It's a new year, and while I would always advocate that we consistently re-examine and reimagine the path forward throughout the year, January 1 can bring a new sense of hope and enthusiasm (and maybe fear!) of what could be. That is why I wanted to dedicate this month to intention setting - the act of examining possibility and accessing our deepest purpose, It is through setting intentions that we can begin to map out ways to translate that purpose into something tangible and actionable. While many of us view intention and goal setting as one in the same, I believe that true intention setting invites us to embrace uncertainty. How we live out our intentions are simply channels, or ways to articulate our underlying purpose. We can re-route, go back, find a new direction, try something else on for size and continue to experiment. Our 'why' is what we are defining in intention setting, while our 'how' (goal setting) becomes the experimental adventure that allows us to constantly iterate our way forward. This is what OutGrowth's programming is all about - connecting on a deep level to professional and personal purpose, while allowing our solutions, leadership style, businesses and professional pathways to develop over time, change directions and reach a new level of actualization.
So in this new year, I invite you to connect to your 'why,' set an intention or two, and embrace a bias to action in 2023, committing to growth on any path your 'why' takes you.
- Anna |
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The Sun Beam The Art of Making Resolutions and Setting Intentions by Danica Brice OutGrowth Insights Applying This Month's Theme to Your Work + Life |
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Sprouting Forward The Latest From OutGrowth's Monthly Blog En Root Top Picks Our Top Ted Talk, Podcast + Book on Intention Setting |
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My story begins in a moment that felt like an end. “You have Interstitial Cystitis. It’s an incurable disease. You’ll have to learn to live with the pain,” the doctor said coldly from the other side of his desk. Nearly 20 years ago I was told to accept my circumstances – to allow severe chronic pelvic pain to own the rest of my life. I knew that doctor was wrong, but I was afraid he was right. There was so much I didn’t know yet, about medicine, about myself, and about the incredible opportunity for transformation that lay ahead. |
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On Intention Setting in Your Work + Life |
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At OutGrowth, one of our core program offerings centers around Design Thinking. In my classes and workshops, I like to emphasize to participants that we should be staying loyal to the process of Design Thinking, and not to any one solution. This ensures that we are maintaining the integrity of the process, allowing empathy work, insights and feedback guide our next steps, rather than our assumptions, biases, preferences or hunches. Similarly, in intention setting, we talk about detaching from the outcome. |
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Fear, insecurity, strongly-held beliefs about what success looks like, and external pressures can cause us to overemphasize outcomes. This can lead us to make "safe" decisions about our next steps in order to guarantee some level of certainty. As we say in Design Thinking, we have to be open to wallowing in the unknown, and if we want to go places we've never gone before, we have to approach our challenges, work and lives differently. This year, let's celebrate letting go of our rigid attachments, setting courageous intentions and leaping toward the unknown. |
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Embracing Leadership Without Authority by Kevin Frick "I have come to enjoy and appreciate leadership without authority because it allows for a very different growth path that is more organic and less predictable, and has fewer societal expectations. I feel like there is more opportunity for me to carve my own paths and make my own outcomes." |
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'Are we able to create our own futures? Nancy M. Dahl explains how we are able to if we change our approach and our ability to lead our lives with intention. Learning about yourself and how to lead others is critical to shaping how we live our lives.' | | |
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