Set One Intention for Your Week

You spent Friday answering three questions about last week. Saturday you noticed a pattern in your answers. Today you decide what to do about it.

One intention. One focus. One thing you'll prioritize this week based on what the last two days revealed.

Not a complete overhaul of your approach. Not ten new commitments. One deliberate choice about where your energy goes for the next seven days.

Why One Intention Beats Ten Goals

Sunday evening you're tempted to plan everything. You'll work on job security and finances and workplace relationships and skill building. You'll fix all the things you noticed weren't working last week.

By Wednesday you've abandoned most of it because ten commitments competing for attention means none get real focus.

One intention works because it's actually achievable. You can maintain focus on one thing for seven days. You can notice throughout the week whether you're honoring that intention or ignoring it. You can assess on Friday whether it made a difference.

One intention also forces prioritization. If you can only choose one thing, you have to decide what matters most right now. That decision itself is valuable.

Look at Friday and Saturday's Work

Pull up what you wrote Friday and Saturday.

Friday you identified what you protected, what you learned, what reduced your vulnerability.

Saturday you noticed a pattern: maybe everything clustered in one area, maybe you defaulted to one type of action, maybe you spotted something you're avoiding.

Today's question: Based on that pattern, what's the one thing I should prioritize this week?

Three Types of Intentions That Work

Your intention will probably fall into one of three categories:

Reinforce what's working

Your pattern showed consistent focus on job security - documentation, visibility, relationship building. It's working. You feel more secure than you did a month ago.

Intention: "Keep building job security momentum - add two more documented projects this week."

You're not switching directions. You're deepening work that's producing results.

Address what you're avoiding

Your pattern showed you're doing financial work every week but haven't touched job security or networking once. You know you need to, but keep finding reasons not to.

Intention: "Do one job security task this week even though it feels uncomfortable - start the work log."

You're not committing to pivot entirely. You're just breaking the avoidance pattern with one action.

Add what's missing

Your pattern showed all your actions are defensive (protecting, documenting, observing) with nothing about building new options or relationships.

Intention: "Have one actual conversation with someone this week instead of just gathering information alone."

You're not abandoning defense. You're adding one offensive move to test whether it serves you.

Write Your Intention as One Sentence

Keep it specific and realistic.

Vague intentions don't work:

• "Work on finances more"
• "Be better at networking"
• "Focus on what matters"

Specific intentions do:

• "Track every expense this week to see where money actually goes"
• "Send networking messages to three specific people by Wednesday"
• "Complete Days 1-3 of Job Security Systems without skipping ahead"

Your intention should be something you can check on Friday and definitively say whether you did it or not.

Examples Based on Different Saturday Patterns

If your pattern was scattered energy: Intention: "Work only on Financial Resilience content this week - finish Days 4-7 without jumping to other pillars."

If your pattern was analysis without action: Intention: "Take one relationship-building action this week - actually send the networking messages instead of drafting and revising them."

If your pattern was defensive focus: Intention: "Spend 30 minutes on skill-building (Day 2 of Resilience Experiments) to start building future options."

If your pattern was avoidance of one area: Intention: "Do the financial exercise I've been skipping - calculate my actual runway this week."

If your pattern was strong execution: Intention: "Maintain momentum - complete one action from each active pillar and don't let busy work distract me."

Test Your Intention

Ask yourself: If Friday arrives and I've done this one thing, will this week have been worthwhile regardless of what else happened or didn't happen?

If yes, your intention is right-sized.

If no, it's either too small (you're not challenging yourself) or too vague (you can't tell if you did it).

What If You're Not Sure What to Prioritize?

When in doubt, choose the thing you've been avoiding.

The work you keep postponing usually signals either:

• It's not actually necessary (in which case this week you'll discover that and can stop feeling guilty)
• It's necessary but uncomfortable (in which case avoiding it longer just increases pressure)

Testing it with one week's focus settles the question.

Write It Down Where You'll See It

Don't just think your intention. Write it somewhere visible:

• Sticky note on your laptop
• First item in your Monday task list
• Calendar reminder that pops up Wednesday
• Top of your work log or tracking document

The intention needs to be in your face all week. Otherwise Wednesday arrives and you've forgotten what you decided to prioritize.

This Isn't a Contract

If circumstances change mid-week and your intention becomes irrelevant, adjust.

You set your intention based on what you knew Sunday. If you learn something Tuesday that changes priorities, that's fine. You're not locked in.

But don't bail on your intention just because it's Wednesday and you haven't done it yet. That's avoidance, not adaptation.

Check In Friday

When you do Friday's reflection next week, one of your questions will effectively be: "Did I honor my intention?"

If yes - what changed because you focused there? If no - what got in the way, and was that legitimate or avoidance?

This closes the loop: Reflect → Notice pattern → Set intention → Act on it → Reflect on results.

That cycle is how random daily actions become deliberate strategy.

Set Your Intention Right Now

Look at Friday and Saturday's notes. Decide: reinforce what's working, address what you're avoiding, or add what's missing?

Write one sentence: "This week I'm [specific action or focus]."

Put it somewhere you'll see Monday morning.

That's your week's North Star. Not a rigid plan, just one clear priority that guides decisions when the week gets busy or chaotic.

You've reflected, noticed patterns, and now decided what matters most. Monday starts with clarity about where your energy goes.

One week. One intention. Then Friday you assess whether it served you.