“I don’t know about you, but you wake up and another year goes by,” said success coach Christine Roberts at the recent Pink Power Alliance Zoominar on getting Intentional at Work & Beyond. Christine says, too often “we don’t take the time to step back and prioritize and have a filter for how we make decisions to be intentional.” According to Harvard Business School, 84% of people don’t set goals at all. However, the big guys do; 80% of managers set clear goals according to Harvard Business Review. Getting this specific and intentional about work and life keeps us motivated and accountable and helps us stay on track and measure progress. 

Being Intentional, according to Oxford, is choosing “to make decisions and take action on what’s important to you… getting clear upfront about what you want… to achieve a specific outcome or result in the future that is important to you.”

Roberts says this is especially important because we have limited timelines as to when we can do certain things. She personally took this to heart years ago after reading an article about people in hospice. “The key theme was regret,” said Christine, “regret about what they didn’t do.” This inspired her to sell her house, give away her stuff and travel America for a year in an RV with her family. They never looked back.

EY Managing Director, Chevenry Arnold, can relate. She took five years off from her high-powered career when her children were young. “It was an intentional choice. It was a hard choice,” Chevenry told the Pink Power Alliance audience. She was able to reenter the business at a senior level. “It rocks your world to go from stay at home mom, back into investment banking.” But she did it thanks to the network she created and intentionally sustained.

The thought leaders assembled for PINK’s Power Alliance Zoominar said values need to inform the priorities we set; is it family or career as an example. They recommend selecting areas of focus to work on in the new year. They suggest asking ourselves— Where do you want to grow? What do you no longer want to tolerate? Who are the people you want to surround you? 

“I look back at what went well and what I want to improve on,” says Christine who offered a list of 10 categories to choose from: Physical health/Fitness, Physical environment, Finances, Career, Mental health, Purpose, Spirituality, Personal growth, Relationships, and Restorative (hobbies/fun).

IA Interior Architect’s Chief People, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Kimberlyn Daniel put restorative hobbies and fun at the top of her list. “When we get busy, hobbies take a back seat. I’d like to be more intentional about having those outlets. It makes me a better mom, wife and employee.” 60% of those surveyed want to focus on physical health and fitness.

Christine urged the 150 who signed up to attend the Pink Power Alliance Zoominar, to also address what they don’t want to tolerate in their life, whether it’s a doorknob that won’t open or a few pounds of extra weight. She says get really clear about who and how much time you’re spending with those around you.  She has a 2/2/2 rule. “Ask yourself, who are the people you want to spend two minutes with, two hours and two days with? It’s an important distinction.”

In the private breakout sessions where Pink Power Alliance members have the chance to “test talk” about their goals with thought leaders, they discussed feeling like they don’t have enough time to do everything they want and still feel accomplished. Setting boundaries will help, said Christine. “What are your favorite things to do? Can you outsource the rest? Can you say you don’t check email after 5:30pm?  Be transparent about what you’re doing and your boundaries (i.e., ‘I won’t be available between 2-3pm as I’ll be picking up my son.’”

Those who wrote down their values and selected only three areas of focus were far more likely to achieve their goals.

By the end of the conversation, the percent of those who gave themselves a top score of 8 to 10 on how intentional they are, shot up by 28%. The good news is, it’s still January, it’s not too late to begin!
 

5 TIPS ON BEING INTENTIONAL
1. Identify your values (to determine your priorities)

2. Identify areas of your life to improve

3. What are you tolerating

4. Determine how and with whom to spend your time

5. Write down what you want
 

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” –Karen Lamb

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” –Diana Scharf 

By Cynthia Good

NOTE: CLICK HERE if you’d like to enroll high potential women from your firm in the Pink Power Alliance development program. A free coaching session is included.