Goals vs. Intentions: A Shift in Attitude Can Make All the Difference

I hadn’t put much thought into these two words until recently when I was checking in with a client. We discussed her goals, short-term and long-term, and it turned into a pretty negative conversation due to the fact that she wasn’t hitting many of her short-term aims.

She brought up intentions, and how she’d been told in the past to emphasize these feelings, rather than a concrete action or achievement. We switched our weekly conversations to focus on intentions rather than goals, and she’s now feeling more accomplished, confident, and making important changes to better her health and well-being. 

Let’s talk about these two concepts and how shifting your focus might help you make more progress!

What is a Goal?

Oxford Languages describes a goal as “the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.”

Goals are concrete and typically focus on things in external environments. For example, wanting to lose a certain amount of weight, perform a specific action, or improve the way you perform an action. Goals are future results that require hard work, progress, and dedication.

As a personal trainer, helping clients identify their desires and turn them into tangible goals is a big part of my job. Helping create the steps to reach these achievements is also part of what I do.

In the courses I’ve taken to become a certified personal trainer, a fair amount of time is dedicated to goals and goal setting. In other words, it’s something that’s highly emphasized.

In fact, I’ve written about the importance of goal setting in the past. However, as I learn and grow with my practice and clients, my view on the significance of goals and goal-setting has shifted. Enter intentions!

Intentions Explained

Intentions focus on the feeling. Regardless of what you will achieve, how do you want to feel? How will you go about your day? Intentions are about the now and deal with the relationship you have with yourself and others.

No matter what your goals are, regularly setting intentions can give you focus and direction

Intentions are definitely much more vague than goals, but that’s part of the point. Focusing on a general feeling, sense, or value to help you stay present and positive.

Setting intentions can help us create sustainable habits and live a more thoughtful, present life.

They Sound Similar, But…

To me, the biggest differences between a goal and an intention are the when and the why.

The “when” refers to when these things happen. Goals happen in the future, but intentions happen in the moment. Setting ourselves up with intentions can help us stay focused, motivated, and confident, no matter where we stand with our goal.

The “why” will be different for everyone, but here’s the gist: maybe your “why” for your goal of losing weight is because you don’t feel confident, you’re limited in the things you can do, it’s affecting your health, etc. A lot of the motivation for goals can come from negative places. When it comes to intentions, I think a lot of the “why” comes from self-empowerment and self-care. You set intentions to stay grounded, to keep yourself in check when your mind starts to wander and to take care of yourself.

This isn’t about casting your goals aside and focusing on intentions only. I want to bring this topic up as a way for people to better connect with themselves and feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement even when they’re not making progress toward their goals.

While goals can be effective for a lot of people, they’re not always necessary. However, I think everyone can benefit from setting intentions regularly.

Putting it Into Practice

Think about your life right now. Think about things that are going well. Ask yourself in what areas of life you want to see progress. Ask yourself who you’re becoming.

Use what you know and discover about yourself to craft intentions that help you be the version of yourself you want to be. If you want to tie in the goals you’re working towards, here’s an example: Your goal is to go to bed early every night this week, but your intention is to be rested.

Self-care, honesty, consistency, presence– these are all intentions that can help you better yourself and the lives of others. 

Use these intentions to keep you motivated and striving for the goals you might have!

If you have any questions or want help setting goals or brainstorming intentions, let me know!

Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash