The one about intention

My take on Wayne Dyer’s “The Power of Intention”.

This is a book that I’ve turned to from time to time. I remember reading it for the first time during a difficult period when I was living abroad, and it gave me a new lens to look at life. Now every time I pick up this book, something different shows up. I picked up this book again recently and what stood out was the concept of living in a place of higher energy.

What does this mean?

For me, living in a place of higher energy means living our lives from a place of kindness.

Don’t get me wrong, this can be hard. Our days can be filled with minor annoyances from missed appointments, negative comments or social media posts that are designed to trigger us.

But what this book discusses, however, are ways to manage our inner state despite the chaos around us. Living in a place of higher energy means being impeccable with our words — the words that we use from day-to-day have a significant effect on our internal state.

Imagine spending the last 30 minutes engrossed in gossip. It could feel cathartic in the moment, but the feeling afterwards is the same that I get after eating too much ice cream. Simply gross.

But what if we spent the last 30 minutes brainstorming ways that we can uplift others around us. The resulting feeling is drastically different.

What does this mean practically?

For me, this means being hyper-intentional about my inputs — the news that I consume, the books that I read, the videos that I watch, the music that I listen to, the chats that I engaged with, the people that I surround myself with, and the environment that I work in.

Not only am I hyper-intentional about our inputs, I also need to be hyper-intentional about my outputs.

What are the words that I’m using in conversation with others? What are the activities that I engage with? Am I being kind to others? Do I give others the benefit of the doubt?

There are certainly days when I don’t follow my own advice.

But re-reading the book and writing about the power of intention allows me to course-correct, to adjust my actions and to, hopefully, help the others around me.