theme after selecting my target AORs. Improving my leadership would have an outsized positive impact on my performance in all of them.

Q: Which values will bring the most benefit to those AORs?

A: Bring Leadership, Take Extreme Ownership, Act Decisively

The challenges? I have no formal leadership training, no budget and no time to engage a leadership coach.

Q: How will I connect these values and AOR?

A: I will become a better husband, father and professional by improving my leadership. I will learn from top leaders whose styles are characterized by decisive action and extreme ownership.

Step 4: Define & acquire necessary resources

Q: How much time can I commit?

A: 3-5 hours / week

Q: Do I have location constraints?

A: Yes. Location is limited to my car (commuting)

Q: What are the ideal information formats?

A: Due to location constraints, Podcasts and Audiobooks are ideal

Q: Which information sources best align with intention, time, and location?

A: The military is a good place to find leaders who align with my intention. The following information sources will be my starting point. Jocko Willink will replace Michael Hyatt in my Top 5. McChrystal will replace Tim Ferriss until I complete his Audiobook, at which time he will be replaced by Romesha. This also sets up a flexible “Top 5” position that can be adjusted to support future intentions.

Jocko Willink (Podcast: Jocko Podcast) (Audiobook: Extreme Ownership)
Stanley McChrystal (Audiobook: My Share of the Task)
Clinton Romesha (Audiobook: Red Platoon)

Step 5: Confirm & Execute

Confirm final intention statement: I will become a better husband, father and professional by improving my leadership. I will spend 3-5 hours each week learning from top leaders whose styles are characterized by decisive action and extreme ownership.
Confirm Resources
- Time: I have my time in the car on my calendar as personal development time. This is a reminder to use that time for learning about leadership, and not for other things (phone calls, etc…)
- Information: All audiobooks and podcasts are downloaded on my phone. I switch them on before pulling out of my parking space.
- Accountability: I have a note in Evernote called “Intention: Become a Better Leader.” Every day I write down at least one bullet point on something leadership related. The simple act of writing down observations, lessons learned, and questions helps focus attention and maintain momentum over time. Internalizing valuable principles is an additional benefit of summarizing critical information. For some examples of summarizing critical information take a look at my Book Notes page, where the essence of each chapter is distilled into a single sentence.

If you have any experiences with setting or executing intentions please share it below. We would love to learn from you!