Archive for September, 2009

Someone needs to invent something a person can wear  that will shield the eyes from the sun…

It’s kinda like wearing a good holster with a crappy belt.

Do you intend to win? I’d bet you want to win. I was reminded of the question two weeks ago while watching Tiger Woods win the Buick Open and his 50th tournament title. Tiger intends to win. I saw it again last week as he won the PGA Championship at Medinah, IL by 5 strokes. This weekend (8/28/06) Tiger won once more at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational despite stumbling several times. Intention is not a guarantee, it’s just the foundation for accomplishment.

There’s a huge difference between “wanting” and “intending.” It applies to golf, business, relationships, “life” and especially to winning. We all want stuff, but I assert that we seldom actually, really intend to have it. We don’t demand to have it.

Intending is a conscious decision, a “no kidding” commitment to yourself.

The dictionary says:

1 : A course of action that one intends to follow.

2 : A determination to act in a certain way : RESOLVE

3 : What one intends to do or bring about

synonyms INTENTION, INTENT, PURPOSE, DESIGN, AIM, END, OBJECT, OBJECTIVE, GOAL mean what one intends to accomplish or attain.

If you’re a shooter, a competitor, or desire to survive an armed confrontation, work on your intention. Give this conversation some thought.

We’ve all met “wannabee’s” who focus on wanting the goodies in life, the success, the recognition, the wins, the money, the prizes.  When you hear someone talk about what they want in business, life or the shooting sports what do you really hear?  Can you hear their intention (or lack of it)? You may not have thought about this but actually, you do listen for it. We all do. I request you listen for it in yourself.

If you notice, you can often tell who simply wants something and someone who intends to have it.

You know yourself as well. There’s a lot that you want, but what do you really intend having?

The test might be that you see yourself in action to achieve what you intend, that you are unstoppable, persistent, committed.  You certainly notice that in others, judge their intent by their actions in support of what they say they are committed to having.

I suggest you actually give this some thought.  What do you actually intend?  What are you willing to put your butt on the line for?  What will you declare to someone else that you are committed to having?  Do you intend to win?  Do you intend to develop the skills necessary? Are you willing to get the training you need?  Will you survive an armed confrontation? Someone said, “we either have the results or the reasons why not.”

Notice if your actions reflect what you say you are committed to accomplishing. See if you can feel the intensity of commitment and intention you see in Tiger Woods. You may find a new level of power to have what you want for yourself.

There is recent brain science that suggest that your brain will organize itself to bring about what you say out loud and intend to have happen.  It’s way beyond “woo, woo stuff.” It’s called intention.

If you intend to succeed in business, your career, your relationships and certainly in shooting competition or in surviving a potential armed attack then distinquish intention for yourself.  Have a conversation about it with other like-minded friends. Have a look for yourself, at yourself, to see if you just want it or if you intend to have it.

I invite your thoughts and discussion on this topic.

31 August 2009

Editor, Los Angeles Times

Dear Editor:

You join legions of others in describing Ted Kennedy as having been “compassionate” (”Ted Kennedy, America’s conscience,” August 30).  Aware that I’ll come across as low-brow – as unable to appreciate the transformative magic of politics – I must ask: What’s compassionate about spending other people’s money and minding other people’s business?

Suppose Mr. Kennedy were my neighbor.  One day he arrives at my door with a handful of other neighbors (all carrying concealed weapons) and demands some of my money and tells me that he’ll regulate what I eat, drink, and smoke.  “And I’ll stop your teenage son from being employed if no employer offers him a wage at least as high as one that my friends here and I determine is appropriate.”

I gaze at him aghast.  “Oh, don’t worry.  Because my undying dream is to help others, I’ll spend the money that I take from you in ways that will help you.  But I’ll also spend much of it helping people on the other side of the tracks.  And any restrictions that I impose on your behavior are ones that, you can be sure, spring only from my compassion for you and others.”

Should I regard neighbor Kennedy as great and compassionate – as a gallant champion of the interests of others?  Or should I regard him as an arrogant bully, as fraudulent as he is dangerous?

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030