Living in the Moment: Segment Intending

Maybe you’ve set “intentions” and “goals” for the new year. Maybe you’ve already started to have trouble keeping them! Instead of a list of things you have to do each day, or accomplish by some arbitrary deadline in the future, you can put an intention into place right now, and have some fun with it! 

Segment Intending is a term credited to Abraham-Hicks, and it goes like this: Every day, our time is made up of segments. For one segment of time, you are preparing a meal, for another segment of time you are eating. For segments of time you check your emails, attend meetings, and exercise. Often, according to Abraham-Hicks, we move from segment to segment without really marking the transition -- we simply react to whatever presents itself instead of deliberately creating a scenario. 

Abraham-Hicks proposes “getting out ahead” of a segment by resetting as you head into each new segment and forming an intention for how it could go -- how you want to feel during the segment, how you want other people to feel, the overall vibe of any scenario. If you are about to commute in heavy traffic, you might think of how you want to feel relaxed and alert, and listen to some new music. If you need to have a difficult conversation, you could think about how you want to feel compassionate yet firm and confident, and want the other person to feel how you really have their best interests at heart. 

Abraham-Hicks calls this pre-paving. This is not controlling the future, but laying down an energetic track down that makes it easier for events to manifest as you have felt them. 

It is helpful to do pre-paving in the morning or at night, looking ahead at your entire day or even further into the future -- but the strength of segment intending is that it adapts to our ever-changing lives. If your work is interrupted by a phone call, that call begins a new segment. If you are driving and pick up your child from school, your child getting in the car begins a new segment. Noticing each new segment helps you remain aware and present and allows you to quickly set some expectations “lining up” a good energy so that you are creating rather than reacting.

For this New Year’s resolution, practice Segment Intending everyday until it becomes a habit and let the good vibes roll. Happy 2021!