We’re all the heroes of our own stories, but the heroes we admire in literature and on the screen find themselves undergoing spiritual and emotional transformations more often than they find themselves using the bathroom. If all of us are heroes, each going on a continuous, limitless, and recursive journey throughout the stages of our lives, then where are you in your journey? How does it relate to your current struggles? What lessons are here for you to learn? 

Intention setting is a powerful tool across all stages of your journey.

If you’ve got big goals, then you need big intentions. But how do you do it? And how do you set the right intention at the right time? We’ve got insights and example intentions for every step of the journey.

Intentions for The Way It’s Always Been 

This is a stage defined by its normalcy. Everything feels locked into place, and maybe it feels like it always has been. This stage is the status quo. It might feel counter-intuitive, but on this leg of the journey, you want your intentions to be big desires. To break free of your old patterns, you have to want something different, and you have to want it bad. At this stage, it’s okay if your intention isn’t super specific, as long as you’re dreaming big. Here are a few examples of big dreamy intentions: 

• I will find my dream job. My next job will be like wind under my wings. 
• I am always meeting new people. If I met the love of my life tomorrow, I would be perfectly prepared.
• I am spiritually powerful. I can thrive regardless of the circumstances.

Intentions for The Whisper

When you hear the whisper, that’s your desire speaking. Our desire has a reputation for being at the root of our suffering, but it can also be a valuable teacher. On this leg of your journey, it behooves you to listen to your everyday desires, and let them guide the direction of your intentions. 

• I will eat healthy and delicious food every day. 
• I will rest without guilt.
• I approve of myself. I am better today than I was yesterday.

Denial

Hearing our desire is one thing, but actually listening to desire is a whole other story. Oftentimes, we’ve learned to ignore our desires, especially if they’ve gone unfulfilled for a long time. When we are in conflict with the desires of our heart, we must grapple with denial. So our intentions should guide us to our truth, and away from the ignorance of denial. 

• I am learning new things every day. I am not the same as I was yesterday.
• My goals are closer than they appear. 
• I am aware of my desires. I am guided by my desires. But I am not ruled by my desires.

Finding A Mentor

As we search for a mentor, we can use intention setting to specify our search. After all, the best way to learn is by finding the right teacher. If you can get a clear picture of your ideal mentor in your head, then it’ll be a heck of a lot easier to actually find them! 

• My mentor has accomplished the things I hope to accomplish. 
• My mentor is generous with their time, and knows how to teach me. 
• Although I may learn things that bruise my ego, I will continue learning.

Threshold

When you stand on the precipice of progress, what do you say to yourself? If things get intimidating, how can you stay strong? If you had somebody standing alongside you at the threshold of your journey, what do you wish they would say? Our intentions now should motivate us to take the plunge into our new chosen way of being and doing. 

• I am ready for change.
• I am capable and competent enough to become more capable and more competent. 
• My past is not my future. I wouldn’t go back, even if I could. 

Separation

Once we actually do take the plunge though, we recognize the reality of disconnecting from the way things had always been. Once you cross the threshold, you’re closer to where you’re going than where you’ve been, and that can be a very uncertain position to be in. As we transition from the life we’ve lived, and into the life we’re living, our intentions can give us comfort and affirmation in the face of that uncertainty. 

• I am well-equipped to handle my problems. I am wise enough to use the right equipment.
• I am going through necessary changes. Even when it’s harder now, when I think about the way things were, I’m reminded why it’s worth it. 
• I am a versatile organism. I can adapt to my environment, and be at home anywhere. 

The Trial

To whom much is taught, much is tested. And if you’ve made it this far on your journey, much has been taught, and The Trial is where you prove exactly how much you know. Setting the right intention can be the difference between deflating defeat and perpetual persistence. So, how do we set good intentions even as we’re being tested?

• Each obstacle is a perfectly appointed lesson for me. I am wise enough to learn them.
• I am capable of more than I know. There is more to me than I could ever realize. 
• I can rise to my challenges. I have proven to myself that I can be better than I was yesterday.

Return

At the conclusion of the hero’s journey, the hero returns home having changed. The hero is able to bring the knowledge they’ve accumulated throughout their journey back home, and share it with the people yet to embark on journeys of their own. This stage of your journey is an opportunity to continue evolving by teaching others. At this point in your journey, you’ve probably made good on many of your intentions, and reaching the objective of the journey is no reason to stop all the good work you’ve been doing. 

• I have learned how to be a better person, and I can share what I’ve learned with willing listeners. 
• I embarked on my journey because it was worthwhile, and it would be worth doing again.
• I am a pastry, and life is my oven. I am never done baking, and I am always getting warmer. 

“You told me once that we shall be judged by our intentions, not by our accomplishments. I thought it a grand remark. But we must intend to accomplish—not sit intending on a chair.” – E. M. Forster

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