From Roller Coaster To Quantum Leap – The Heart-Led Approach To Goal Setting
Written by: Darla Delayne, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight thin their area of expertise.
In the ever-changing world of businesses that have opted to focus on mindset and leadership, a profound shift is underway—an evolution from the traditional brain-led, predictable model to a heart-led approach that embraces infinite possibilities, inspiration, and creativity. This transformation goes way beyond personal development; it's a radical change in every facet of the business model, challenging the stuck patterns of “how we’ve always done it” and making way for a more holistic and fulfilling approach that garners more productivity and profit.
The masculine-feminine energy balance in goal setting
Let’s use goal setting as an example. Traditionally, goal setting has been dominated by a masculine focus, emphasizing comparison, competition, and linear massive action. The celebration of achievements only occurs upon the completion of a specific outcome of which usually, no one has complete control. This leaves individuals and businesses in a cycle of blame, shame, guilt, and punishment. This old method perpetuates an emotional roller coaster, where success feels fleeting and more often than not, the rest of the time it just feels bad in some way.
This shift calls for a flipped and more balanced approach, incorporating feminine energy before taking any masculine energy actions. The visionary role of a CEO is redefined to primarily focus on creating a vibrational reality aligned with the company's vision. By calibrating to this vibrational energy or emotion, leaders open themselves up to inspiration, making the journey not only more enjoyable but also more efficient and in the end, profitable.
Introducing heart-led business model
This heart-led business model changes the order of action to feeling and intuition first then planning, structures, and systems. Even then these structures and systems are utilized as placeholders or containers for the inspired creation. Gone is rigid planning based on past known outcomes and maybe allowing for a little time for the creative process even then, only in certain areas. The emphasis is on creating a vision grounded in vibrational energy and emotion. The process starts with the CEO envisioning the desired outcome, calibrating to its vibration, and allowing inspired actions to unfold organically unlike the mind-led process of planning and predicting the 'how,' this approach welcomes infinite possibilities.
Key benefits of a heart-led business model for the business owner
Always Meeting Goals: By shifting the focus from working harder to working smarter by aligning actions with a heart-led vision focused on the goal being inspired actions.
Knowing The Next Right Action: Embracing a confident and focused emotional intention daily approach, ensuring alignment with the overarching vision.
Celebrating Every Step: Feeling the positive emotions associated with getting the actions in the plan done at every stage, fostering a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Instead of focusing on what the outcomes are from the actions.
Creating More with Less: Experiencing increased productivity and efficiency by integrating ease and flow into daily operations.
My goal-setting journey from frustration and worry to ease and happiness
Before I created this method, I was all about planning and goal-setting- LOVED IT!
Then days would pass, weeks, and I was on this roller coaster of “achievement” and in turn on an “emotional roller coaster.” This then became an endless cycle of thoughts that included not feeling good enough, feeling guilty, punishing myself, risking feeling bad if I didn’t reach my goals, and massive action that in the end only made things slower. Plus I was only feeling good when the outcome goal was reached and even then, it was just for a hot second. Often I found myself stretching the truth or outright lying about results to not be “in trouble” or feel stupid, bad, or humiliated. In most industries I was in, our outcome goals and current placement were tracked, broadcasted, ranked, etc. So everyone knew and the judgment and comparison were used as a motivator to work harder to reach goals and that old goal-setting system just didn’t work. Even when I owned my own business I did this to myself.
I knew there had to be a better way for me to have what I wanted so I began investigating. I wanted to feel better along the way, not just after the condition occurred and I found when I didn’t focus so much on the outcome and just enjoyed what I was doing more, I ended up having better results. I also knew the meaning of “goals” wasn’t working for me. I was tired of being held responsible for things I had no control over and this led to creating a system to “brainhack” old goal-setting models I call Intention Planning. Using this new system was able to feel how meeting these “goals” makes me feel more often and longer. I began to be sure of my next right action more often and felt my confidence soar. Eventually, I started having more happen with less work, more ease, and was much happier overall. Over the years, I have taught my clients to use this method as well, and they have all had the same results when using it consistently.
Definition changes: A guide to heart-led language
Using the Intention Planning process to set goals instead of the old way, ensures meeting all goals without working harder. There are some key definitions to guide a business owner through heart-led language, emphasizing intentions, decisions, and goals. This new vocabulary encourages a shift from risk, guilt, and punishment to confidence, inspiration, and celebration.
Here are the most impactful words with new meanings for use in the Intention Planning method:
Vision- A process of allowing the self to see the mental picture of wanted outcomes through the guidelines of “what do I really want if I could have, be, or do anything without limitations and was connected to infinite possibilities and abundance.” This used to be defined as GOALS.
Intention- The feeling or the emotion felt when creating this vision and what it will feel like to see it all manifest. This used to be defined as ACTIONS needed to get the GOALS or the plan plus predict equals a known outcome process steeped in past experience.
Inspired Action Goals- The goals become the completion of actions you want to take that are in alignment with the intention. These are all actions you are in control of taking. Therefore, if you take the actions… you meet your goal.
Once these new meanings are shifted, this heart-led success model using the Intention Planning Method is broken down into three practical steps.
3 Steps to always meeting goals
Debrief: Go through a specific list of questions designed to reflect on the plan made from the intentional emotions and inspired action goals from a prior period ie; last year, quarter, week, or day. Release what no longer serves and embrace what aligns with the heart-led vision to take into the next period.
Plan: Use the visioning process for the upcoming period, ie, next year, quarter, week, or day. Envision without limits and then define the intention emotion. Next, set the inspired action goals. Go through a list of specific questions designed to align these inspired actions with the overarching vision and check for what might be in the way of getting these done.
Implement: Execute the plan by taking the inspired action goals while embracing flexibility and fitting it into a daily routine that leaves space for synchronicities, synergy, removing resistance, and convicted decision-making.
In essence, this heart-led revolution challenges the status quo, introducing a paradigm shift that prioritizes feeling, intuition, and celebration throughout the journey, making success not only achievable but enjoyable and longer lasting. There is an important place for planning, structures, and systems that occur in support of the vision and after the intuitive creativity, instead of before. As businesses embrace this transformation, a new era of leadership and mindset unfolds—one that promises fulfillment, efficiency, and infinite possibilities.
If you’d like to see the entire Intention Planning process go here for the free Quantum Leap Intensive and visit here for more information.
Darla Delayne, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Darla Delayne is a master coach and speaker whose expertise in educational psychology has served her well in her 35+ years in business. With experience ranging from the real estate and entertainment industries to several direct sales businesses, she got her start by selling encyclopedia’s door to door after she left public and corporate education. Darla is founder and CEO of SHE’S C.E.O. that empowers women to skyrocket success and multiply their time through a fusion of mindset, energy and business structure and strategy. It offers business coaching as well as in-depth courses for startups through scaling. Darla’s mission is to make business education available to women around the world.
