Intentionomics

Intentionomics®

The impact of your intentions on living a happy, flourishing and prosperous life

David Penglase

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © David Penglase

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The information, views, opinions and visuals expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the publisher. The publisher disclaims any liabilities or responsibilities whatsoever for any damages, libel or liabilities arising directly or indirectly from the contents of this publication.

A copy of this publication can be found in the National Library of Australia.

ISBN: 978-1-742842-00-4 (pbk.)

Edited by Karen Burge

Cover design by Clive Jones

RedEgg Design: www.redeggdesign.net.au

Published by Book Pal

www.bookpal.com.au

To my sons Matthew and Anthony.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: About Intentionomics®

Chapter 3: Define a prosperous life for you

Chapter 4: Take stock of your truth about you

Chapter 5: Define your intention for each life role

Chapter 6: Control your inner voice

Chapter 7: Develop intentional success habits

Chapter 8: Pursue intentional aspirational goals

Chapter 9: Build intentional trust relationships

Chapter 10: Develop a Thirst For Intentional Learning

Chapter 11: It’s your intentional choice

Afterword: The Intentionomics® Community

Chapter One

Introduction

In May 2011 our eldest son, Matthew, turned 21 and our youngest son, Anthony, turned 18 on the very same weekend.

Such a special occasion called for a meaningful speech. But what began as some dot points on a piece of paper soon turned into a letter I would give my sons on their birthdays. And from that letter grew this book.

My intention in writing to my sons was to provide them with a set of key principles that would help guide their way to a happy, flourishing and prosperous life. This is also my intention for you.

In this book you will be introduced to the concept of Intentionomics® and the nine inescapable truths that we need to confront in order to live a prosperous life.

These truths are practical, achievable and backed by research and, as you apply each to your life, you will develop an enhanced ability to:

• Define what a prosperous life means for you

• Build self-belief and strength of character

• Improve the results you achieve in each of your life roles

• Manage the ‘tough stuff’ life can throw your way

• Develop success habits that are easy to learn and apply

• Build and maintain higher levels of focus and internal motivation to pursue any aspirational goals you might seek

• Attract and develop stronger levels of ‘trust relationships’

• Tap into the power of intentional learning to ensure you are personally growing and not stagnating

• Apply an intentional decision-making process to help you make confident and consistent wise choices

When you work on each of these inescapable truths you will discover that you have the tools you need to help you live the prosperous life you deserve.

What you’re about to read draws on over three decades of my personal and academic research, application, experience and reflection. The collation of wisdom, however, reaches back over centuries.

From time to time in this book I will refer to some of that research but, in the main, I have resisted so that you can test and validate for yourself the power of Intentionomics® and these nine inescapable truths for a prosperous life.

What I am sharing is the method I have applied and continue to apply to my own life in partnership with Liz (my best friend, wife and business partner), and the results that we have achieved together. We can proudly say that we are living a prosperous life that is happy and flourishing.

A quest for knowledge has been an ongoing journey for me. I have a degree in Human Resource Development, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Masters degree in Professional Ethics. My academic studies have led me on a search for deeper understanding and validation, introducing me to the works of ancient and modern philosophers and some of our best thought leaders. This hunger to discover more and to uncover the meaning of our lives and purpose continues to this day.

What I know is this: I was not born with a gift of greater intelligence than the average person. I was not born into wealth. I have not had to overcome incredibly adverse personal situations nor have I been faced with the challenge of a physical disability. Sure, my life has been touched by moments that have been tough, sad and trying but isn’t that true for most of us?

I am convinced that my sense of prosperity in life comes from my understanding and application of Intentionomics® and these nine inescapable truths. I know that if it has worked for someone like me, who has been raised in an everyday family in a small country town, with no greater gifts or good fortune than most others, then it can work for you too. And that’s definitely worth sharing.

I am confident that as you read this book and consider what I am presenting, you will reach the same conclusion that I have, and come to recognise the inescapability of these truths.

The principles, ideas and suggestions woven throughout these pages will resonate with you, possibly challenge you and, most importantly, provide you with a personal philosophy and blueprint that you can adopt and immediately integrate into your daily life with comfort, confidence and pride.

The results you will achieve in your ever-changing life roles, relationships and personal and business goals will surprise you, and propel you to look forward with increased hope, positivity and trust in yourself and in your decisions.

Wisdom is all around you. Wisdom wants you to discover it. More importantly, wisdom wants you to go beyond just knowing. As the Eastern philosopher Confucius advises: The essence of knowledge is, having it, to use it.

I ask that as you read, be a good learner – make notes, ask questions about your own truth as it becomes more apparent to you and commit to my recommendations, or what I will refer to as intentional action.

In closing this introductory chapter, I thought you might like to read the letter I wrote to my sons to introduce them to these nine inescapable truths for a prosperous life. I hope it offers you a greater understanding of how and why this book came to light.

To Matthew and Anthony,

My dear sons, in this year of your 21st and 18th birthdays, I started to plan what I would say at your birthday parties. I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of both of you.

You both possess a wonderful spirit and character which will see you succeed in whatever you set your minds and your God-given talents to achieve.

