(Lynn Townsend, formerly a creative Humanergist, offered this post about intentionality as one of the cornerstones of what Humanergy helps people develop.)
By intentionality, we mean acting with purpose and awareness.
In other words, be intentional about what you do – your choices. Easy to say, but tough to do.
Consider the example of influence. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you influence others. If you’re like most people, you don’t give it much thought until you have to. Like when you’re ready to launch that new project and figure out that you need to bring several key people on board. Will you be able to get their support even when you can’t tell them what to do? That’s when you need to use influence.
Intentional influence requires that you:
- Consciously think about who you influence today and who you need to influence tomorrow.
- Do your part to build strong connections with others – the foundation of successful influence.
- Be aware of how you truly view people – and be open to the possibility that you (yes, even you) sometimes see people as objects, not as living, breathing, fallible human beings.
- Think of who influences you. What qualities and behaviors make them influential? What can you learn from them?
The bottom line? Get off auto pilot. Use influence intentionally. It’s just one part of living each moment on purpose, but it’s a great place to start.
Stay tuned for more aspects of intentionality – and we’d love to hear your views as well!
Have a question or want some input from Humanergy about this topic? Contact us and we’ll get right back to you!