One Critical Thing that Founders Forget when Setting Goals

As high-achieving Founders, we make a common mistake with setting goals: we forget to set INTENTIONS along with our goals.

Here are my thoughts on the difference and why it’s important:

A GOAL is a tangible outcome that is concrete, objective, and observable. A goal can be written as, “I / We want to accomplish X by Y”. 

A goal is something we arrive at by doing things, hopefully in a SMART (specific, measurable, etc.) way.

An INTENTION is an intangible experience that is subjective and fluid - it can’t necessarily be specific, measurable, or well-defined. An intention can be written as, “We want to be / feel / express ABC as we are working to accomplish X by Y”. 

We don’t arrive at an intention as we do with a goal. We become the intention itself as we take needed actions towards the goal and as a result, intentions inform our process towards the goal. 

For example, one of my clients is a highly-driven CTO / co-founder of a startup SaaS company. His most important business goal is to get the next version of their product in front of at least 3 enterprise customers within 3 months. 

However, in speaking through his current challenges, he has identified that conflicts have arisen between him and his co-founder due to differences in working style. As a result, they constantly second-guess each other.

In working together, my client has clarified his most important intention: to build trust with his co-founder. To him, this means: 

1. Increasing the frequency and consistency of check-ins and 

2. Communicating more open / honestly about what they are working on and how they are feeling about it. 

My client’s goal creates a sense of business direction. His intention is a critical choice that informs the process and way in which he takes actions towards the goal, which can make working towards the goal more effective by including something that might otherwise hinder progress (e.g., my client and his co-founder’s relationship).

Goals are created with our minds. Intentions are set with our hearts. 

So whether we are setting goals for ourselves or our businesses, goals can point us towards achievement and intentions point us towards fulfillment. 

Reflection Questions:

1. What are your most important goals?

2. How do you measure progress towards the goal?

3. What intentions do you need to set alongside your current goals?

4. What observable actions or behaviors express these intentions?