Tag: intentions

I got this blog from a chat in a bar during a United-Liverpool game!

In our ‘free’ time many of us use screens to watch sports, gawk at reality TV, or flick through 1000’s social media posts.

And when we do so, we often worry and/or get angry.

Worry that our favourite will get voted off the island. Worry our team will not make the Top 4. Worry about how the droughts in other countries we see on Twitter and Facebook will affect us here.

Anger when the ‘wrong’ person gets booted out. Anger at the referee, manager, and players for making the ‘wrong’ decisions. Anger about the feeling of helplessness we get from what we see on social media.

I was sitting in a bar on Monday night. Most people in the bar were fixated on the Manchester United v Liverpool game. I was one of the only ones not creaking my neck toward one of the many TV screens. It was hard though to ignore the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and ‘ah for F%^k sake ref’ and ‘jaysis he’s useless’ shouts. There was worry, anger, excitement, trepidations, stress, and abusive language. It was very distracting. A few groups of tourists had one drink and left, no doubt seeking quieter environs.

‘Are you also not from here?’. The man, in his early 30’s, sitting to my right asked me suddenly. I noticed his meticulously groomed beard and his distinct eastern coast American accent. ‘Well, I’m from Brussels yet I’m living here a long time.’, I replied enthusiastically. I was hankering for a nice chat.

He said he asked the question as he observed I wasn’t watching the game. I explained I prefer to attend games and experience them rather than watch them on a screen and that I mostly don’t care who wins anyway. It’s all about the live experience. He thought about it for a second and said: ‘It’s a bit like food’. I probably frowned in a querying way, so he immediately added: ‘You can see it being made on a screen, you can taste it, or you can make it yourself and taste it. They are 3 different things. Like watching a game on a screen, watching a game live, or playing the game yourself.’

Wise words.

Think about it if you like. How much of your life is spent on screens? How much is spent observing others and trying to belong? And how much of it is spent experiencing things you truly love in the present moment?

Cooking that meal from scratch at home. Finding a passion and immersing yourself in it. Going for that walk on the beach even though it is raining. Going to the salsa dancing class just because you feel like it. Sitting on a bench in a park just for the sake of sitting there and letting the world go by. Even for just 15 minutes. Playing hopscotch with your children in the playground.

How would doing these fun activities as often as you can impact your quality of life?

How would knowing that you can do this at short notice affect how you react to stressful situations in life?

How do you feel about experiencing more in life? Living in the present more often? Having a life rather than always just making a living?

Being in the moment and having fun stimulates creativity. Creativity leads to mastery.

Spending time experiencing life creates energy and leads to higher productivity at work or in business.

Living your real life leads to more happy moments and has a positive effect on the quality of your relationships.

Do you feel like having more pleasant experiences in life? More fun? Increased creativity?

Higher productivity? Better relationships?

In the ‘Having A Life While Making A Living’ program I guide people through the 4 pillars and 8 areas of their life from finance, to work/business, to fun and family time, and so much more.

Together we team up to create a life in balance that will allow you to experience more and worry less.

For more info email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie or WhatsApp (00 353) 083 3008963.

The mermaid, the unicorn, and the silent marathoner.

When was the last time you saw a mermaid sheltering in the bay of a windswept harbour? Or a unicorn darting across a lush field of swinging daisies? Or a marathon runner who didn’t tell everyone he met he just finished a marathon, and it was epic and hard?

‘These things don’t exist Patrick’, I hear you say.

Possibly.

‘What do you mean possibly’, I hear you squeal, ‘’They DO NOT EXIST’.

And yet I have seen all three of them. For real.

The mermaid was a woman in costume at a parade in a seaside town when a strong wind blew a heavy shower of rain across the town. To protect the costume, she had to run for shelter.

The unicorn was a horse dressed up for a re-enactment of a medieval battle by a live role-playing group. After the scenes were finished, the horse was let to run in one of the fenced-off fields of the farm where the event took place.

And Yes, I do know a couple of marathoners who never share pictures or blogs about their races. All they are dressed up in is Lycra. And then normal clothes as they get in their cars and quietly drive home for dinner.

So, if I tell you that ‘just being’ is enough to live a fulfilling life, will you at least be curious enough to try and understand what it looks like when it is all dressed up for purpose?

Allow me to ask you if this sounds familiar:

I need to study hard so I can …

I should really sell more so we will be able to …

I have to put in all these hours if I want to …

Yep, I said those too. Doing in order to Be.

What if we learned how to reverse that sentence? Being leading to Doing.

‘Just Being’ is the basis, the foundation. The home from where everything emanates. The warm, cosy, feel-good, safe, comfortable place from where all adventure starts. From being comes doing.

How does that sound? A bit like the mermaid, or the unicorn, or the silent marathoner?

Having gone through the reversal I have great news for all of you curious people. It is possible and it has been put to the test.

All I had to do is discover my strengths, values, likes, and beliefs. Become aware of them. Find out which ones I really liked and use them to design a life for me that was based on ‘Just Being’ me.

No absolute goals, or targets. Yet clear intentions, based on my individual likes and strengths, and values. For every aspect of my life.

Being every day by taking actions in the direction of your crystal-clear intentions. Focused on how you can contribute to this world by simply being you.

Whether you are in a community organisation, corporate, business, public service, or household. You being you doing what is truly you.

Having A Life While Making A Living. Yes, you read that right. You can make a living while doing this. And you’ll be relatively stress-free. And have the knowledge you are being true to yourself. And go on a holiday. And spend tie with those that matter most.

Releasing your inner mermaid, unicorn, or marathoner.

To find out more contact me at patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie or WhatsApp 083-3008963

How it all started (Part three).

May 13th, 2007.

