Friday, January 24, 2020

Live an Intentional Life

Intentional life? What does that mean?

It’s pretty simple really. You need to plan out your day and your activities and then follow your plan.

We all get 24 hours in each and every day and if we are serious about reaching our success goals in any of the five elements of success you have to use the time wisely.

Have you thought about what you want to accomplish with your life? Have you defined what success in each of the five elements looks like to you? Have you written these specific goals down on paper?

If you are reading this blog I have to assume you want more out of your life. You want to bring all the awesomeness that lies within you out to share with the world.

You want to feed and fill your mind with positive energy and information you can use to push yourself forward and help others along the way.

You want deep, meaningful and loving relationships. 

You want to be physically healthy and strong with all the stamina you need to enjoy a wide variety of activities.

You want to understand how to control your finances and invest your money wisely for the future. 

You want to be able to give back, both intellectually and financially to organizations of your choosing to expand your reach and help as many other people as you can.   

That’s a lot of wants.  But for a well-balanced successful life you need to develop yourself and your capabilities in every success element.

How does that relate to living an intentional life?

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

Living with intention means that you are taking both control and responsibility for what you are doing at every moment. Living with intention means that each and every day you have specific goals you are working on and are scheduling your time to make it all happen.

It’s not coming home from work, eating dinner and sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn and a beer. It’s not ending the week, the month and the year in the same place, with the same struggles and frustrations.

Intentionality is ownership. You own your life. You are responsible for the path you are on and where you end up in life.  Yes, things get thrown in your way that you did not plan for; events happen that were unforeseen and often unavoidable. BUT – living with intention means you then choose how to respond to these events. You decide how to adjust your schedule and plan in the short term so that you still meet your long term objectives.

You own your attitude. Each and every day. Are you intentionally choosing a specific attitude or do you let the events of your morning determine the rest of your day? Do you let your attitude and energy level spiral downward after a tough meeting at work or after some unsettling news comes your way? It’s always your choice. You can choose a positive attitude or a negative attitude. The decision is yours and yours alone.

Are you intentional about the information you feed into your mind? Are you watching 24 hour news channels which focus mostly on fear and emotion to keep you watching? How much time are you wasting reading through social media posts? Of course you need some news and of course you are going to look at social media (we are social animals after all). But do you intentionally decide how much time you will spend on those activities? What about improving your skills or developing new ones? The more skills you have, the more options you will have for dealing with the inevitable bumps in the road of life. And the more skills you have, the more desirable you will be are in the marketplace and the more options for employment you will have.

Do you have written goals? Daily, weekly or annually? Do you intentionally plan time for activities on a daily basis that will move you closer to those goals? You cannot reach success without intention. You must take control and take action.

Action = Movement. Consistent movement over time gets you to your goals.

You have the abilities within you to reach every level of success you desire. But you have to be intentional in thought and in action in order to reach those heights.

My wish for you, as always, is for you to live a balanced and successful life full of joy and that you help those around you in any way you can while traveling through this thing we call life.

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