Living more intentional can be a hard process, but it can be incredibly fulfilling to take back control of your life.
“Live less out of habit and more out of intention.” – Unknown
Every year I do this little thing, it’s called a New Years Resolution.
Some years I do well with my resolutions and other years? It’s like I never made them.
Well, this year, I wrote an article on making meaningful goals when starting a new year, heck, even a new season in your life, and I’ve used a few of my own tips.
I wanted to open up on how I am able to live with more intentionality this year than I have in a really long time as I know so many others want to do the same.
This year I turned 30 and I wanted so desperately to find meaning in the every day and I strove to live each day as fully as I could.
While there are some days that make it harder than others I believe that I have done a bang-up job of seeking out the purpose in my life this year than I have ever done before. After all, my 20s were spent doing everything that I didn’t want to do and now?
I’m striving to do everything with meaning.
Table of Adventures
I Recognized What Wasn’t Working
Doing something like this can seem daunting but in all actuality seeing the changes you want in your life can be immediately refreshing. Doing something like this does a few things: helps you to examine yourself and it also helps you to see the environment you’re in and see how it affects you.
It also puts things into perspective. This is how I do it.
- I had to lay down the foundation before I was able to start living intentionally. That for me meant seeing what I didn’t like about what was happening in my life and making an effort to change it.
- From there I created a list of what I wanted to change. I made the decision here not to gripe about the small things, but rather the overarching picture of my life and narrow in on those. The thought process was rooted in that as I worked on the large things the small things would sweat itself out of my life.
- I set up reasonable goals that would allow me to make the mistakes I needed to make. Without these goals I feel as though I would’ve failed before I even started. Example, if you’re wanting to lose weight, giving yourself a reasonable goal of a year to lose 70 pounds will keep you on the right path. And without all that overwhelm, too.
- I’m constantly examining my environment. This isn’t about nature, although it can be for some people, but that meant the people in my life, the places I decided to frequent, and even the food I was consuming. Examining these can put a lot of what happens to us into perspective. If I’m trying to lose 70 pounds in a year but I’m going to fast food restaurants frequently, you can see how that can create problems for the goals I have set up for myself.
Why Is It Important to Live Intentionally?
Living intentionally is important so that you’re not missing out on things for your life. It puts your life on a path of creating moments, memories, and a life that you are proud of sharing with others.
You want to live a life that is your own and not for others and that’s what makes living life intentionally so fulfilling.
What Does an Intentional Life Look Like?
Living intentionally can mean so many things to so many different people. But if you’re trying to live intentionally you want to be focused on a purpose that will fuel you every day to see what the day will hold.
It can mean doing a specific thing every year because it means something to you and it can mean taking time out for yourself to center yourself, too.
But living intentionally looks like turning off social media and focusing on a project that will make you feel accomplished at the end of it. It means learning from others and gleaning the processes to become a better person.
It means finding purpose for your life.
Every day I do the bullets below to keep intentionality at the forefront of my mind:
- Prioritizing my self care and my rest. Especially after 2020, I felt like I wasn’t being as productive as everyone else had been. It seemed like everyone was making bread, building decks, and all the other small things, but I felt burned out trying to keep up with everyone. So, I stopped, and I put my self care first.
- Asked myself “why” when I was doing anything out of the ordinary. That could mean buying a new mouse for my laptop, a course for my blog, or even whether or not I wanted to buy candy. Asking that question has helped me to put things down that I don’t need immediately. It keeps waste at bay and also keeps me accountable.
- I do one thing every day that I would be proud of. I baked bread from scratch today! I don’t do it too often, but finding joy in the simple things has helped me to find the joy in the things I already do have.
- I know when it’s time to let something (or someone) go. It’s been really important for me to be aware of the things around me that didn’t serve any purpose for me any longer. Whether inanimate or a person, being able to pare things down has allowed me to figure out what is actually valuable to me and what those values really are.
If you’re looking for some concrete ideas, here a few:
- Spending time with your family once a month to create a meal from scratch.
- Quitting that draining job that has given you nothing but heartache.
- Starting your own business and learning how to be an effective, empathetic, and encouraging boss.
- Take a day to take stock of the things around you (in a certain room of your home) and donate items that you haven’t used within the last year.
- Limit your media consumption. Taking a social media detox is really important for your mental health!
- Stop buying all those things that you don’t need.
- Wake up early and go to bed early.
What I’ve Done to Live More Intentionally
I started this blog.
I knew that I was getting to a point in my life that I wanted to leave my mark.
Initially I had started a YouTube channel, but I slowly walked away from it because I wasn’t passionate about it and I had no topic to talk about. However, once I put my mind to this blog, I have felt a season of immense change in myself.
There are days when I want to quit, days when I feel like this blog will never pan out, but in the midst of it all I have learned so much from myself and from others that I don’t think I’d willingly give this up again.
If I ever thought I was someone who persevered before? I definitely am now. Tenacious has always been my middle name and when I want something so strongly, I keep going.
This year has definitely been a turning point in my life and I’m so very glad for you.
But I have also started to wake up early and to fill my days up with things that I know will push me into doing better not only for myself, but for my family. My planner is my best friend!
I’ve started to take my health seriously as well and it’s something I’d like to finally document again on this blog. So, I will at some point.
Be Intentional Quotes
As you can probably tell, living with intention isn’t that hard, it’s really whether or not you’re willing to live it that is.
So, I wanted to leave you with some fun quotes that you can scribble down for those times when you feel like it’s difficult.
“Be intentional to add value to every person you meet everyday.” – John C. Maxwell
“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” – Nora Roberts
“Show up in every single moment like you’re meant to be there.” – Marie Forleo
Conclusion to Intentional Living
And that’s it really. I definitely didn’t cover everything, after all this wasn’t a guide, but an idea of how I’ve been trying to live my life with intention each day.
Stop living your life out of habit and do it with purpose. You don’t want to get to the end of your life living with any sorts of regrets, it really isn’t worth it as far as I’ve been told. So, live your life as well as you can.
Felt amazed after reading this blog.