Picking up from where we left off from where we left off with Part 1 of this series, it’s probably important to discuss intentionality in the context of investing, right? The logical thought is that the more intentional and focused I am with my money today, the more that my money will work for me tomorrow. Dave Ramsey says it nearly every day, “live like no one else today, so you can live and give like no one else tomorrow.” The foundation of intentionality is not only a psychological construct but also an action and reaction component that determines if the intention is positive and yields the desired outcome.
Mud is fun to play with, but it won’t grow anything without seeds
How do I reach my end goal if I’m not intentional? Most of you have likely heard the phrase that a farmer who plants cabbage cannot expect to grow corn. Another that states the farmer who waters the soil every day, makes sure to clean the weeds, and always watches for sunlight on his farm only has muddy soil if he doesn’t plant any seeds. Intentionality takes not only the reasonable steps but also the proper steps forward to bring success or the desired outcome. The Social Cognitive Science Research Center at Brown University identified five key components that makeup people’s concept of intentionality, and thus, an action is intentional if:
1. There is a desire for an outcome
2. A belief that the action will lead to the outcome
3. An intention/desire to perform the action
4. Skill to perform the action
5. Awareness while performing it
You can read the study here: Intentionality | Malle Lab (brown.edu)
So, intentionality is not only the longing for a specific outcome or action to achieve it, but intentionality requires the right action at the right time to reach the end goal. There is no way that we all have the proper skill set to accomplish every goal we set. No matter how hard I try, I can never learn everything in the world. So, what do we do? As stated in Proverbs 19:20-21, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”. We seek advice from our mentors, pastors, teachers, supervisors, family, friends, and others. We learn from each other and base our growth, trajectory, and decisions based off of what we learn. This is an act of intentionality, and incorporating these learnings continues to build our intentionality mindset.
Desire vs Intentionality
In the research shared above, the team at Brown University further defines desire vs. intentionality. The desire I have to accomplish a goal versus the intentional steps I’ve taken to achieve that dream should be defined clearly. Their research segmented desires as wants, as any ‘conceivable state’ and is the input function for the goal. On the other hand, the intention that one has is the ‘actionable state’ and the output function for that goal. Remember that neither addresses the capability or capacity to accomplish the objective.
Too academic?
Unfortunately (or fortunately), we don’t stop there. This week, I hope you take away that the foundation of an intention, intentionality, or the intentional mindset is a desire for an outcome, belief the action will lead to the result, intention to perform the required action, skillset to perform it, and the awareness (right or wrong) while performing the action.
To help reach our financial goals, we need the support of our trusted financial advisors to get us to the end goal because we don’t know everything, and we should take it! We’ll dive deeper into creating an intentional mindset in upcoming articles, so stay tuned!
Intentionality Series: Part 2
October 7, 2024
Summit Puri
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