Have you reflected on 2022, set your intention for 2023, and are now feeling overwhelmed at the idea of getting into action? You’re not alone.

So often, when we set our intentions, we are in the space of possibility.  That space feels so inspiring and filled with promise. Acting on our intentions has a way of bringing them to a screeching halt.  If we have big intentions, they may feel too big to realize or too comprehensive to implement.

Rest assured, there are ways of getting into action that work.  By taking one small action, and experimenting on our path forward, we can move forward one step at a time.  Sometimes the step will be baby-sized and sometimes it will be a big leap forward.  Sometimes we will succeed in which case we can build on that success.  Sometimes we will not get the result that we had hoped for or that we imagined in which case we can learn and try a new experiment based on that learning.

My intention for 2023 is encompassed in the word flourishing!  What does this mean?

For me, it means:

  1. leading the way with positive impact leadership,
  2. supporting the growth and development of others towards their potential,
  3. empowering others to live their intentions for here-and-now, the year, and the trajectory of their leadership and lives,
  4. from the above points, creating the beautiful, positive, multiple, overlapping, and expanding ripples in the world for one to many, and
  5. continuing to increase my awareness about the sustainability and regeneration of our planet and continuing to plant trees to support the health of the planet and all living beings on it.

My intention is a deepening and strengthening of prior intentions, integrating them further, iterating and innovating through action and learning, and amplifying them, one step at a time and through collaboration and partnership.

Allow me to explain more through a story from my younger years.

When I was in elementary school, I had a pony.  My friends had horses or ponies, and we often would ride together.  I usually had to be home earlier than they did and/or my home was farther away than theirs.  Regardless, it left me in a situation where I had to get home before them or had to separate from them while my pony wanted to stay with the other horses and ponies.  My pony, Sunny, was a great teacher to me.  If I tried to force him to go and go quickly, he would dig in his hooves and literally stop in his tracks.  I had to take it one step at a time with a gentle nudge and a slow pace.  The minute that I would try to get him to run, he would again stop.  Argh!  … soooo frustrating.  Over time, I learned to match his pace.  I learned to “go slow to go fast” – just as I learned about leadership over time.  As we got closer to home, the attraction of home for him seemed to become stronger than the attraction to the other horses and ponies which made things easier.  I had to get to my goal with him, one step at a time, matching his pace while moving towards my goal.  I had to experiment and, over time, learned what worked and what didn’t.  And, we always got home … and usually on time.

In a way, my pony was akin to our human egos.  Our egos don’t like change.  They don’t like anything perceived as risky.  They like the status quo and to keep things the same (like staying in the comfort of the other horses).  As we forge our paths, we often are challenging our own egos, and they dig in their heels, wanting to stay to the true and tried.  When we instead ease in, one little experiment at a time, we are less like to raise the protective side of ourselves.

Remember that on your way to your goal or practicing your intention, while it initially feels compelling and exciting, the reality of fulfilling it comes with experimentation, building on success, learning, trying again, putting in the effort, and being grateful for the journey.  Rarely do we get to our goals without the effort of our inspired actions.  Keep your intention at the forefront so you remember your Why.  Your Why will fuel your motivation to keep going, to keep learning, to succeed, and to realize the reward of enacting your intention one micro-step at a time!

 “Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.“ – Theodore Roosevelt

 Yours in moving from intention to inspired action,

 

 

 Jamie

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