Working With Intentions

Knowing Your Values, Who You Are, And What You Want

In my last blog I introduced the model Intentions and Preventions. I discussed how I had developed it to assist me in navigating my way into a new career in research. In this blog I want to go into more detail on the Intentions part of the model, which underpins all of the other parts. Here I will share some of the ways I developed my own intentions and the different tools and processes that are available for this part of the model.

In my own PhD research, in which I have been exploring the alone experience, I found that imagination and inner awareness are very important for people to enjoy their alone space. Having that connection with yourself and your values is part of this stage in the process. You need to know who you are and what matters to you so that you can define your intentions with a strong sense of purpose.

The Model

Here is a reminder of the model that I am working with. I developed it from time studying positive psychology and other related areas of research, and also working with coachees on their objectives. The green area is the Intentions, which remains visible and acts as a compass or navigation when working with the other three areas.

Knowing Your Values

So much of the time we automatically do things without asking ourselves why. This autopilot behaviour can lead to burnout and doing things that we do not value. It can take a serious illness to wake up from autopilot. If we know what matters to us intrinsically, we can align it as much as possible to extrinsic behaviour. We may still need to do some things that we would rather not do, but we can also offset it with doing things that do matter. Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a great way to think about our motivations and how they link to what we care about.

For example, I know I want to do research that aids removing the societal inequalities. I currently undertake volunteer research with a charity that promotes positive migration narratives and I am looking to get involved in research on anti-racism. These are my particular passions and I know that if I use the social equalities lens to navigate my way my inner passion and intrinsic motivation will remain strong. However, what I do not value intrinsically is administration and paperwork! To find funding opportunities or apply for projects I need to scour the internet and complete forms, which is frustrating. So this is something I have to do for extrinsic factors, and I will use my intrinsic values to motivate me; by doing the things I don’t much like, it can lead to me doing things that do matter.

This is different to strengths, although there is a link, in that strengths highlight what you are good at, and these can also be helpful to know. But to me, using SDT is even more helpful to really get to know what drives you.

There are a number of different worksheets that can be used for exploring your values. Here are a few good ones to start with: https://positivepsychology.com/values-worksheets/

 

Knowing Who You Are

Once you are clear on you values it is much easier to reflect on who you are. This is self-awareness or self-knowledge. Miller and Verhaeghen (2022) propose that the act of being self-aware – by undertaking mindfulness activities – can lead to increased compassion. Your values define what matters to you so you can build a picture of who you are now and whether that person is who you want to be. You might notice that some of your behaviour is not aligned with who you want to be, and so you can ask yourself why you are doing it. A good way to get under the covers of who you are is to keep a reflexive journal for a few weeks. Notice when you feel positive and energised, and when you feel anxious and drained. Explore what is happening in these contexts.

For me, I feel really energised when I have conversations with other people about the things that matter to us, and when I can do things that contribute to and help other people in their objectives. Coaching other people, or working on shared research objectives are two things I love to do. Conversely, doing my own thing is not longer enough for me. By noticing what I like doing I am able to know who I am. Again, I’m going to use the resources from positivepsychology.com to share with you some tools for increasing self-awareness and journaling: https://positivepsychology.com/building-self-awareness-activities/

You might also want to look at authenticity assessments to check that your values and who you are have been fully explored: https://positivepsychology.com/authenticity-assessments/

Additionally, a really helpful tool to consolidate the activity so far is the Best Possible Future Self exercise. Here are some resources that explain this process:

Best Possible Self

Best Possible future Selves Exercise

The Best Possible Self Exercise

 

Knowing What You Want

The final part of Intention building is to get your creative hat on and have some fun! It isn’t about whether you can draw or not, it’s about opening up to exploring what you want outside of your own head and thinking space. Getting stuck in your head is never helpful. Hughes (2011) work into leadership suggests that art-based learning can be effective in bringing together inner and outer congruence and raise awareness of authentic parts of ourselves. This supports positive social action.

It doesn’t have to be drawing but sound, or movement. But do something different to sitting at a computer, or sitting thinking. By now you are much clearer on what matters to you and who you are as a person. You should also be getting some understanding of what activities energise you and de-energise you. From this point you can use the new awareness to illustrate the future you want. Here is a really nice blog that explains the value in drawing out what you want: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/want-to-change-your-life-draw-the-you-you-want-to-be/

Here is a section of my own visual representation of my future. I am a trained artist but I decided to find illustrations online to build up a board of what I wanted. I did this to share with you that you do not need to know how to draw to work with images. You will see that I have also used words and also stuck on a butterfly I had in my craft box. It is not yet finished. The final board representing the illustration of my future will have diverse creative content. I will add colour, my own drawings, different materials, and I may even find a way to include sound. By pushing myself to express my intentions through non verbal means I am moving my thinking beyond the loop and bringing it to life.

So go ahead, get creative- write a poem, a song, paint a picture, do a dance, find images that represent for you what you want in the future. Don’t hold back!

Once you have a creative piece to feel energised with, translate it into a plan or a list of actions you want to get done by a certain date. If you are like me and hate creating detailed plans, write the things you want to achieve on sticky notes and add them to your creative piece. Sing a song listing what you want to achieve and by when- I might do that one myself!!

References

Hughes, S. (2011). Behind the mask: using Arts-Based Learning to uncover, explore and improve action. Citizenship Social and Economics Education, 10(2–3), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.2304/csee.2011.10.2.227

Miller, J. T., & Verhaeghen, P. (2022). Mind full of kindness: self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence as vehicles for compassion. BMC Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00888-4

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.1.68

 

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