The Art of Living Intentionally
From a young age my future adult life scared and thrilled me. I soaked up all things goal making and time management hoping to maximize each day’s potential. My early college years included rigid schedules, detailed plans, and constant goal-making. I embraced that pursuing personal development is a beneficial skill that, when harnessed, leads to a growth mindset that opens doors to lifelong education, fulfilling relationship, and more.
The practice of intentional living is empowering. It creates a sense of purpose in daily actions and life pursuits.
Being Intentional: Defined
Intentionality is deciding beforehand how one will react to any given situation, how we will make decisions, and how we will approach moral dilemmas. It is a way of living that leads to action.
Setting intentional living in motion assists us in making plans for our future behaviors, reactions, and setbacks. It influences how we:
· make personal or family goals.
· identify our core values.
· prioritize valuable pursuits.
Being intentional means that we are deliberate in how we live our life. We make plans for improvement, have goals for various facets of our life, and pursue growth because we can see the future benefits.
Those who are intentional take an active role in creating the life that they want. They do not sit around and wait for things to happen to them, but instead have a clear, purposeful direction.
Intentional Relationships
When we become intentional, we put actions, activities, or structures into our lives that keep us moving on the path that we wish to be on. That includes maintaining and developing various relationships. If mishaps, or trials pop up we remember the goals that we have made and readjust our behavior accordingly.
This growth mindset pushes us to pursue education on essential life matters such as communication, emotional intelligence, routine, love languages, etc. All of which can be applied to friendships, parenting, work connections, and romantic relationships. These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creating an intentional approach to life.
Our individual behavior and understanding of ourselves sets the tone for each of our personal relationships. Defining our ideals lays the path for ourselves and others to build on, providing a solid foundation of intentions and behaviors that nurture positive relationship growth.
Pursuing Intentionality
Intentionality does not have to lead to rigid schedules, like the ones I implemented in my early college days, but rather it can lead to a productive way of approaching life. As we put effort into deciding what we want to represent and what values we want to stand for, we feel purposeful as we approach each day.
Seeking to understand what motivates and drives ourselves and others leads to productive actions that enhance the journey of life. Some of you may already spend time journaling, reading self-help books, or taking personality quizzes. All of these are tools leading to a greater understanding of who you are.
What is Your End Goal?
If you find yourself at the end of this article, you must be curious about building an intentional life! There could be many factors that led you here. Perhaps you feel stuck, or trapped in a static place, without progress. It could be the opposite; maybe you are motivated to tackle life and need some guidance. Are you a soon to be parent, or first-time college student? Or are you finding that retirement is lacking and want to pursue something, but don’t know what?
Learning what is important to us is the first step to creating an intentional life. Before we can create a path for our life, we must first define what is important to us and what values we want to stand for. On our search we will discuss topics or hobbies that interest us, open ourselves up to new opportunities, or face some of our fears while putting ourselves out there in the big wide world.
Getting Started
To pinpoint your principal values, CLICK HERE.
To learn about growth mindset from Carol Dweck, CLICK HERE.
To become an intentional parent, check out my workbook by CLICKING HERE.
To go on a creative journey, check out The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
I am a big believer in self-directed learning. We are accountable for our own life. No one else can do the hard work. I will include a lot of ideas and links in my blog articles. See where your curiosity takes you. Enjoy the journey of self-discovery and personal growth. It can be a bumpy path, but it will be worth it.
Be Real. Be Intentional. Be You.
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