Living an intentional life means giving meaning to each and every moment, and deliberately changing your life for the better. It means defining your values and then living up to your own expectations even when that’s difficult. It also means doing the things that are important to you even when they are not easy.
Take a step back from the hectic, busy life and evaluate your passions, desires, abilities, and goals. Think about the life you want to create for yourself – a life full of meaning and purpose, aligned with your values and principles; a life that gives you peace and balance and makes you smile often; a life filled with things and people you love.
Understand that you are responsible for the way you live your life and that it is up to you to make the right choices. Every day you wake up you get to decide how you want to live your life, the way you respond to distractions, and your attitude to life circumstances.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What are your values?
- What are your goals?
- What do you expect to be and to accomplish?
- What’s your ideal life?
Find your purpose by answering to these questions and then work on living intentionally.
These are some ideas on how to live your life intentionally:
- Set your goals and be mindful of your choices.
- Be intentional with your time especially during the first hour of your day. Use it wisely.
- Decide to spend more time with the people you love and with your friends. Create quality connections and honor your relationships. Cultivate mutual caring, understanding, communication, acceptance, respect, and compassion.
- Nurture your mind by training your brain to think in a positive way. Be mindful of what you read, watch, listen to, and surround yourself with. Make the deliberate choice to embrace a more positive outlook on life. Journal, express gratitude, acknowledge your progress and reward yourself.
- Be intentional with your words because they can impact your mood, your behavior, and even your health. Words are so powerful, they can inspire you and the people around you. Think about the words you use. Stop saying: I am tired, I am bored, I hate that, etc. Start thinking and saying: I feel great, I am happy, I am energized, I have everything I need to succeed. Besides, everybody else will want to be around you.
- Nurture your body with healthy food, enough sleep, relaxation, and regular exercise.
- Be intentional with your decisions; don’t rush into saying yes or no immediately. Take some time to think about it. If it’s something you enjoy or it is in line with your core values, beliefs, and goals, then you can definitely say yes.
- Do more of what you love.
Understand that your life is made up of choices. Find your passion and your purpose and then make the choice to live your life intentionally.
How do you live your life intentionally? What are your values? What is your purpose? Let me know in the comments below.
For more tools and resources on happiness and purpose check out my Resources page.
Hi Ana! Great post. I’ve been studying this very topic! I’m loving Jess Lively with the Lively show podcast. I’ve also incorporated meditation and journaling into my morning ritual.
Ah, I want to go back to listening to Jess Lively. So glad you started meditating. How is it going for you?
Thank you Ana! I keep working on the meditating and some days do better than others. We’ve got to catch up one of these days Ana. I think of you often!
such beautiful post and impressive – always great reading over your post. I start following you on Twitter and Facebook page, I very much appreciate if you follow me back on my Twitter and Facebook, here are the links:
https://www.facebook.com/Mihran.Kalaydjian.public/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Mkalaydjian
Thank you so much!!
Thank you for stopping by and for the follow. I just followed you on Twitter and Facebook. 🙂
So happy to see a new blog post from you Ana! and such a heartfelt and beautiful one with so many important things to pay attention to. loved it!
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words, Anto! Big hug! 🙂
So good to see you Ana. 🙂 An apt post for me and the timing couldn’t have been better. Hope you are doing good, Ana.
Thank you so much, Norma! I’m glad you find my post useful. 🙂
Great read, since becoming a mom I have been inckrporating intentional living in every aspect of my life mostly because I realized I need to incorporate things that are truly meaningful and serve a purppse in my life.
Beautiful and inspiring post Ana! I definitely need to be more intentional with my time. Some great reminders, thank you!
Yes I need to make more of my first hour of the day. Thanks!!!
Very inspiring! I’ve started making some steps towards intentional living. But I have a lot to learn. My mind is just all over the place and I need to find out how to center my thoughts. I’m thinking about meditation, but I haven’t found a method that works yet.
We all leave such busy lives that we forget to live Intentionally. It can be difficult to calm your thoughts but probably gets easier with practice. This post is a great motivator.
I try to make my first hour at work my most important and meaningful. Getting this right sets up my whole day.