The motivation of an intention coin

Every once in a while one or the other of my kids comes up with something so brilliant it amazes me.

My daughter just e-mailed me to let me know she’d created an “Intention coin,” and, curious about the name, I went to her Etsy site and read her description.

And I loved the concept. I love the power of taking something ephemeral and making it tangible, putting it in front of yourself, and using it to improve your life.

I also loved the post on her blog. Take a look at what she wrote and tell me what sort of intangible you want to make real this year. Put it into words that would fit on your Intention coin.

I’ll do a random drawing Tuesday, February 1st and buy an Intention coin (no, I don’t get ’em for free 😀 ) for each of five winners. And I’ll cover shipping, too.

As for me, TAXES are still ongoing. [shudder]

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369 responses to “The motivation of an intention coin”

  1. Rebecca Laffar-Smith Avatar

    I know it’s too late to win a coin, I’m going to buy one in a minute. 🙂

    But, I just wanted to share what I want on mine this year.
    “Believe in yourself!”

    As I was writing up my primary goals and objectives for the year last month I found a recurring theme that showed me that my greatest weaknesses stem from a lack of faith in my own abilities and the path I’m meant to walk in my life. So, my “intention” this year is to “believe” in myself.

    And, what a fantastic idea to have this stamped on a coin. A talisman is much better than a post-it near my desk!

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Yes, it is too late for me to recieve a coin, but that intention has been written on my heart for years. Thank you, I don’t need one.

    I do love to write. [See? I’m doing it again.]

    And yes, taxes are a tiresome job for some, but you can stay warm while you do them.

    From Dayton, Ohio, 21 degree [F] daytime high.

    Stay warm. Get those taxes done, then Do What You Love.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    Words?

    I could use words that motivate through fear.

    Temporary. Because life is, and I have no proof that there is anything after.

    Having been close to death, I don’t remember anything but nothing. No existence. Maybe I got cheated, didn’t get close enough for the whole “Near Death” experience, but without proof to the contrary, I have to believe that death is “Sleep without Dreams.” With that facing all of us in 100 years or less [halfway there, myself] why not do what I love, which is putting thought into print?

    Winter. Because that is when my business becomes almost impossible, and I have a hard time making a living, with so much incentive to stay home [and warm] while practicing something that may give me an opportunity to make a living at home [and warm]. I am also passing the Summer of my life, and entering Autumn. I have seen others going into the Winter of their life still doing what I am today. Not an experience I want to emulate. [Did I mention staying warm?]

    I would choose, rather, to be motivated by something positive.

    There is a phrase that I learned from Duke Clarke, who also mentioned “making dreams into reality”. He didn’t invent these ideas, he learned them, and passed them on.

    That one phrase that most motivates my writing —

    Do What You Love.

    The business I have now takes care of my family, and that responsibility comes first. However, when I can, I get my calloused, stained, cracked and scarred fingers on the keys, because someday, when I have learned enough, practiced enough, and produced enough, I will be able to make my living Doing What I Love. [And staying warm. I believe I mentioned that?]

  4. Virginia M. Avatar
    Virginia M.

    I know it’s late and consequently not part of the drawing but I just felt like adding mine especially in light of all that’s happened to Rebel Tales lately…

    Mine would say: Shrug.

    And yes, that’s an Ayn Rand reference if anyone’s wondering.

  5. Patricia Lockwood Avatar
    Patricia Lockwood

    I know I’m too late, but my “coin” needs to say “I’m Not Afraid. I Can Do This!”

  6. Zufishan Shah Avatar
    Zufishan Shah

    The Thrill of My Dreams Becoming Reality /Thrill Dreams Reality/

    (if the statement isn’t possible, then the words can be used instead…?)

    These three words sort of sum everything up for me. The thrill of my dreams becoming reality as i write is what keeps me going, the thrill all by itself as i write something particularily exciting, the reality of my day dreams emerging in a solid form… I love writing, and I hope to keep on writing forever.

    Your daughter had a great idea!

  7. Karen Aston Avatar
    Karen Aston

    My coin would say “leaf on the wind.”

    I stress so much about absolutely everything in my life. I am so tense sometimes I crack up. I’m a junior in high school, which some would say means I have it easier than adults, but I hope they’re wrong. I’m top of my class, my GPA is 4.52, but I live in constant terror of getting lower grades. I practically make myself sick over every test and paper. When I get them back with high grades, I don’t celebrate, even though I tell myself I should be happy — but a high grade isn’t a cause for celebration, it just means I haven’t failed yet. You see, I want to go to college, and my mother is doing the single mom thing and is multi-thousands in debt and trying to find part-time jobs in garden shops to keep us going, while still attending her Egyptian excavation every winter (she’s a PhD Egyptologist), and so I absolutely have to have a full-ride to college if I’m going to get to go at all… And of course, I’m panicking every night to try to find time to write amidst all this, and then worrying that my writing isn’t going anywhere.

