Setting an intention is a way of pointing yourself in a direction, toward an important value or goal. It's a way to identify a quality that you wish to nurture in your life.

Setting intention can be done skillfully or unskillfully. It is not so skillful or effective to be rigid or attached to an ideal about your intention. For example, if your intention is to foster ease and self-acceptance, don’t expect to become 100 percent relaxed or self-accepting after just five minutes! Be careful that you don’t make your intention, no matter how wonderful or positive, something else on your to-do list or something you must achieve at all costs! Recognize the trap of judging yourself harshly or doubting your intention if things don’t change right away. Don’t fall into that trap of judgment and doubt.

A skillful intention is more like a friendly guide. Acknowledge from the beginning that important changes take time. You, like everyone else, must make the effort to return repeatedly to the goal you seek.

Your intention, to become more self-accepting, for example, is better thought of as a direction you have selected for yourself. The practice you choose is a way to enter on a path moving in that direction. Results aren’t always so obvious. Many conditions and factors are at work as you move along your path. What is important is that you keep moving in the right direction. Being friendly with yourself as you travel the path is vital. Being patient with yourself as you move toward your goal is crucial.

You can think of your intention as a clear and strong statement of an important value, quality, or goal you have selected for yourself. Through the single act of making the statement, you have opened the door for a profound shift in your life.

Act Wholeheartedly

To act wholeheartedly means to do something with all of your attention and energy. Establishing presence and acting from clear intention will support you in embracing what you do wholeheartedly. In your five good minutes, after establishing presence and stating an intention, you are invited to embrace the practice you have selected wholeheartedly.

You may have to experiment a bit with being wholehearted. Much of what we do in life is done without full attention, or without real commitment to the activity or process, for a variety of reasons. So, as you begin to try out these exercises, give yourself some room to grow. At first, you may not feel wholehearted about every one of the exercises. Some may even be a turnoff.

To get the most of your five good minutes, start with activities that resonate with you, or that seem especially interesting, or are perfect for something happening in your life right now. As you work with the various practices over time, notice how different ones fit in the different corners and phases of your life.

When you have selected practices that seem to fit, nurture a willingness to experiment with them, without expecting too much at first. Even if you feel awkward, silly, or embarrassed, just acknowledge how you feel and then keep on with the practice.

You may find it easier to be wholehearted if you let go of trying to change anything or make anything happen as you do the exercises. This is a paradox that is true of many of these practices. In the realm of transformation and growth, the more you reach for something, the farther away it can seem.

So let go of any attachment to outcome and just dive right in! Instead of vigilantly monitoring what is happening, looking for changes, when dancing, or laughing, or whatever you are practicing, just let go of judgment and do it. That way, you are truly acting wholeheartedly and, paradoxically, are maximizing your chances for change and growth.

Excerpt from Five Good Minutes®: 100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long by Jeffrey Brantley, MD. and Wendy Millstine, NC.