Plans vs. Intentions

At the start of 2020, I took a day off of work for a personal planning session. I sat down at my kitchen table, cleared off our newly-painted chalkboard wall, and borrowed my daughter’s sketchbook and markers. I felt motivated, focused and ready to get intentional about what I wanted to accomplish in 2020.

When I was done, I had:

- identified my personal core values, strengths and purpose,

- set some professional goals for myself and my People Ops team, and

- written out both professional and personal reading lists for books I wanted to read by the end of the year.

I even ended up with a theme for 2020: CLARITY

At the time, I wasn’t sure what I meant by “clarity.” Honestly, the word had just come to me, and I thought it was fitting for the year “2020” (like 20/20 vision). I figured it meant I’d finally start to feel more comfortable leading my team and growing in my role now that I had a plan.

We all know how this story turned out. There are enough quotes about “best laid plans” and “tell God your plan” that I should have probably known better.

However, once 2020 ended and I took a moment to look back, I realized that “clarity” was indeed EXACTLY what I got out of the year.

- Clarity about what is REALLY important in life.

- Clarity about how unhappy I was in my job and my role (and HR as a whole, which was the biggest surprise).

- Clarity about who I really am and how much of myself I had avoided confronting for so long.

- Clarity about what I actually want and how I want to live my life.

As 2021 begins, I will again take some time to reflect on the past year and acknowledge and appreciate everything I learned and accomplished, both personally and professionally. I will write down the goals I’ve set for myself and my business for the upcoming year.

But most importantly, I will set my intention.

When I identified my “theme” 2020, I had been looking at it as a sort of goal - something I vaguely wanted to get out of the year. It was about accomplishment and obtaining something I felt I was lacking.

While I did end up gaining clarity in 2020, I now realize that it wasn’t a goal or theme at all; it was an intention.

Setting an intention isn’t about what I’ll achieve. My intention is where I want to focus my energy. It’s how I want to show up for myself and others, and from where I draw my strength in difficult situations. My intention keeps me on track and moving in the right direction. In a world (still) full of uncertainty, my intention is what grounds me and helps me choose how I want to respond to whatever challenges the year may bring.

It took me half of the year and a pandemic to start drawing energy and focus from my (unintentional) intention for 2020. But once I did, everything shifted, and I gained an incredible alignment and joy in my purpose that has carried through into the new year.

Stay tuned for my intention for 2021, which I will share with you all soon!