When Goal Setting Isn’t Working
Master the art of setting intentions instead
When I started practicing Yoga about 10 years ago, I became impatient whenever the teacher request for intentions or dedication of practice. My thought — ‘Get on with the class already!’. After the beginning enthusiasm waned, my yoga practice became irregular. I would go for an intense burst, then possibly stopped for weeks or months. I got frustrated with my lack of discipline, and had yet to understand the art of setting intentions.
We tend to be in a hurry to do, to act.
We are unaware or we forget that it is just as important to manage our state before entering the space. It happens in our daily life — we dive into a workout before noticing the body needs a warm-up, or we shoot our mouths off before noticing our anger.
Outcome Versus Journey
My goal was weight loss when I started yoga practice, it was my desired outcome. Most of our desired outcomes (e.g. fit body, retire young, learning something new) don’t happen overnight. When our full attention and intention is only focused upon the outcome, it is harder to sustain the behaviour when we don’t see results immediately. Hence, an intention becomes more supportive as it tend to encompass an attitude, a perspective that…