I have been thinking, reflecting, researching and recording the key lessons I’ve learned in my life so far and I want to share these with you. I want to thank you both because this process has helped me crystallise what I refer to as Intentionomics® and nine inescapable truths that will help you live a happy, flourishing and prosperous life.

Please understand that I don’t say that lightly.

With all of my heart, my intention for you, my wish for you is that you both live a happy, flourishing and prosperous life, and I know that when you read and apply these inescapable truths you certainly will be able to do just that.

Matthew and Anthony, the two of you were born with the capacity to live a prosperous life. In fact, I believe this to be true for most, if not all, human beings.

Now you may be asking yourselves what of people born with disabilities, into poverty or into some other environment of adversity? And I hope you have asked yourselves that question. That’s what I encourage you to do… to ask questions. Because your questions are what will open and reveal to you the pages of life’s wisdom.

History has proven time and time again that human beings afflicted with incredibly difficult lives and experiences can find ways to make the best of their negative situations and, in some way, turn things around to create a meaningful and prosperous life.

This is why I know it to be a truth that we are born with the capacity to live a prosperous life.

I will not provide you with exhaustive historic case studies to validate everything I am sharing with you. I have chosen to do this on purpose so that you might be inspired to seek out your own ways of validation and I encourage you to do that. Having an intentional thirst for learning is one of the inescapable truths for a prosperous life that I will be sharing with you.

What I know is that your own truth and experiences will quickly validate these inescapable truths and I encourage you to think, reflect and learn from what your truth tells you.

As I share with you what I have learned about Intentionomics® and these nine inescapable truths for a prosperous life, I want you to know that some of the lessons were not always learned at the time of the experience.

What I have realised is that at times you will have life experiences that are good, bad, happy, sad, easy, tough, poignant and sometimes seemingly meaningless. That’s simply life!

I am convinced, however, that all our experiences teach us something. It may be days, months or even years before the real lesson becomes clear to you.

This is what I refer to as the life-lesson paradox.

I’m going to give you examples of the life-lesson paradox from my own journey so far. You’ll read about the time my Dad (your Grampy Frosty) and I went fishing when I was about ten years old, and he taught me a great lesson that I didn’t really learn until much later in life.

You’ll also learn how the gift of a book at the age of 18 set my future direction and continues to be my guide, year after year, to this very day.

I will share with you a few personal experiences and in some, I will remind you of where we have had to pull together as a family unit to keep strong and positive – where the lessons were so obvious that they were like big signposts with flashing lights to make sure they were noticed.

I have written this for you as a part of my legacy to you. I hope that as you read these words and formulate your own unique understanding of whatever lessons you learn, that you too will one day pass on your life’s lessons to your own children and to others. I believe that it is when we teach others that we teach ourselves and come to understand things at a deeper level.

You already know that I, like you, am only human. And in saying that, I cannot with hand on heart tell you in truth that I have always consciously chosen to act on each of these inescapable truths you will soon learn. However, when that has been the case, because of the inescapability of Intentionomics®, one or more of these nine truths has re-taught me a lesson and I have found myself once again realigning my actions with intention.

In saying this, I trust that as you reflect on our time together you realise I have tried to live true to this philosophy and model the behaviours outlined. Because what I know is that in applying Intentionomics® and these nine inescapable truths for a prosperous life, magic happens…and I know you have witnessed this in our family.

With all my love, let me now begin to share with you the power of Intentionomics® and the impact of your intentions on yourself and on others.

******

That letter to my sons was the genesis of this book.

Let me now introduce you to Intentionomics® and nine inescapable truths for a prosperous life.

Chapter Two

About Intentionomics®

I’d like to begin with a promise that what you are about to read will help you achieve prosperity. And I assure you I don’t make this commitment lightly.

What I’m about to share with you is unshakable in its truth and practicality.

Let me first familiarise you with a foundation principle I will refer to often in this book: People Get Your Truth! Your words, responses and actions will reflect your inner truth and will be clear for others to see.

This is one of the most powerful and easily applied principles I have learned. While it might seem simple on the surface, when you buy into it (and I genuinely hope you do), this basic concept can make a huge difference to you and those you come into contact with. I will expand on this foundation principle in a number of ways throughout this book so that you can really grasp its power and personally apply it to help you live a prosperous life.

Understanding Intentionomics®

If you were to take a look at the term ‘intention’ it would probably conjure up thoughts of having a strong purpose, aim or goal matched with an unwavering determination to achieve it. I would like to offer an alternative view.

Let’s start with the principle that people get your truth. When I talk about intention I am referring to the ‘truth’ of your intention – the underlying reason behind your intention. I like to think of it as your ‘bigger WHY’ – the greater purpose behind your action. Why do you intend to do what you have chosen?

I need to explain here in a little more detail what I mean by intentional action. There is a difference between having the intention to do something and understanding the reason behind the intention. You might intend to sell something to a customer. However, your intention (your bigger WHY) to sell something to a customer could be: (a) to make a sale, (b) to keep your job, (c) to feel good about yourself, (d) to be salesperson of the month, or (e) to genuinely help a customer achieve what they want.

If you were the customer, which of the above intentions would you hope your salesperson genuinely has? I’m fairly confident you’d want the salesperson to have a genuine intention to help you achieve what you want. If you got a sense that the salesperson intended to just sell you something so they could attract