“Intention gives awareness direction.” — Oprah Winfrey
Building a brand wth intention means: being focused and aligned to save time, money, and resources. It helps you clear out the clutter and communicate effectively because you know who you are, what you are about, and what you want.
Once you have laid out your 4 P’s (People, Purpose, Positioning, and Personality), the One-Word Intention Exercise helps you focus all your newly uncovered big brand energy into an inspirational word as you tackle your initiatives plan. I love doing this exercise with clients, Masterclass attendees, and BBF students. It’s such a delight to hear that one magical word that will be your mantra for the coming period, and it amazes me how quickly it comes up because it just feels right. And when it doesn’t feel right anymore — usually because you’ve integrated it successfully — you can always choose a new one that is more aligned with where you are. It starts with a bit of reflection through asking yourself these questions (and I find it helps to write down your answers).
Step 1: Reflection
What have I learned or gained in the past year?
What do I want more of in this next year that I’m not currently doing?
What can I let go of (leave in the past) that is no longer serving me/my business?
From that, what can I keep and take into the next year?
Step 2: Intention
Were there any words that keep coming up for you during this exercise?
Can you think of any ideas to put this word into action?
The goal would be to find a word that resonates with you, a word you can conjure up as you’re tackling your initiatives, a word that embodies the energy you want inward and outward. The purpose is to be INTENTIONAL as we move forward in our daily lives. This one-word mantra keeps you focused and keep you and your team aligned and going in the same direction, towards the same bigger goal.
Some words for inspiration:
Accept Achieve Adventure Align All in Allow Anchor Awe Balance Be Begin Believe Bloom Bold Boundaries Brave Breathe Bright Build Care Celebrate Challenge Change Cherish Committed Compassion Complete Compose Connect Courage Create Cultivate Delight Devote Discipline Do Dwell Embrace Emerge Enjoy Enough Experience Experiment Explore Faith Flourish Fly Focus Forward Free Fresh Future Generous Gently Give Go Grace Grow Happiness Heart Home Honest Intentional Invest Journey Joy Learn Less Light Listen Love Magic Make Meaningful Mercy Mindful Moment More Move Nourish Nurture Open Order Patience Peace Persevere Play Positive Practice Prepare Present Progress Purge Purpose Quiet Refresh Release Renew Reset Revive Rise Seek Share Shine Show up Simplify Smile Space Sparkle Speak up Strengthen Strive Strong Surrender Thrive Time Treasure True Trust Understand Value Wander Wonder Wellness Whole Wholehearted Wisdom
Words I’ve used in the past include: POWER, LIGHT, LEVEL UP, HONOR.
What’s next? Take your one-word intention and build out an initiatives plan with the help of my “Progression Waterfall” exercise. Or, take the full extensive Brand Building Foundations Course to build a brand you can be proud of, focused and intentional with the impact you want to create.
And look out for my upcoming book Make Your Mark, Make It Matter to provide you with a framework and concrete exercises that help you bring what you want into reality!
