#Intentions

When Actions Eclipse Intentions in Meaningful Work

To honor the maxim, build scaffolds that carry intentions into the world: define a concrete “done” for each goal, schedule it on the calendar, and use implementation intentions to trigger action. Timebox work, ship small increments, and seek rapid feedback to turn outcomes into teachers. Finally, conduct regular after-action reviews that ask not what you meant, but what changed. In this cadence, intentions keep their noble place—as the compass—while actions draw the map others can follow, fulfilling Picasso’s claim that only what we do truly counts. [...]

Visible Intentions Shape How the World Responds

Finally, intentions gain power when expressed as interfaces others can use. Replace vague aspirations with prototypes, memos, dashboards, or weekly demos—Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work (2014) captures this ethos. Write a one-page brief naming the problem, the why, the next step, and how to help; publish milestones and evidence of progress. By externalizing intent in concrete artifacts, you create signals the world can read—and, crucially, respond to. [...]

Sowing Intentions, Harvesting Results Through Honest Work

Finally, consider a young translator on Chile’s coast who planted a lemon sapling and a practice: one line rendered each dawn. She tied effort to a cue—coffee’s first aroma—and noted obstacles the night before. Weeks later, the sapling showed its first glossy leaves as her notebook filled with careful drafts; months later, small blossoms appeared as chapters cohered. There was no heroic sprint, only honest work and steady tending. When the first fruit ripened, she pressed its zest over fish and read her finished pages aloud—a quiet harvest, earned in increments. [...]