The Power of Intention in Achieving Your Goals

So here's the conclusion to Peggy McColl's story about how she was able to buy her dream home even although she didn't have a lot of money. If you missed the first part of this article then simply click the link below:

The Power of Your Intention in Achieving Your Goals

I left the story where Peggy was awaiting the outcome of the draw for the dream home that she had bought a ticket for. Peggy had even wrote on her goal cards that she was living at the address of this fabulous home that so aptly matched her criteria for her dream home - talk about tapping into the power of intention.

The draw was on 07 December and Dr John Goodman won the home. Yes, you read that correctly, Peggy didn't win. And I know a lot of questions must be rushing through your mind right now but please be patient. All will be made clear.

There's a powerful lesson to be learnt here. Sometime when we set a goal we try set how the goal will be manifest and this does not always work. Just as there are different ways to achieve a particular goal, there can be different outcomes to a particular goal quest.

Was Peggy disappointed? Of course, she was - who wouldn't be? Did she feel defeated? No. She re-wrote her goal cards and re-affirmed her intention to purchase her dream home.

Here's the challenge. You have to really want to achieve your goal, have an emotional investment in wanting to achieve your goal and yet be detached from the outcome. You also have to be open to disguised opportunities that can help progress you towards your goal.

For instance, in the movie The Matrix, when Neo was told to follow the white rabbit I'm sure he didn't expect it to come in the form of a tattoo.

So several months went by and then one night Peggy was suddenly awakened from a deep sleep with the thought that she should buy a certain house. When she drove by the house the next day she discovered that it was for sale and so she called the agent and arranged a viewing.

Now bear in mind that, at this time Peggy still doesn't have the funds to go shopping for houses. However, she viewed the house and was delighted to find that this house also ticked all her boxes. The only problem was that she didn't have the money to buy the house but then an idea popped into her head.

She offered the agent a down payment of $3,000 as an occupancy fee with an agreement to settle the balance in 6 months time. Note too that Peggy wasn't in the habit of creating real estate deals - this idea came to her intuitively and she acted on it - another important lesson. When your intuition speaks not only listen to it but take action.

Peggy didn't even have $3,000 cash at the time but she had a credit card which she knew she could get an advance for that sum and that how she was able to come up with the occupancy fee. She told a close friend what she had done and this friend then helped her come up with an idea to raise $3,000. Now she just had to find the balance of the funding for the house – no sweat.

But Peggy did sweat. The months started to creep by and she didn't know how she would raise the balance. However, she kept telling herself that she would find a way and she continued with her visualization and other practices to help keep her focus on the outcome she desired. And when Peggy felt panicky she reminded herself that she didn't need to know how this situation would be resolved but she asked herself how would she feel when it was resolved.

The former was in the hands of the Universe whereas she was in control of the latter and so she practiced experiencing the feeling of having the money to honour her agreement and purchase her dream home. She also detached herself from the outcome by recognizing that the worst that could happen was that she would lose the house but that didn't equate to becoming homeless.

But she needed to raise the money by 01 December.

Now it so happened that the company she was working for had decided to go public. She'd managed to save some money and decided to invest in the company.

The date for the initial public offering was 26 October but it was postponed to 26 November.

She learnt that it if she sold her stock it would take four days for the transaction to be completed.

This was cutting it very fine.

However, she kept her faith. She was so confident that things would work out this time around that she planned a party for 01 December and had bought champagne for the celebrations. (This reminds me of the story of the 2006 Olympic champion, Antoine Dénériaz, who won the skiing downhill race in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He was so confident that he would win that he also bought champagne beforehand to celebrate. You can read my post Positive Thinking - Does it Work? for that story.)

When Peggy's company went public the price of the shares soared. She sold and made a handsome profit and was able to buy her dream home.

Don't ever give up on your dreams. And don't let people tell you that you're being unreasonable and unrealistic when it comes to setting your goals because no one knows what is reasonable or realistic until you invoke the power of intention and take action to achieve your goals.

What’s on Your List?

For a long time, I hated goals.  Hated having them, hating making them, hated other people that had them and made them.  The truth of the matter is that I couldn’t actually think of anything that I really wanted that badly that I had to put it down on paper and make it an official “goal.”  I thought, “Sure, it would be nice to have a sailboat one day.  I’d be okay with having a beach house, or traveling to Spain.  I’d love to make more money or have children one day.  But mneh….I don’t have to have any of these things.”  The only thing I really really wanted was to be happy – which I wasn’t.

My husband (aka Mr. Ambitious) thought I was nuts.  I think he may have actually had goals since the day his mother gave birth to him.  I’m sure even Baby Mr. Ambitious had goals of walking, talking, eating solid foods, pooping three times daily.  But not me – I realized I was afraid to set goals.  I didn’t want to disappoint myself by not achieving them.  If something wonderful should happen to occur in my life, then great! I’ll take it! But I wasn’t going to let myself “want” it.  I wasn’t ready to strive for something – mostly ‘cause I was petrified I’d never achieve it and then where would I be?  A Big Lonely Failure.

I was afraid to set goals because I knew I was not on a path that would actually let me achieve any of the things I wanted.  So, I didn’t even bother to let myself want them in the first place. I thought I just didn’t care – but in reality, the fear of failure wasn’t letting me care. It wasn’t until I actually started living the life I wanted – until I stopped being afraid of that life – that I was able to actually be okay with setting goals.

Now it’s exciting! To keep track of my goals, I’ve started a Life List.  There are a few websites out there that can help you to create a Life List (some may also know this as a “Bucket List”), but I’ve chosen to use www.superviva.com.  It allows me to add new life goals whenever I want, plus cross them off when I’ve completed them.  You can also view other people’s Life Lists and get ideas for your own.  You can view my Life List here: http://superviva.com/people/star79.

And it just so happens that I’m crossing off one of my big life goals in just 3 days.  Yup! In 3 days, I’m going to France! Mr. Ambitious and I are embarking on my dream trip, and touring around France for 3 weeks.  My goal (see, I can use that word now!) is to continue blogging while I’m there, but if you don’t hear from me as frequently, don’t be alarmed!  I shall return full force at the end of February, fresh with new tales and ideas!

Once again, thanks to everyone who has continued to follow this blog. Your support has meant more to me that you’ll ever know and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

What’s on YOUR life list? I’d love to hear from you!