Aspirations, Intentions, and Goals – What Do They Mean for You?

Photo by Connor Moynihan on Unsplash

I’ve been rereading Oren Jay Sofer’s Your Heart Was Made for This, taking my time and reading one chapter weekly, implementing its lessons in my meditations and daily life. This week’s is about Aspiration, which brought to mind the subtle differences between aspiration, intention, and goal-setting.  

To me, aspirations are “stretch goals.” They may even be way in the “discomfort zone” where I have no idea how I’m going to get there. They are not easy to achieve. They may be specific, as in “I aspire to publish a novel,” or they may be more personal - “I aspire to be a more generous person.” (In which case you’d ask yourself, what does being “generous” mean exactly? How will you know when you are more generous?) 

Intentions are more specific, and usually short-term. “I intend to finish chapter 12 of my novel today.” They also have a bit more oomph behind them. An Intention is stronger than an aspiration. You plan to bring your discipline to bear to fulfill this intention.  

Goals come in three forms: process, performance, and outcome. They’re pretty self-explanatory, but a few examples are: 

Process: My goal is to write 500 words per day, 5 days per week. Or: My goal is to spend 30 minutes per day writing, 5 days per week.  

Performance: My goal is to write 2,500 words per week. 

Outcome: My goal is to finish this draft by December 31. 

Note that in this way, you might set the Outcome Goal first, then work backwards to see what makes sense for performance and process.  

There are also three other ways to think of goals which correspond to levels of comfort: safe, stretch, and discomfort.     

Safe Goals are ones which are easy to commit to, and don’t cause any real discomfort. Something like this might be: My goal is to read one craft book per month.  

Stretch Goals push us a little harder. Maybe the 500 words per day, 5 days per week is a stretch for you right now – you're going to have to be disciplined and committed to making it happen.  Maybe you’re comfortable with 500, so you’re going to go for 1,000. Or maybe you’re just getting back into a project and 15 minutes per day feels like a stretch right now.  

Discomfort Goals push you a little too far, into your “zone of discomfort.” These are not sustainable over the long term, but you might make a big effort to reach them (e.g., finishing a draft on a tight deadline). These can also mean goals that are too much for you right now, but might become more realistic later on, e.g. “write my memoir and have it published by a Big 5 publishing house” when you’ve never even taken a class or studied memoir, don’t know the market, etc.  

Note that this goal also encompasses something that is out of your control: being published by a Big 5 publisher. You don‘t have control over whether your book gets picked up by a publisher. All you can control is the quantity and quality of your work – learning the craft, writing the pages, making the book the best it can be, learning about the publishing world and how to approach it, and so on. This might be an aspirational goal: not impossible, but not likely to happen soon.  

With these types of goals, you should aim to remain in the Stretch zone. Safe is also fine, but may be too easy to maintain long-term (hello boredom!), and doesn’t really make much headway in getting where you aspire to be. Discomfort goals are too difficult for right now, and thus may be de-motivating. Stretch Goals are the sweet spot that keeps us engaged and interested. 

The main thing to remember with all these goals, is that you need to take action. Having aspirations, intentions, and setting goals is all well and good, but if you don’t follow through, nothing will happen.  

How can you make it more likely that you will take action? 

One, understand the difference between Aspiration, Intention, and Goals. Write down what they mean to you in terms of your writing. Journal about it, and get specific.  

Two, come up with all the types of goals mentioned above: Process, Performance, Outcome, Safe, Stretch, and Discomfort goals. Again, be specific. Know what each means for you right now. They will change according to project and life circumstance. Write them down. Be sure they resonate with you. It’s easy to get caught up in “should” goals, but “shoulds” don’t have any real power. How many of us know we “should” do something, but don’t?  

Three, make a specific plan to achieve those goals, intentions, and aspirations. This might mean putting down in your calendar, WRITE every Monday through Friday from 8:00-9:00 am. Maybe write down your commitment somewhere where you see it frequently.  

Four, find a way to make yourself accountable. This might be a writing buddy, coach, class, or an app like StikK that forces you to pay money to a cause you abhor if you don’t achieve your goal.  

What rewards will you give yourself for meeting your goals? Make these specific, and write them down in your calendar as well. After a month of maintaining a Process or achieving a Performance goal, buy yourself a book! When you hit a big milestone, like finishing that draft, what will you do to celebrate? A nice dinner out? A weekend trip? If you’re like me, you often fail to think about rewards at all. It’s just the grind, and a pat on the back when (if) you reach your goal. But rewards can be motivating for those days when it’s hard to get going. The trick is to make the reward something you wouldn’t automatically do for yourself anyway. Have fun!      

My definitions may differ from yours, and that’s fine. But why are they important? Because without Aspirations, Intention, and Goals, it’s easy to let weeks, months, even years flow by as we think, “Gee, I’d like to write a book.” Or finish that long-neglected project. Or... 

Keeping in touch with Aspirations, Intention, and Goals forces us to identify what gives meaning to our lives, and makes us more likely to take action. We realize we have, in the words of Mary Oliver, “this one wild and precious life,” and it’s up to us to take action on our dreams.  

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