With Merci Miglino, MCC
Listen to this audio to find out what INTENT is and why it is so important to coaching.
What is Intent?
Imagine a world where you decided to create an intent that was always about honoring other people. How would an intent like this play out in your behaviors?
Having such an intent would drive your actions, your attitudes and your approach. It is clear to see why intent is a critical aspect of coaching. But we don’t always know what our intent is So how do we find out?
To know your intent you need to ask yourself 2 questions:
- What is the reason why I am doing this?
- What do I believe about myself, in relation to this situation?
By knowing your intent you can then modify your behavior. By knowing your intent you can articulate it to others. Knowing your intent allows you to decide what you’ll do to focus on it.
Everything you do is now designed to create this intent. Your actions will reinforce it. Your motivation will be to achieve it. Your intent becomes your goal. And before you know it, your goal is realized.
Our intent is our aim, our goal in life and it is extraordinarily powerful. It determines an outcome. We always have an intent, consciously known or not. Knowing your intent allows you to decide what behaviors will reinforce it, making your intent very powerful and successful. By knowing your intent you can articulate it to others.
Sometimes we believe we have a certain intent and then we find out that our intent wasn’t realized. This can be quite a shock to us. Initially, we might go to that place of blaming someone from stopping us to achieve our intent. Hopefully, you won’t stay here for too long. Asking yourself what stopped you from achieving your intent may help you to realize that you were actually not committed to that intent and so another intent was ‘over riding’ it.
Self awareness is built on knowing your intent. The greatest and most powerful element of intent is that you can create whatever intent you want. If you want to create the intent that the world is beautiful then the world is beautiful. If you want to create the intent that you are successful, then you will be successful. If you want to create the intent that you are a victim, then you will be a victim. If you want to create the intent that you are better than others, then you will put others down to achieve this. If you want to create the intent to love others, then you will love others. Whatever your intent is, you will achieve it. Remember though that having something this powerful in your control is huge. You can make it work for good or bad. It is completely your intent as to how you use it.
In coaching we need to determine what our intent is, for ourselves and our client, at the beginning of each coaching session. Supporting our clients in knowing their intent is part of our role as a coach. We can do this by asking them about their actions and what drives their actions. We can support them by asking what intent they wish to create and we can hold this intent for them. We can visualize this intent for them and we can enthuse them to achieve it.
What is your intention for today, for this week, this month, this year?