The Power of Intention

(This is article contains an excerpt from the book Life by Intentions by Robert Louis Sims)

The power of intention has the ability to shape our thoughts, actions, and ultimately, our reality. Whether we are aware of it or not, our intentions influence the direction of our lives and can have a profound impact on our success and happiness. By setting clear intentions and aligning our actions with them, we can manifest our desires and create the life we truly want. In this article, I will explore the power of intention, its role in manifesting our goals and dreams, and how to harness its power to live a more purposeful and fulfilling life.

Real Magic

When I was twenty-nine years old, I read Real Magic by one of my favorite authors, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. To put it mildly, it changed my life. I can still remember what I was doing when the overall message of this incredible book hit me. According to Dr. Dyer, real magic occurs when we realize the extreme power of our thoughts to elevate ourselves to a higher consciousness.

Before I gained this new awareness, I was already a student of thinking, free will and the power of choice. I was beginning to understand how our thoughts create our actions and that positive thinking, as well as negative thinking, is a choice. What Real Magic taught me was something even deeper than choice and free will, it was teaching me about the power of my intentions.

What are Intentions?

Intentions are our purpose or reasons behind our thoughts and actions. While I can choose to say something positive or negative, I can also choose my intention behind those words. I can intend to be loving, indifferent or even hateful.

If I know, I want to be loving, but instead notice my thoughts are coming from a place of hate, I can use my free will to realign myself with who I intend to be, a loving person. In choosing my intention first, the thoughts and actions that follow become a natural outflow of my intentions.

Intentions Have the Power to Transform

Living with intention is the real magic Dr. Dyer is referring to that can take our lives to a whole new level of experience. Instead of reacting to the external world around us and becoming a victim to our preprogrammed ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, we can at any moment harness the power of intention. In doing so, you and I can choose what to believe, how we want to feel, and our behavior. As a result, we ultimately choose who we become. 

As I reflect on my journey to becoming the person I am today, I am thankful for my many teachers. Every experience I have ever had has been influential in helping me to develop into the person I am today. Every one of my successes, as well as every failure, has contained valuable lessons that have prepared me for the next phase of my life. While some lessons are harder to learn than others and therefore repeated, all of them are essential to my personal development and who I am becoming. 

For example, when I was younger I struggled with what career I should choose for my life work. At different points in my life, I worked in several different sales and management jobs. While none of these positions led me to personal fulfillment, they all provided me with valuable lessons about myself and the world around me. Without this knowledge, I know I would not be the teacher and writer that I am today.

Where to Go From Here

Even though all of us are traveling on unique paths, I believe the road from unintentional living to intentional living always progresses through the same three stages; blame, awareness, and purpose. And before you can transform your life, you must first discover which path you are currently traveling on.

To learn more, check out my article, The Paths to Living Intentionally. To read it, click here.

(This is from Chapter One of my book Life by Intentions. Learn more here.)