    My older brother is always telling me not to worry. That it will work out. I have come to realize that it often does, and all my stress wasn’t entirely necessary. If I could relax, I could bend with the tides, flow with the breezes, and just believe in myself. I could discover the person beneath the panic, and start to live by loving life.

    I endeavor to become like a “leaf on the wind.”

  8. Brandy Woldstad Avatar
    Brandy Woldstad

    What a neat idea. I had a bit of insomnia tonight so I’m catching up on my reading. 🙂
    The thought in my mind is: “Go for it”. I tend to analyze and stall my dreams because of self-doubt and fear.

  9. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    I love love love the simple beauty of her intention coins; mine would say “Look Closer” to remind me that reality is sometimes hidden, often clouded by our own stuff and that it can be as easy as taking a breath and perceiving things a bit more carefully to find the truth that is there.

  10. Natalie Avatar
    Natalie

    I’ve done alot of thinking on this win. Right now, my leading contender is “Life is now.”

    I get caught up in what I’ve done before, or what I’ve tried before, that it’s hard to let go of past baggage. Especially when I realize that I may or may not want the same things anymore.

  11. Mare Avatar

    Great idea! I loved your daughter’s phrase as I can relate to the procrastinating. But I think, for me, it would be “Live for Now.” I’m always so obsessed with what has happened or what could happen, I never just live in the moment and lots of time end up paralyzed with fear of something that might not even happen.

  12. Sarah Neuendorff Avatar
    Sarah Neuendorff

    There have been alot of changes and upheavals in my life in the last few years.
    My coin would say ‘accept, learn, joy, passion’

  13. Moshimoshimea Avatar
    Moshimoshimea

    “Be Better to You”
    As a teenager, my parents were sure to point out the times when they felt I was being selfish. The repetitiveness of the remark created a phobia of wanting or doing anything for me. Sometimes, I attribute this response to the illusion of Southern selflessness and/or remnants of my mother’s multicultural youth. But as I get older, I wonder if these statements were spoken because if I didn’t “want”, they didn’t have to “do”, a display of their own selfishness? Who knows? I don’t think they realized how this would grow into a paralyzing fear.

    Anyway, I am now out of college, married, have been years at my first job, and have finally realized that it is okay to dedicate some effort to me. I’ve wanted to try painting and crafting and writing and photography…I have and, currently, am. My husband is a great support. Two years ago, I discovered that my professional life is currently necessary to fund my personal life; it is NOT my personal life. Last year, I found out that I am as much as an adult as the fourty-year-old employee in the next cubicle and am not inferior because of my young age. (Southern culture doesn’t really address how to transition from being the one to say “Yes’m” and “No Sir” to being the one called “Mam” and “Sir”. We’re on our own with this lesson.) This year, I want to be healthy because we want to have a baby, and I don’t want my physical state to be an issue. I’m sure there will be plenty of material for our child’s future psychiatrist without having a nesting-doll shaped mommy with popsicle sticks for legs at the playground. Ha!

    *Sidebar* I didn’t seek out the lessons I learned two years ago and last year. I discovered these lessons after reflecting on events. This is the first year that I have actually set an intention for the year. I thing the talisman idea will help keep me focused. *End Sidebar*

    Another lesson I think I have just about hashed out that related to my “Be Better to You” phrase is this: there is a healthy medium between “selfish” and “selfless”. A lean toward either side, however, can make you a doormat or a bitch. (I just made that up. 🙂 ) Maybe my talisman should say “I’m a healthy level of selfish.” Oh, that would make a great t-shirt! Yeah…
    Seriously, though, I chose “Be Better to You” because it would remind me to be aware of and act on my wants and needs, but only as long as I don’t hurt other people to obtain them.

    Hope ya’ll like!

    PS. I wasn’t sure if my first post make it to comments, so if you see two like this, it’s because of my lack of technical skills. Sorry!

  14. Lisa Chewning Avatar
    Lisa Chewning

    My coin would say ‘Reach’.

  15. Scribe Avatar

    I’m starting my first job as a “real adult” this Feb. (after spending three years teaching English in Japan…a bit of a detour, but one rich in experiences), and I’m afraid of running on the fast-road through my week, without noticing any of it. I want to notice the moments go by, and to experience the world I’m in here and now, and take advantage of what’s in front of me–whether that’s an opportunity to up my word count, or an opportunity to take that trapeze class…

    My coin would say “You Are Here”.

  16. Bob Avatar

    I believe that intentions should not pave the road to Hades, but instead inspire us to reach that which we desire in life and creativity.

  17. Deanne Williams Avatar
    Deanne Williams

    I know it’s been heard by many but mine would say BICHOK.

  18. Susan Francino Avatar
    Susan Francino

    Mine would say: “It’s about Freedom.”

    What I write is, at its core, about the quest for freedom, and I am in the midst of that same quest.

  19. Emerald Avatar
    Emerald

    Mine would say “hob nob” because they’re my favourite biscuits ever.

