Ep #129: The Power of Intention

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast with Amanda Karlstad episode number 129.

Welcome to The Life Coach Business Podcast, a show for coaches who are ready to up-level their business and take their impact, leadership, and results to a whole new level. If you’re ready to start taking powerful action and become the leader your business needs in order to grow and thrive, this show is for you. I’m your host, Amanda Karlstad, certified life and business coach, and entrepreneurial leadership expert.  Now, let’s get down to business.

Hello and welcome everyone. I hope you’re doing amazing. I am doing fantastic. I just wrapped up my quarterly retreat for my high level clients. So clients who are in my High Level Mastermind. We got together last week and spent a couple of days together.

I have to tell you it was amazing. This retreat was so powerful, so full of powerful content and wisdom and coaching. Just so powerful in terms of the new levels of clarity that my clients were experiencing, the new levels of clarity surrounding their next level strategies, how they are literally going to take their businesses to the next level over the next several months.

One of the things that I observed that was so powerful is that so many of them have just so much more fully stepped into their next level themselves. So into that next level version of them that is going to create that success that is going to lead their business forward. I’m just so proud of them and the work that they’re doing and what they’re all creating in the world.

So it’s just been a really amazing thing to witness. I just love that I get to do this work every day and work with such amazing clients. We have so many wins happening and clients who are doing just amazing things, who are creating their highest revenue months ever in the history of their business. We’ve had one client who recently just sold over $90,000 in one month, which now has kind of put her into this new level where she’s trending at a million dollar run rate.

We have clients who are doing their biggest, their most successful launches ever. Clients who are getting 500% return on their paid ad funnels. By the way, these are ad funnels and paid ad campaigns that I teach inside of my programs. I have step by step resources on how to implement this in your business. So we have clients who are doing that, are writing books, becoming published authors, launching podcasts. We even have a client who just recently landed, I kid you not her very own radio show. This has been a long term dream of hers. This literally just came about within just a few months of being in the program.

So it’s just really been amazing to witness all of this transformation, and to witness all of these wins. I’m really in a place of awe with what is happening. I was thinking about today’s podcast, and all of the amazing wins that are happening. You know coming off of the retreat for my High Level Mastermind clients, I really started to reflect and to think about what we’re going to talk about today. That is the power of intention.

I want to talk to you all today about the power of intention and how important intention is when it comes to growing and scaling your business, and for what you’re creating in the world. When I look at my clients, when I look at the amazing work that they’re creating in the world and who they’re becoming, it really is just blowing my mind.

So one of the things that I will share, and I’ve shared this before in various ways, is that this has also been a very clear intention of mine from the beginning. When I launched my business, when I launched my coaching practice, one of my intentions was to create a program, to create a container for my clients that truly helped them step into the highest version of themselves. In doing that, I also was very clear that I wanted to support these clients with the actual business strategies that they need in order to grow seven figure plus businesses.

So this has really been an intention of mine. A very clear intention of mine to create a community of the most successful coaches in the industry who are not only creating tremendous financial success, but who are also creating tremendous success in terms of who they become. Who they become in the process of building a million dollar business, and the level of impact that they’re able to make in the world through their work and through having the tools and the resources and the support, quite frankly, to actually do that.

So I’ve been very clear with my intention from the start that I wanted to create this container in my business. A very powerful container, a world class program that gives clients both the highest level in terms of the inner game support. So all of the mindset and all of the inner work, all of the inner shifting that has to happen. But also the most cutting edge successful and tangible business strategies that allow them to build their business to that seven figure and beyond level.

I have to tell you when I look at what is happening, I am so, so proud of them. I’m so proud of what they’re creating and the successes that they’re experiencing. I’m also really proud of what I’ve created. I truly believe that the work that we do, this work that I do with clients, the tools, the strategies, the support is the most powerful container for coaches who want to build million dollar plus businesses. I’m really, really proud of that.

I want to encourage you, if you’ve been listening to me for a while or if you’re just listening to this podcast for the first time, welcome. If you’re an established coach and you’ve created some level of success in your business. So that might mean you’re working with clients on a one-on-one basis. Maybe you are booked out on a one-on-one basis. Maybe you have already launched some type of group program, and you know you’re ready to go to the next level.

Then I truly want to invite you to build your million dollar business. I want to invite you to come join us. I have a very special opportunity for all of you. For those of you that are ready to do that work, to become a part of this amazing group of clients who are winning and becoming examples of what is possible each and every day. You can do that. The next step is just go to my website amandakarlstadcoaching.com. We’re also going to link this up in the show notes.

But I really want to invite you to join us. I want to invite you to make this your year, your million dollar year. I want to invite you to this next level of yourself, to this next level of your business, and to truly become an example of what is possible. So, once again, we’re going to link that up in the show notes. Go ahead. There’s just a short application.

