Setting goals, clear intentions, and the ‘why’: getting into the right headspace for work during the pandemic

By Alice Karmelita

During the Coronavirus pandemic, maintaining your motivation for your job can be yet another drain on your life. Despite the current challenging circumstances, though, there are ways to shift your motivation levels.  One powerful technique to do this is through setting intentions.

I am sure that you set goals at work on a regular basis. They help you stay focused and organised. Do you feel, however, like these goals end up feeling a little hollow?

When your goal is your “what”, the intention is going to be your “why”.

Intentions can be your reasons for undertaking a specific task.  Why you do it and how you want to show up in the moment. The intentions can be found on the surface, for instance, “My goal is to call 20 customers every day. My intention is to nurture relationships with my customers.” A deeper more personal intention could be: “I want to become fully comfortable during phone conversations with customers, so every call is a valuable lesson to me.”

Why is setting intentions going to motivate you more?

Setting clear goals definitely motivates you by giving you a clear plan. When you know what to do and what you will get from it in the end, it encourages you to take action. However, a goal is fully dependent on an outcome. The moment things don’t go the way you predicted, this feeling of failure can decrease    your energy and motivation.

Intentions are not connected to the outcome but to the journey itself. If you manage to call only 5 customers today, you won’t be disappointed at yourself by not reaching the goal. You would still be satisfied with having great talks with these 5 customers, with elevating the relationship to another level, and getting valuable lessons. I’m sure that this perspective would boost your motivation.

Goals are focused on an outcome. Intentions on experience. Consequently, there is a lot less emotional attachment, which can create a less sustainable motivation or its decrease.

You could start by setting general intentions for your job. What has brought you to this position? Why do you really do this job? Try to look deeper and focus on the internal motivators, for instance, “I decided to join this company because I want to work with a feeling that we contribute to the society,” or “It is not my dream job but I have committed it because I want to become a manager of my own project one day. With this job I get a chance to learn every single day, which is very important to me.” Following this example, you would be focused on the journey of learning instead of on the perfect outcome of each goal. This is the core of intention setting.

Add a column to your to-do list and start writing down your intentions for each task or the least favourite ones. Whenever you need a motivation boost, take a break, have some coffee, take a few deep breaths, maybe stretch your body, and take a look at your list to remind yourself of your “why.” Feel the tension being released, and get back to work with a new mindset and purpose!

Alice Karmelita is the head of Karmelita-Coaching , the first and only International-run career coaching service in the Northern Netherlands. She offers a range of resources and services to help supercharge your career, all in understandable and accessible language. For more information about Alice and her coaching services, check out her website at https://karmelita-coaching.com/ and https://ccitrainings.com

Image by Anna Shvets via Pexels