  20. Rachel Hux Avatar
    Rachel Hux

    Mine would be “First Step” from a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote:

    “You don’t have to see the whole staircase,
    just take the first step.”

  21. Texanne Avatar

    Okay, without going into a lot of detail, let me just say that I have my phrase for 2011:

    Don’t
    Shoot.

    1. RebeccaG Avatar

      Lol. Wow. Complete opposite from the last one.

  22. Alice Edwards Avatar
    Alice Edwards

    Dream Walker,

    I walk among my own dreams daily tending them, breathing them in, turning them over in my heart. I am a Dream Walker

    1. Willie Dickerson Avatar

      wow! Not many of you around these days. Love what you do… is it enough? Are they coming true?

      Willie

      1. Alice Edwards Avatar
        Alice Edwards

        @Willie I am trusting that as I tend them they will lead me where I need to go next on my inner journey.
        It will all translate to my outside and in truth already is.
        Learning to tend my own dreams and let others tend theirs is very important for me right now.

  23. Rebekah Avatar

    Mine would say “Do.”

    “Do” could be anything. “Do” could be saying something that you know someone disagrees with, “Do” could be a thought you’re afraid to think, “Do” could be doing something that, for your age/personality/looks/physique/whatever, you’re not supposed to want to do.

    “Do” fights, and “Do” survives.

  24. Donna Shields Avatar

    Mine would be “Reach high”. It motivates me to reach for the stars and to never give up regardless.
    I love your daughter’s idea!

  25. Antram444 Avatar

    “Angels on the Moon”

    It’s actually the title of a song by Thriving Ivory, (tied with the Goo Goo Dolls for my favorite band). I’m actually going to give you all a link to the youtube song.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWcXuu16ttc
    [vevo version]

    This song means so much to me. I’m actually contemplating getting a tat’ with some of the lyrics, but I haven’t decided yet. Plus it’s so expensive (lols).

    The lyrics are so true to me. “Do you believe, in the day that you were born, tell me, do you believe?
    Most of the time I don’t believe. I struggle with such self-doubt, and the worst part is, no one realizes. Everyone in my life believes that I’m such a strong person, so independent, so confident. In reality, I’ve been forced into situations where the only way to get where I needed to go was to do it by myself.
    I’m such an introverted person too. I just get so scared when it comes to other people, yet, I’m so tired of being alone though. Life isn’t worth it if you only have yourself to share the high moments with.

    I just want to be the person who I want to be, and have no self-doubts holding me back. I want to be free from the little voice in my head that says “I can’t” when I know I can. I want to stop listening to that voice. I want to stop giving up on myself. I don’t want to believe the doubts that say I’m not pretty enough, not smart enough, not brave enough. I AM. But I just wish I acted on that.

    So yah.
    Go listen to the song. It’s beautiful and amazing, and basically sums up me.

  26. Mary Avatar

    Body
    Mind

    This year I’m working to lose weight and get to a healthy body shape, and to expand my mind. It isn’t that I’m horribly overweight or anything, I just don’t like how I feel about my body and I intend to change that. As for my mind, I want to learn. I’ve been missing out on a lot of books that are considered classics, and those that I’ve been meaning to read. Also to extract things from it and put them on paper (real or digital) finally.

  27. @mber Avatar

    “Keep Trying”

    Although it’s a phrase from a song on one of my sons kid shows, it’s something that I think all adults could use as encouragement as well. Funny how a show made for preschoolers can really get you thinking, motivate you and put your mind in the right place. When I can’t do something, feel like I can’t do something or just feel like giving up, I can hear my 4 year old son singing this to me in his high pitch, innocent voice and I can’t help but smile. Just gotta keep trying, even when things don’t seem like they’re going to go well, you can’t do any more or your just tired….just think of who is most important to you and keep trying, eventually the sun will come out.

  28. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    in 2010 you tried. in 2011, you will succeed.
    I would use that phrase because I’ve tried to achieve so many things this past year, however I have succeeded in none of them. This year, I have decided, will be my year of dreaming and reaching goals.

  29. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    “Atlantean”

    A while back, I had a dream about… something. I can’t remember now. The one thing I took away from the dream was an idea about an Atlantean lifestyle. Now that I think about it, the city and people of the mythical city have absolutely no relation to this idea; the dream simply fitted this word with connotations.

    Spend time only on what really matters to me. Eat only when I’m hungry. Buy only what I truly want. Be patient. Be calm. Make every choice consciously. Think before I speak. Don’t give my heart away just because I’m needy. Pray often. Read my Bible.

    I would carry this word with me because at a glance it would remind me of everything I want to be. It would remind me that the only way I can get to be this person is to make small choices every day.

  30. Monique Sanchiz Avatar
    Monique Sanchiz

    Mine would say “Warrior”, so I could always remember my internal strength in times of hardships and battles.

  31. D.D Avatar
    D.D

    I think No Pain, No Gain.

  32. Amy R. Avatar

    The words I would use are Make It Happen, though Stop Grieving Start Living also comes to mind. Maybe I need two of them.

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