First of all, personal evolution is one of my biggest personal values. However, there is a difference between setting a goal and setting an intention. Goal-setting is a colossal waste of effort and a path to resentment, and here's why. Many people who've read about the magic of goal-setting sit down and outline some lofty objectives are subsequently consumed with getting results, and forget themselves in the process. In high school, my teachers made my classmates and I do just this, to our exasperation. As an example, one of my "goals" from senior year was something along the lines of "communicate my theater commitments with teachers". Great goal; low bar. I did not care about notifying my teachers of anything. It would be nice if I did, but it just wasn't going to happen. We would have sessions to review our goals from fall at the end of each semester and find ourselves no better than before.
Meanwhile, a few longterm intentions bubbled in my subconscious.
1. College. Going there. Somewhere warm and near the ocean.
2. Moving back to San Diego, by myself.
3. Achieving a sense of satisfaction with myself and my environment.
Every single day I would find myself visualizing these things. This constant state of contemplation helped me be aware of the moment-to-moment things that would push me toward my greater desires. Call it mindfulness if you want. To summarize a long story, throughout senior year I worked until I found my charmed life flying solo between University of Southern California and San Diego. So, here's why setting an intention is more productive and healthy than setting a goal.
1. Goals stop you from appreciating the moment.
How can you be grateful for what you have if you always have a different vision in your head? Intentions are a gentler way to approach your desires in an incremental way.
2. Goals are an all-or-nothing concept.
Goals are inflexible, resulting in a sense of failure. Intentions allow you to feel successful when things inevitably turn out differently than expected.
3. Goals you set in January don't apply to you in November.
You're a different person than you were yesterday, and eventually, you will outgrow your old objectives. Intentions evolve with you over time, because they're a part of you rather than an external destination.
