I was talking with Tim Morris from Intentional Influence last night via Skype. At some point in the conversation we touched upon being more “intentional” and Tim said something that really stuck with me.
Direction not intention determines destination. – Tim Morris
I can “intend” to do all sorts of things, but until I point myself in that direction and start dong them, I won’t ever get to my destination or reach my goals because I’m not headed towards them.
For example:
If you want to go to the North Pole, but you’re headed west, no matter how much you intend to go to the North Pole, you will never get there. Unless you change your direction, you’ll just end up going west.
Or
If intend to complete an Ironman, but never take the steps to orient myself in the direction to do that, and be in the physical shape to do it, I’ll never actually do it. I’ll just be a guy who talks about it.
In other words, belief, without action, is dead.
Intention implies belief. Direction requires action.
It’s a simple distinction that we gloss over a surprising number of times.
Christopher Columbus intended to go to India. His direction took him to America. Slight miscalculation.
You can stumble your way to your destination if you’re pointed in the right direction, but you’ll have a hard time getting there, no matter how intentional you are, if you’re headed the other way.
Be intentional, but more importantly, be directional.
Update: Tim let me know in the comments that the quote is actually from Andy Stanley’s book The Principal of the Path, and it’s not a Tim Morris original quote. Unfortunately, I don’t know Andy, but I do know Tim and he did pass the quote on to me, so I’m going to still go ahead and give him partial credit
My name is Joel Runyon and I write about pushing your limits and telling a great story by 
Right on course with this post, Joel.
This is the major flaw with the “Law of Attraction,” as well: simply willing something to happen will never make it come to pass if your actions aren’t in-line with your thoughts.
The mind has to come first, but actions have to follow.
Hey man – love the contribution. Well said.
Actions follow thoughts. it makes me wonder where some peoples thoughts are when I observe their actions.
HAHA!
It’s interesting to see the difference between what we say and what we do. I’m aiming for congruency between the two.
Exactly.
Exactly
Action is a must.
Love this post Joel. I was so pumped when this came up in our conversation. I saw some static between your ears and knew something was going to come from it. I love the direction requires action part of it. That is where the influence comes from on my site. The intention is great because it calculates but then the influence is the action. Making it happen. Love this post man.
One minor adjustment though – I got the quote from a book and just passed it on to you as I thought it would help. If anyones wants to read more on it. The book was “The Principle of the Path” by Andy Stanley.
Again – Thanks Joel. We have got to talk again sometime soon.
Thank you sir. Enjoyed the talk quite a bit. I’ve updated the post to reflect the source of the quote – although I’ll still give you partial credit
. Thanks for the inspiration.
I’ve also heard this as…Inspiration without execution is hallucination. Thanks for the post!
Ooo. I like it!
I Like that too. Nice. Thanks for the input.
Joel,
Definitely something that people need to think about. You’re right that without direction, intention could be a completely useless endeavor. But I think that once somebody figures out the direction, intention will definitely play a role.
Excellent Srini.
Intention accompanies direction, but without direction, intention doesn’t stand alone.
Amen Joel!
Glad you liked it Dan!
[though not sure if this is for this post or the Think Traffic one]Nevermind, I’m dumbHey Joel,
yeah – the greatest intent in the world won’t repair stupid action !
I make sure that my intention flows with my direction, even if that means that I have to adjust along the ride.
BTW – your guest post over at Think Traffic is awesome – especially the trickster headline and the actual content. Nicely done, sir !
Thanks Mars! That means a lot.
Being flexible & adjusting as you go is all part of the journey. It’s one of my favorite parts too!
Hi Joel. You know I’m a fan of your stuff, but in this case I’m going to have to disagree. I think you mischaracterise what ‘intention’ really means. Real intention isn’t paying lip service to an idea that you don’t really believe in. Nor is it mere wishful thinking. It’s understandable I suppose because the word is often used as an excuse, as in “I intended to” (do something that never happened). But many great teachers use that word to describe a deep knowing and resolve to bring about change. For me, “intention” and “direction” are very close, except that “intention” speaks more to the inner word, and “direction” speaks to the outer. While it’s difficult to argue that action doesn’t matter, it surely becomes impotent without the corresponding belief and strength of purpose. That’s what intention means to me.
Thanks for the interaction. I like your thought process. I would agree with you when you explain it that way. I would however, put you in a minority with regard to how most people think of intention. This sets you. From what you said it seems that you have a narrow gap between the two. Which is great.
The question I am curious of is what do you call it when you have a nice thought but are not convinced of it or ready to act on it (what we called intention)?
Hi Tim. Great to meet you. I guess you’re using the word “intention” in a similar vein as the proverb “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, meaning, I suppose, that it’s what you do, not what you meant to do that counts. Here I disagree again
but I guess that’s another discussion. To answer your question, I would use words like “doubtful”, “uncertain” or “indecisive” to describe that state of mind, or simply “gathering form” ~ every idea has to start somewhere 
Hi Tim ~ me again! I just learned your blog is called “Intentional Influence”, so I’m thinking you appreciate this alternative meaning of the word more than you’re letting on
The idea of congruency hits again
Lach, you should know better. I don’t allow disagreement here…everyone should agree with me 100% of the time. Got it?
BTW, totally agree with your redefinition of the word. A lot of times it IS used as an excuse rather than the definition you referred to (which, btw, I like a lot).
Both examples given are beginning with an intention “if I want to go to the northpol” or “want to complete an ironman”. So it always starts with intention. Without the intention I would head anywhere and get completely lost. I’d rather stand still with the intention than get lost. In the next step I define my direction, there are several ways to get to the north or to train myself for an ironman. Here I am defining my next step, the the action. So the formula is: intention – direction – action. Every action starts with intention. The intention behind can be conscious or unconscious, same with the direction. To live a conscious life means to bring awareness into every step, from intention to direction to action.
Intention – direction – action. I think you hit the forumla on the head. Unfortunately, nothing happens without action and if your action isn’t focused by your intention, then what you do usually isn’t as helpful or meaningful as it could be.