Capacity > intention

If setting intentions is a sport, I’m your Olympic pro.

I’m big on intentions, on being intentional. My monthly goals are all about intentions, not S.M.A.R.T. goals. I believe every dream come true, every achievement, every result, starts from intention. The more singular and committed the intention, the more powerful.

But recently I read something that breaks that illusion:

Most people are not failing to change because they lack discipline, insight or desire. They are failing because they are trying to create from a place that is not currently accessible… Creation, healing, and growth do not begin with intention alone. They begin with capacity. When the body does not feel safe, meaning cannot anchor. When the story is fragmented, energy leaks… This is why the work must meet you where you are, not where you think you should be… Access always precedes ascension. Capacity always comes before coherence. - Arno, Anatomy of the Avatar

It resonated deeply. Because I have been there.

Because I was in survival mode financially, I had no capacity and could not stick to building a SaaS, even though I had bucket loads of intention and drive. Because I was so chronically stressed out, sleep deprived and exhausted, I had no capacity for building health, exercising, eating well.

Before you thrive you got to survive.
Before you thrive you got to have capacity for thriving.

I dare say, I had none for the past five years.
It’s only recently that I started to feel like I got some spare capacity.
But it’s so easy to squander that. So easy.
One small crisis, a late night or two, and it’s gone.

So now I know my work now.
I got to build capacity first.
That small buffer I feel now? Layer on that.

3 to 6 months savings.
Multiple sources of income.
Carry my 20kg kid without panting.
Not been ill for 6 months or more.
No sleep debt.
High quality sleep for months.
Wife and kid thriving.
Antifragility.

I can set intentions like a pro all day, but without capacity, it’s just pretend play.

Capacity, before intention.