The Power of Intentions – Part One: Awareness — by Elazar Aslan

By Elazar Aslan

A mosquito lands on your arm. You notice it. You want to stop it before it bites. You consider your options: kill it, flick it away, spray it, or simply ignore it. Then you act.

Five steps, almost always in the same order, usually in less than a second: stimulus, recognition, intention, consideration, action.

Nearly every decision we make follows some version of this sequence. The question is not whether the steps occur, but at what point we become aware of them.

If awareness arrives after the fifth step, you know the feeling: I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I did that. You were acting on autopilot, carried along by habits and reactions you barely noticed. You were not consciously choosing. You were in a trance.

If awareness arrives just before action, you recognize what you are about to do, but the momentum is already powerful. You are still largely reactive.

Move awareness one step earlier, to consideration, and possibilities open up. I have options here. I could be aggressive or gracious. I could defend myself or listen. You have created space between impulse and response. This is mindfulness at work.

But move one step earlier still, to intention, and something far more powerful becomes possible.

Rather than simply choosing between the responses that come to mind, you can question what is driving them. Am I trying to protect my ego, prove someone wrong, or genuinely create understanding? What do I actually want to accomplish? Who do I want to be in this moment?

Now you are not merely selecting a response. You are choosing the intention from which your response will emerge.

And sometimes, with practice, awareness arrives at the very beginning, as the stimulus itself appears. Before the familiar story, before the automatic reaction, you are simply present. A mosquito lands on your arm. Nothing more. You are here, free to decide what comes next.

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I have spent years teaching this to executives, and even longer catching myself at step five.

The earlier our awareness enters the sequence, the more freedom we have. But the greatest leverage lies in becoming conscious of our intentions before we begin deciding what to do.

Most of us rush from recognizing a situation to considering our options. We ask, What should I do? What should I say? How should I respond? All reasonable questions, but they come too soon.

The more important questions come first: *What am I really trying to accomplish? What intentions are already at work within me? Which one do I consciously choose to serve?

When we skip these questions, even our most thoughtful actions may end up serving intentions we never consciously chose.

When we begin with intention, everything that follows has a clearer purpose. Our thinking becomes more focused, our words more deliberate, and our actions more effective.

The power of awareness is not simply that it gives us more choices. It allows us to be mindful of our intentions so we can adjust them prior to focusing on our actions.

And that changes everything.

Read all five parts of Intentions and add this powerful tool to your toolkit