The power of intention (or not having any...)

I spent last week on PTO, my first full true 9 days of vacation and not answering my phone and not working in YEARS!

It was absolutely amazing.

The first half was spent at home with my family for my birthday and the second half was spent in Cancun for one of my best friend’s weddings.

As I was planning the Cancun branch (really the whole week, but the Cancun trip specifically), I ran into an interesting situation that was hugely valuable as a reminder to me, so I wanted to share it with you.

If you’ve been with me long at all, you know I freaking love to travel. It is my passion in life.

And I had never been to Mexico (despite living so close to the border several times in my life…). 

So needless to say, I was unbelievably excited for this trip, especially when you add in the lack of travel or seeing people during COVID, and I was both traveling and seeing one of my favorite people!

Anyway, the wedding was at a resort. So the hotel and transportation was easy to arrange.

But then I got a text from a friend who was also coming to the wedding.

She also loves her travel, but she LOVES seeing the entire country while she’s there.

I love excursions, but I also knew I needed to rest.

So I had to ask myself the question:

What is my INTENTION with this trip (beyond the wedding)?

Was I coming to Mexico to see Mexico? Or was I coming to Mexico to relax?

Ultimately I decided I was going to truly give myself a break, to rest and relax and enjoy the fact that I didn’t have either my phone or my computer… to sleep, to recharge and recuperate, and to enjoy the gorgeousness that was the ocean and the pools.

But why was this decision necessary?

If we go into something without being clear on our intention, then it actually means that we are able to enjoy our decision or our situation LESS because we get pulled in different directions.

Until I became clear on my decision, I was second guessing myself. Was I being lazy by not going on the excursion with my friend? Or if I did go on the excursion, was I going to feel at all rested when I finally got back home (aka would it defeat the entire purpose of the trip)?

When those feelings were swirling, I experienced everything from annoyance and frustration at not knowing what I wanted to do, to guilt (both for not wanting to go but also for feeling lazy but also for not resting and taking care of myself…).

All of those feelings, valid as they were, were reducing my potential enjoyment of the trip… before I’d even gotten on the plane!

However, once I got clear on my intention…

I was going to Mexico to REST!

Then I was able to make decisions easily, from a place of clear mind and no guilt. 

I was going to rest, which meant I wasn’t going to spend the whole time exploring and not resting (that can always be a different trip!).

And I was there to rest, which meant I wasn’t going to feel guilt FOR resting!

Rest is vital to our happiness and our success. It literally should be a to-do task just like grocery shopping or work!

Getting clear on my intention for the trip (especially doing so BEFORE I got on the plane and got even more mixed up) meant every decision for each day about what I was doing was easy, guilt-free, and totally enjoyable.

This is why intention is so important.

If we go into a situation unclear on what we want to get out of it, whether that’s a job or a date or a day off or even just any given day… then we’re very likely to get to the end and realize that not only did we not necessarily accomplish what we wanted to accomplish, we might have stayed busy and not accomplished ANYTHING, and felt guilt about it the whole time!

No one wants that.

But when we get clear on our intentions, and we make sure those intentions are aligned with our values and what we want…

Then we can truly focus on getting exactly what we want out of each situation.

It’s so much simpler, and there is so much less guilt.

So here’s a question to ask yourself every morning, or every time you go into a situation:

What do I want my intention to be?

Anytime you try something new or something you do every day… every time you have a conversation or sit to write an email… anytime you do anything.

What is my intention?

And see what happens.

I bet you’ll be amazed at the results!