When Does Intention Become Action

Jack Baruch, MD

Most people intend to change long before they actually do. They intend to exercise, to repair a relationship, to write, to retire, to move, to forgive, to begin something, or to end something. Intention is very common. Action is much rarer.

In my years of working with people, I have often noticed that the distance between intention and action is where many lives become stuck. People are usually not confused about what they want to do. They are not even confused about what they should do. What keeps them stuck is something quieter— fear, habit, comfort, guilt, the opinions of others, or the belief that there will always be more time.

We tend to think of change as a decision, but more often, change is a threshold. People live with intention for years, sometimes decades, before something shifts and an intention becomes action. Sometimes the shift is a crisis. Sometimes it is a loss. Sometimes it is an illness. And sometimes it is simply the gradual realization that time is not unlimited.

There is a moment that comes for many people when the question changes from “What do I want to do?” to “If not now, when?” That is often the moment when intention finally becomes action.

Is there something in your life that you have been intending to do for a long time—and what is keeping you from doing it now?