It is an application only program because of the caliber in this community, because of the support that is offered. I would love to have a conversation with you and help you put together your million dollar business plan for this year.

All right you all. Let’s talk about the power of intention. So as I was saying, intention is something that when I look back over these past few years, when I look over these past couple of years, especially as my business has grown. What has been really interesting is to see how the intentions that I set early on, and I shared some of those with you, how I’ve been able to create those in my business and how I’ve been able to create a high level of intention in my life.

So this is something that I’ve learned about very early on in my own journey. I did a lot of work on this early on in my journey. One of my favorite teachers on this topic is Dr. Wayne Dyer. I know a lot of you might be familiar with him. He has a lot of work on this topic. One of my favorite books is his book The Power of Intention.

So when I look at where my life is today. When I look at where my business is today, what is really amazing for me to look at is that I can see just how powerful my intentions were in setting those very clear intentions early on in my business and setting those intentions early on as far as what I wanted my life to look like, how I’ve been able to, again, really bring that into my reality today.

So part of the reason why I wanted to bring this topic to you today is because recently I have been diving more into some intention work. I have been diving deep into really this next level of intention for my business, for myself, for my clients. I really started to think more and reflect more and think about the power of intention.

So I’ve been spending a lot of time with my own intention in terms of where I’m putting my energy, my focus, what I’m creating, where I’m planning to take the business over this next year and really over these next few years. So, so many things that I’m so excited about and really in the process of building.

So it’s been a really relevant conversation for me. It’s been a really important conversation, not only as I coach my clients through this process for them and for their businesses, but also in my own personal work that I’m doing right now in my own business.

So when I look at the definition of intention, one of the definitions that I think speaks most closely to what I really want to talk to you today about is this. It says an intention is an idea that you plan or intend to carry out. If you mean something, it’s an intention. Your goal, your purpose, your aim is your intention. It’s something you mean to do, whether you pull it off or not. An intention is an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

I think this last part of the definition in particular, where it says an intention is an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions, is extremely important for all of you listening. The reason it’s so important is because I know that all of you listening are in the process of growing and scaling your own businesses.

Here’s why this is so important. One of the things that I hear very often, and I see happen a lot is that when it comes to taking your business to the next level. So, for instance, looking at my high level clients. Typically, this is taking their business from where they’re typically working with clients on a one-on-one basis, they have a full practice, they’ve reached that six figures, or they’re trending towards that six figures. They’re looking at launching a group program. They’re really starting to move into a position where they’re ready to scale.

I will also say this comes into play with my clients who are in my business accelerator program who are building to that first six figures who might have a handful of clients but are really looking to accelerate their growth and really build their business to their first six figures in the most accelerated way. But what happens is that there inevitably comes a point where the overarching question becomes what do I do next? It’s one of the most common questions that I see, again, not only my clients ask when they come into my world, and it’s a question that will inevitably come up over and over as the business grows.

I know that many of you are probably asking yourself the same question right now. As you start to build even more momentum in your business, the question of what do I do next on the surface seems like a very logical question. It’s obviously a natural question. What I want to offer to all of you here is that it’s also a very powerful question for you to answer. Depending on how you choose to answer that question is going to really dictate the results that you experience. How things go, essentially, in your business.

So this is why I believe that your intention when it comes to your business is vitally important. One of the most valuable skills that I think I have learned and that I now have the opportunity to coach all of my clients in my program on is the power of this in their own business. And continually coaching them on getting to and creating even deeper levels of intention in their businesses.

This is important because this ensures that the work that we’re doing, whether from a mindset or an inner game perspective or from an external strategy perspective. It makes all of that work so much more powerful and enables them to really grow and scale in a very accelerated way.

Now, I know this seems like a simple concept on the surface. I will tell you it is. But when it comes to in the context of a business, what I have found is that when you are operating as the CEO of your business. When you as the business owner are required to make decisions every day in your business, where you as the leader of your business, you’re likely the solopreneur that is doing all the things and wearing all the hats. Having real clarity when it comes to your overall intention, the direction you are going in your business is so, so important.

Because what happens so quickly when you don’t have intention, when you are not clear on your intention, and I see this happen over and over again, is that it’s very easy to become distracted. It’s very easy to start second guessing.

It’s very easy to start getting distracted by all the different options, whether it’s different tactics on how to grow the business or even second guessing decisions that you’ve already made in your business. It’s really easy to start looking at your to do list and to feel a sense of overwhelm. It’s so easy to lose focus on that intention, on that direction, on where you are intentionally wanting to go.

The truth is that clear intention builds and enables you to lead your business forward in a very intentional and clear way. So when this is happening, what happens is that when you lose intention, and some of you might be feeling this right now. What happens is that you start to feel stuck in your business. You start to lose momentum. You start to indulge in thoughts and beliefs that aren’t serving your business growth.