A date etched in my memory. The last few months had really passed by in a blur.

Only it wasn’t a blur. I distinctly remember the dissertation, the book reviews, the countless pro bono client sessions, the PCG groups, the new modules of learning, and the weekends studying together.

It wasn’t a blur, but it felt as if it was. I would later in life figure out this is what’s called FLOW.

Flow is an optimal psychological state that people experience when engaged in an activity that is appropriately challenging to one’s skill level, often resulting in immersion and concentrated focus on a task. This can result in deep learning and high levels of personal and work satisfaction. (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi).

Flow can be experienced in any task in any field of activity, from music to writing to painting to sports. It forms one of the key ingredients of where I get my clients to guide themselves towards. In Flow, you perform and achieve effortlessly.

So, the blur passed, and on May 13th, 2007, I got my official Diploma in Personal & Business Coaching from the Irish Lifecoach Institute (www.ili.ie). I continued pro bono coaching for a few months and then set up my practice under the name Forward 2 Success. The business story is for another day.

In the 15 years since I have added certifications as a Trainer and a Master NLP Practitioner. I have niched in 1-to-1 Life Coaching & Career coaching. I have become a public speaker. I have a weekly radio show on Limerick City Community Radio (www.lccr.ie) for over 5 years. I have run 124 Marathons. I have met 1000’s of interesting people.

I’ve had high points, low points, successes, learnings, elation, sadness, and every other emotion imaginable.

I have learned to just be me. And I have learned that to just be you is good enough for everyone. How to be you is for another Blog Post coming soon.

Now, after 15 years, the decision has been made to share a message.

You can ‘Have A Life While Making A Living’. You can do so as you ‘R.A.I.S.E.’ yourself UP.

(R.A.I.S.E. = Resilient, Adaptable, Imaginative, Sustainable, Effective).

In September, to celebrate 15 years as a coach, I will be launching 4 products and 2 services that are an amalgamation of what I have learned from my clients. The stuff that worked for them, consistently and in Flow.

I’m looking forward to meeting with 1000’s of people each year on a mission to create a space in this world where people can be truly themselves while contributing and sharing. And making a living doing so.

I also look forward to your company on the journey and here on this Blog!

You can read Part 1 of this trilogy here: https://theintentionalacademy.ie/2022/06/23/how-it-all-started-part-1/

You can read Part 2 of this trilogy here: https://theintentionalacademy.ie/2022/06/29/how-it-all-started-part-deux-of-3/

For more info: WhatsApp 083-3008963 or email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie

Steps to powerful intentions that work!

Setting clear intentions is one of the most powerful things you can do. Even more so when what you do on daily basis is designed to move you in the direction of those intentions.

I intend to cut the grass today.

I intend to spend more time off-screen this week.

I intend to eat more fruit this month.

We have all done it. Written or spoken intentions like those above. And then we ‘forget’ to cut the grass. And we were sent a brilliant podcast and were recommended a new series on Netflix. And fruit just got so expensive.

So what are powerful intentions then, I hear you ask?

Powerful intentions are set while in a state of awareness; based on your likes, values, strengths, and passions.

Powerful intentions are detached from strict outcomes, lack, or needs.

Powerful intentions are short and clear.

Let me share one of mine from my ‘Lifestyle’ category:

‘I travel joyfully, eat good food, enjoy the finer things in life, and spend time outdoors daily.’

This is clear, detached from strict outcomes, and easy to implement daily. It is also based on my love for travel, my love for food, and the fact I’m an outdoors person.

I did write ‘Lifestyle’ category. It is 1 of 8 categories I set intentions for. They are Business, Finance, Lifestyle, Social & Hobbies, Personal Development, Family & Relationships, Spirituality, and Fitness.

These categories are not rigid. Some clients have changed Fitness to Health. Or Business to Career.

Setting clear intentions is one of the most powerful things you can do. What are yours?

To find out more about setting intentions for yourself WhatsApp Patrick on 083-3008963 or email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie

The power of intentions in work and business.

After the last blog post about the 1 sentence that drove me to play more, I got some great questions from readers. Apart from questioning my sanity, and wondering if I lived in the real world, I was asked how you could implement this in life, work, and business.

So let’s start with the same question I asked last time.

What if life is something to play at? Not to be taken seriously, just to be played at. And that this play, in itself, is all there needs to be.

What if life is not reaching towards some goal, instead life itself is the goal?

Which would mean that life is without real purpose other than us expressing that life. And it is meant to be without purpose. It is not evolving towards some ultimate destination or raison d’être; in this very moment, here and now, life is always ultimate.

As Alan Watts proclaimed: ‘The point of the dance is not to arrive at one particular spot on the floor. The point of the dance is the dance itself’. ‘The point of the composition is not the final note. The point of the composition is the composition itself’.

The person who masters the playful nature of this lack of purpose can make valid plans knowing these plans are entirely fluid and transient. They understand the importance of emotionally detaching themselves from any desires, targets, goals, or outcomes.

That they have within all there needs to be for them to play at life, work, and business. Presently.

By understanding the fluid nature of everything, they become resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient.

In the here, and now, they make plans that are resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient!

They become masters at setting really clear intentions for themselves, unattached to the way to get there or where it will get them.

Intentions like ‘I am spending each moment I work in my business on making the world a better, more intentional place for others to experience’.

Or ‘I respect my love for learning enough to make learning a daily habit’.

I have several of these really clear intentions. These intentions then get translated into ‘real’ things like marketing plans, client meetings, networking, etc…

All the while knowing these things are fluid and I am resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient. And that means I can have a life while making a living.

While playing at it.

Patrick

25/05/22

To find out more about how to R.A.I.S.E. your profile, WhatsApp me on 083-3008963 or email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie