Goals Don’t Lead You To Fulfillment, Intentions Do

This year, set a one-word intention that aligns with your purpose

Your intention can change your life.

Towards the end of 2017, I decided it was time to halt the redundant tradition of new year resolutions. I was tired of the repetitive nature of my yearly narratives: set new goals, struggle to sustain them and then totally fail to achieve them.

So, instead of setting new goals, I began ‘theming’ my years by setting one-word intentions.

At the time, I had what some would call a dream life — I was in my late twenties, working at Google, living the jet-setter life, traveling frequently on weekends to connect with friends around Europe and staying in lavish 5-star hotels in Dubai for quarterly business trips.

But I wasn’t happy.

I felt unfulfilled and restless with the direction of my career because I felt like I was living someone else’s dream. I didn’t like who I was becoming in the process. I was certain that my life was drifting in the wrong stream and I wanted to swim out of it.

So I chose not to set any goals for 2018. Instead, I set an intention.

It was one word that would define my year ahead: truth.

The sole direction in which I focused my energy for that year was being true to myself — to what I believe in — and further exploring what that ‘truth’ meant to me. As the year progressed, I set minor, monthly goals and made sure they aligned with that intention.

And ever since then, with every new intention I’ve set, I’ve felt happier, more present and much more fulfilled in my life because — unlike goals — intentions holistically aligned with my purpose.

Here’s how intentions can change your life.

Goals Can Make You Feel Like a Failure

Goal setting begins with the question of ‘what do I want to achieve?’

They help us look into the future, identify what we want and create a plan to stick to. If we achieve them, we feel accomplished. But whether we feel happy or fulfilled depends entirely on the outcome.

For example, if my goal for 2020 is to publish a total of 100 articles but I only manage to publish 70, I would be disappointed in my outcome and would feel like a failure. Similarly, if I end up exceeding my goal by publishing a total of 115 articles — but these articles don’t average more than 100 views — will I be happy? Probably not; and such an outcome would leave me feeling unfulfilled.

The downside of goals is that our failure to achieve them — and in some cases, despite our achievements, our perceived failure derived from the lack of external validation — makes us feel unfulfilled.

And the reason behind this is this: goal setting is an outward-driven exercise. It’s designed to assign fulfillment as a by-product of the outcome of our goals, and it fails to accommodate our overarching purpose.

What we should focus on first is the inward-driven approach of intention-setting — and it begins with the question of ‘what do I want my ultimate purpose to be?’

Create Alignment With One-Word Intentions

Your intention is your word — or theme — for the year. It’s your all-encompassing holistic purpose. It’s a word that defines the year ahead and provides you with the ultimate scale on which to weigh your actions and opportunities as they come your way.

Your intention is the magnet that guides your compass. It’s what you fall back on when you find yourself lost and uncertain, searching for the right energy to push you back on your feet in pursuit of your goals.

This one-word intention comes from within and answers this question:

What do I want my ultimate purpose to be this year?

The answer to this question is the sole — holistic — direction in which you will focus your energy for the year. This creates alignment for the actions you need to take and the opportunities you should accept and likewise, decline. When faced with a dilemma, you can now ask yourself: “does this align with my intention?” The answer dictates how you should proceed.

Your intention shifts the focus away from accomplishments and the outcome of your goals, and onto behavior — the way you choose to live. If you live in alignment with your intention, you will be happy.

This intention gives you a purpose to focus on. And ‘purpose’ is what we need to find meaning in what we do, and thus live our life fulfilled — and happy.

Your Intention Can Change Your Life

In a way, setting an intention for the year ensures that the goals you’re working toward truly align with where you want to take your life.

What’s the point of pursuing the right goals that are flowing in the wrong river? You will end up in a sea you never intended to be in.

That’s the beauty of intentions — it allows you to evaluate all your actions, goals, thoughts and opportunities under one overarching purpose. Living within that theme is what helps you live your truth in fulfillment and happiness.

When the year comes to an end, it’s primarily your alignment with — and honest pursuit of — your intention, rather than the outcome of your goals, that fills you with happiness and fulfillment.

Choose a word to define your year ahead.

• My word for 2018 was ‘truth’. I made sure that everything I did for 2018 would align with finding my truth. I spent more time alone in silence, writing, meditating, and going on solo-travels. I gave myself the time to think and explore that truth.
• My word for 2019 was ‘wisdom’. My commitment to living a life of truth gave me the courage to quit my job and launch my own business. My theme was to seek wisdom — to learn. So I dedicated the year to testing, learning and trying new ways of doing things. Anytime I felt like giving up, I would ask myself “am I still learning from this experience?” If the answer was yes, I would continue.
• My word for 2020 is ‘consistency’. This year, my sole intention is to be consistent in what I love most — writing. My purpose is to show up every single day and put in the work. Doing so until year-end — regardless of the outcome of my work — will fill me with a sense of fulfillment.

You can call it intention, word, purpose or theme — it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you take the time to consciously choose a word for the year ahead. The best approach to this stems from transforming a personal struggle into a positive intent.

If there’s an aspect of your life that you’ve been neglecting for some time, but deep down you know addressing it will propel you forward, then setting an intention of doing so would be a step in the right direction.

For instance, if you’re overwhelmed with the activities in your life and you feel you’re on the verge of burnout, then perhaps your intention for the year ahead should be “self-care”. You will then put yourself first and anything that doesn’t align with your health is thrown out the door.

Your intention gives you a yearly focus and when you consider it every day, it acts as a reminder on how to live out each day. It gives you purpose and fills you with the inspiration, motivation, and energy to align your actions with it. It raises your emotional energy, which in turn raises your physical energy.

My word and sole purpose for 2020, is ‘consistency’.

What’s yours?