The story of a genie granting wishes is well known. A character stumbles upon a genie, wakes him from a deep slumber, and is offered 3 wishes. Somehow the wishes are too general in how they’re asked, the genie grants by his own whim, the wishes do not meet the intentions behind them, and we leave the protagonist in states of regret, anger, and consternation.
The lesson teaches not just what to do in case we run into a genie. (Probably respect forces greater than you and run.) Beyond that lesson, we can think about taking time to find clarity in our intentions. Wishes, after all, are seeds of intentions. Perhaps we haven’t committed to them yet. But once we do, they become intentions.
The more clear we are in what we want, taking the time to clarify it to ourselves, the more likely we can bring it into reality. We are more able to draft relevant next actions, focus where we want, and recognize opportunities when they present themselves.
As a practice, during the decision phase of a session (See module 2 of Being Productive. Free demo available here), we can take time to envision what it is we are setting out to accomplish. What is our primary intention? What are the things that might support it, but could also distract us, like researching? We can set these tasks aside in an Inbox for later addressing. When we are clear, we can sit with the work, ready for it to almost come to us, more so than we go to it.
