Alignment&Intent

When I chose the word Alignment to be my word for 2026, it was because there were times I felt mis- aligned with some of my actions and choices. Which became even more magnified when I was placed in a leadership role. Because I was no longer the sole bearer of the consequences of my choices, others too had now been added into the mix. So, whilst on this so journey to alignment I stumbled upon clarity which eventually led me to an encounter with intent. Today though Intent will be the start of this story, with clarity acting in a supporting role.

One of my major struggles in the beginning of my leadership endeavors was the internal conflict between my decisions and their alignment with a greater goal. And in all honesty not wanting to face this silent conflict was one of the things that stopped me from embracing leadership roles before this. Because in my eyes it always seemed like the people, I saw in such positions effortlessly handled this dilemma quite well. But in hind sight I now see that it was also about me not truly trusting myself and the decisions I make.

In our Code Blossom book club, we are currently reading the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown and in it he talks a lot about identifying what is essential from what is not and contributing factors included clarity and intent. Something I realized was missing in my own choice buffet, clarity being something I had to address first. Thoughts and feelings of not feeling sure about my presence in that particular position really made me second guess what I was doing. Thus, my decisions often felt very muddled up in indecision. Whilst pondering on this information I came across this statement about how clarity affects the power and impact of our choices. Similar to a focused laser beam that will have much more force than a scattered beam.

And while over the years I have gained clarity in the why of my choices, this was affected when I found myself in a position that required me to tackle unresolved issues. And it was in those moments that my choices did not have power and impact they needed. Which in advertently led me to question the integrity of what I was doing in the first place. At the same time, I had discovered this deficiency in my choice making regimen, there was something else that needed attention and that was my intention.

An intent is defined as a purpose, aim or plan to achieve something. It is the end result you wish to see or achieve after performing several tasks, and I was reminded of this recently after I created an application. And yes, this is a shameless plug but if the intent is right why not right? The app is called endo-nourish tracker and it helps women notice patterns between their diets and their challenges they face with their cycle. As well as helping women with endometriosis symptoms adjust their eating habits accordingly. I built it as a tool that could help me with my own challenges with endometriosis and also other women like me.

When I shared the web application to some fellow women, I was truly amazed at the feedback and need I was addressing. In reflecting about the whole thing, I realized that what I was experiencing was the intent(purpose) I had hoped my actions would bring. Also linking to the fact that the clarity in making this choice was very clear. My intent was to offer help and hope to women who could not otherwise get the medical help that they needed. Whilst also empowering then in making decisions about their cycle health. What an Aha moment, this truly was for me.

This has helped me in my Alignment journey because, it expanded my awareness of the importance of these two things. Leading to a more form fitting of this new roles and positions that I am stepping into. So, whether you need this form fitting to happen in, a new position, new location the key is to pay particular attention to intent.