So this is why I believe this is one of the most important skills that you can really cultivate as a business owner. One of the keys with this is that your level of intention, your level of clarity when it comes to your overall intention in your business is paramount. This is work that I have done myself throughout my journey. It’s work I continue to do. It’s work that I do on a daily basis.

So one of the keys with understanding your intention is not only considering the larger aspect of intention of where you’re ultimately going, where you really want to take your business, but it’s also the level of intention that you hold every single day. The level of intention that you hold every single day as you show up and you work on and in your business.

One of the practices that has helped me tremendously with this specifically is my practice of journaling. One of the things that I love to do that is part of my normal routine is to spend time journaling, is to write out my intentions, is to revisit my intentions. Even looking back through previous journal entries where I’ve written out intentions months, sometimes even years ago. Really being able to connect to and reconnect to my own intentions as much as possible.

I found that for me the more that I can connect with, the more that I can communicate, the more that I can spend time with that intention, the stronger and the clearer it becomes for me. When I’m in a place of clarity, when I have that level of clarity with that strong intention, what it does is it allows me to clearly align my daily, my weekly, my monthly, my quarterly priorities to those intentions.

So this has been and continues to be a very powerful practice for me personally. But I also want to talk about intention from the lens of the smaller things. What I mean by this is your level of intention when it comes to those things that maybe don’t seem as big.

This is something that, again for me, I have found to come fairly easy to me. I found to be fairly natural in the way that I operate in my own life. Something that I have really experienced in my own life, and I think it’s one of the reasons why many people have experienced my work to be very powerful, very potent, very precise. I do believe it’s partly because I am highly attuned, and I’m very intentional about my business, about my work, about really most things in my life.

The reason for this is because I have experienced through, again, my own personal work, my own personal journey just how powerful having clear intention truly is in both life and in business. What I have learned is that it’s not just about being intentional about your vision, about where you are taking things over the long term. Yes, that’s very important, and that’s absolutely a requirement.

But it’s also being very intentional about the day to day. It’s being very intentional about where you’re choosing to put your focus. It’s being very intentional about where you’re spending your time as it relates to growing your business, how you’re scheduling your days, how you’re scheduling your weeks, your year. It’s being very intentional about what you’re consuming on a daily basis.

One of my favorite quotes that I love and that I share with most of my clients that’s really resonated for me is this. It says stand guard at the doorway of your mind. I love this quote because, to me, it really summarizes what it means to be truly intentional, and what I have experienced being truly intentional in my own life has required.

It’s standing guard and being very intentional about where I’m putting my focus. It’s standing guard and protecting the most powerful tool that I have, that we all have, which is our brain. It requires that I am intentional about what I choose to believe about myself, what I choose to believe about my business. It’s standing guard and being very intentional about what I am creating, the content that I’m creating, and staying focused on that intention over the long term. Making sure that what it is that I am focusing on on the present is also in alignment with that long term goal.

It’s also standing guard with the information and the inputs that I allow in. So it requires that I’m much more intentional about these inputs that I’m allowing into my space on a daily basis. So, for me, I have chosen that I stand guard at the doorway of my mind every day. That means I don’t spend time or allow inputs that don’t serve my work, that don’t serve my clients, that don’t serve my life, my business.

I’m very discerning about the inputs that I choose on a daily basis. About where it is that I do spend my time, about where it is that I do put my focus. It’s also something that I will tell you I continually check in on. It’s something that I have really developed an attunement toward. It’s being highly selective with my brain, the most powerful tool that we have, and how I choose to use that tremendously powerful tool on a daily basis.

So this has been something that I have definitely worked on and honed over the years. It’s something that, you know, you can see I’ve worked on with intention in my own life, in my own business. So for all of you listening, I want you to consider this for yourself. What is your current level of intention when it comes to your business? When it comes to the level of intention that you’re putting towards the direction of your business?

How are you planning your week and your day, your quarter, your year? Are you planning with intention? Or are you throwing things out and hoping for the best? Because when it comes to your day to day, how aware and how intentional you are in regards to where you’re choosing to put your focus can change everything. How aware and intentional you are in regards to where you’re spending your time as to the inputs that you’re choosing to let in, to take up that precious mental real estate that you all have. I really want to challenge you all to take a look at this for yourself.

If you know that you have the opportunity to become more intentional, I encourage you to take some time to practice this. To practice more intention with your business both from a long term perspective but also on a daily basis. Do not underestimate the power of intention my friends. It is one of the most powerful skills you can cultivate for your business. It can change everything for you. All right everyone. I’ll talk to you all again very soon. Take care. Have a great week. Bye, bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Life Coach Business Podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build, grow, and scale your business and accelerate your results visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com.