What is Intention Setting?
Holistic health and wellness boil down to a lot more than exercise and nutrition. While taking care of our bodies from the outside is essential, the process truly begins inside.
Goals are the topic in body transformation, and most of us understand the value of setting goals. However, goals are only part of the equation. To experience our full potential and live life to the fullest, we must set intentions and express gratitude. Intention setting and expressing gratitude are key components of your journey to mental, physical, and emotional health.
Setting and measuring goals is important, but it’s only part of moving the needle forward toward what you want. To make these goals even more powerful, you must set intentions to them. Intentions align with your goals, and they are the intangible driving force that guides your actions. You cannot exactly “measure” or calculate intentions like goals, you feel them instead. Effective intention setting evokes a powerful emotion that empowers your mind and heart to drive toward your goals.
Consider a workout as an example. You might have a goal to work out X days a week or for a certain number of minutes. That’s a great goal to have, but you need to fuel it with intention. In this case, your intention could be how you want to feel after your workout, or the mentality you will bring to your workout.
Intention Setting and Gratitude
Gratitude, like intention setting, is focused on your mindset. Expressing gratitude is all about thinking deeply about the things you appreciate. While on your body transformation journey, it’s easy to get caught up in what you don’t have, but expressing gratitude can help you focus on the present moment and set your intentions.
Reasons to Express Gratitude and Set Intentions
In the midst of work, training, nutrition planning, families, and everything else you deal with as a Superwoman, it can be hard to find the time to dedicate to gratitude and intention setting. To experience a successful body transformation, expressing gratitude and setting intentions are seemingly small but very important processes you should go through on a regular basis. Here are the top benefits of setting intentions and expressing gratitude:
- Effectiveness. Setting clear intentions helps us reach our goals. Remember, intentions are all about the emotions we want to feel. Instead of a sterile idea etched into paper, intention allows us to really feel our goals each and every day. The goals become something we can feel within us, opening our minds and heart in a way that facilitates greater productivity.
- Mindfulness. It’s easy to let all of the worries of the present and the disappointments of the past take over and destroy your body transformation. To immerse yourself in the present moment, you can set intentions and express gratitude. Thinking about your intentions and the things you appreciate helps you zone in on the current moment and be mindful. According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness (moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment) reduces stress, reduces negative effects like anxiety and depression, increases working memory, and enhances self-insight.
- Limitless. Unlike goals, intentions, and gratitude are limitless. You can set a new intention or remind yourself of something you appreciate every single day. The limitless nature allows you to make endless improvements and fuel positive choices, they are expansive and outline what you want to contribute to the world.
- Boosts self-esteem. For optimal performance and a great body transformation, you have to be kind to yourself. Gratitude actually improves self-esteem by allowing you to let go of social comparisons. A 2014 study in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that athletes who expressed gratitude experienced higher self-esteem and better performance.
Amplify Your Body Transformation By Setting Intentions and Expressing Gratitude
As you enter your body transformation journey, it is easy to feel many different emotions and concerns. If you’ve set incremental goals, you are already on the right track. Now, it is time to improve your body transformation journey by incorporating intention setting and gratitude.
You are not alone on this journey. With the JOC Intentional Creators Journal, it is easier than ever to incorporate intentions and gratitude into your daily routine. Using this journal, you can set intentions and promote a more positive, deliberate transformation. Fuel your goals and escape the cycle that keeps you from realizing your full Superwoman potential. The Intentional Creators Journal has a place to write down three gratitude points, choose daily intentions, outline nutrition, and set workout intentions for each day. Additionally, the journal includes a daily encouraging quote from Coach Joe that will help remind you of the importance of your intentions and gratitude.
Renew you today and set your body transformation up for success by getting your FREE copy of the Intentional Creators Journal below:
