In late December I wrote about how I’m not a fan of resolutions. So, if you aren’t going to ‘resolve’ to do things, what do you rely on to get yourself out of bed in the morning and into the midst of life, and your reinvention?

As I started to think about this natural follow-up question to my perspective on resolutions, I realized that there are three types of ’structures’ ( a coach-y word) that support me in keeping my focus on what matters. I am sure there are countless additional ones, but these are the ones that have worked best for me.

They are:

• Goals
• Vision
• Intention

I’ll briefly describe my own take on these three things, as they apply to reinvention, in this blog post. In future posts, I’ll give some personal examples from my own reinventions.

A goal is something that you want that clearly has a beginning and an end, i.e., a measurable destination or desired outcome. And, you can create a ‘map’ of action steps to follow to get to your outcome. The territory is known and defined. An example of this would be the pursuit of a graduate degree.

With a vision, the ‘what’ is clear, but the ‘how’ isn’t. Unlike specific, actionable goals, a vision is a picture of what you want, but the map isn’t completely filled in yet. You might have some pieces identified, but many aren’t clear yet, so you don’t have a set of action steps or a path yet.

An example of this might be a geographic or lifestyle change. You may know that you want to live in a large city, but you aren’t clear which one, or how the other dimensions of your life will fit in, like the job you will have. In this case, you undoubtedly have some vision of a city lifestyle and what is compelling to you about it. A meaningful vision is always compelling.

Another reinvention example of having a vision is when someone wants to refocus their work into a more purposeful, service-oriented way, but they aren’t clear exactly what specific job will fill the bill, or how to get there. However, they have a clear vision of what it would mean to them to be in service to others, and the impact, and the feeling that they would have doing it.

An intention is a commitment to ‘be’ a certain way. It’s a deep commitment, a guiding light, that informs and inspires your choice of action every day in real time. In this case, the ‘what’ isn’t even necessarily clear, much less the ‘how’. The map is never filled in. In fact, there is no map. You are always moving into new and unexplored territory, uncharted ground. You are committed to follow the rhythm of your life and its natural unfolding, and to be a certain way in the process. It is a choice to be consciously responsive to life’s events (vs. reactive).

An example of this might be a son who decides to quit his job and be a care-giver to his terminally ill parent. He may intend only to ’show up’ to life fully present every day, but, in remaining faithful to this intention, he will know each ‘now’ move.

When you find yourself in a transition or reinvention where the goals aren’t clear, search yourself for an internal vision or intention. Hold the vision or intention, and be true to it. Specific goals and steps will emerge from your focus on the vision or intention.

Goals, vision, and intention are each useful and supportive, depending upon the circumstances.

I find these distinctions helpful because in reinventions we are more frequently operating without a map or with an incomplete one than with a set of action steps and destinations that we can see clearly. To know that this is just the ‘nature of the beast’ often saves us from internal ‘beat-up’s’ and, instead, allows us to relax more, and enjoy the adventure of moving in uncharted territory.

Filed under: Tools on January 30th, 2008