Welcome to the New Year. Every year is a great opportunity for you to make it better than the last one. One way to do this, is by becoming more intentional about your goals and aspirations. Most of us have the desire to achieve great things. Think about all the things you want to do this year like travel, exercise, apply for new job, go out your comfort zone and more. Well all these things are possible.
However, what people often miss out on, is intentionality. You can have as many ideas as you want. But those things will remain in your head, if you are not are not intentional about achieving them. This why on this blog post, I want to discuss how to be intentional.
What does Intentional mean?
Intention is defined as something done deliberately or purposefully. This can be a good or bad. But the intentions we are striving for this year, are the kind that bring good to you and others. When you think about the word deliberate for example, the first thing that should come to mind is something done consciously.
A deliberate action is carefully done and unhurried. A lot of thought goes into that action. The same goes with the word purposeful. A person who is purposeful, is one that often shows that they are determined to achieve something.
All these words mean something, intentional-purposeful-deliberate. When you are thinking about your goals and aspiration for this new year, it is important to remember these words as they will help you keep in line with the things you want to achieve.
Why is being intentional important?
How many times have you said to yourself that you were going to learn a new language in the New Year, but just never did?
Have you ever, said to yourself, that you would start going go the gym but just never got to it.
You said that you were going to spend more time with family and friends that you love as you know this is good for your wellbeing. However, you’ve just never made the time for it.
The truth is, our lives are constantly at a move and it is easy to get distracted from the things we want to do. It is one thing to say that you want to work on your self growth and character in the New Year. But how exactly, does that look like?
Having big ideas on what you want to do is fine. The issue is in the execution of those ideas. Most of the big ideas we have are never broken down to realistic goals. In order for you to achieve what you want this year, you have to be intentional about the things that you want to see happening in your life.
Saying that you want to change your life, requires for you to become conscious and self aware concerning the changes that you what to see.
3 ways to become more intentional.
1. Break down your goals to make them achievable.
The first way that you can become a more intentional person, is by breaking down your goals to achievable bites. For example, if a person says that they want to become healthy in the new year. This is a significantly ‘big’ goal, that requires for you to actively to do something about it. In order to see the results that you want, you have to dedicate the time, exercise, eat healthily, and consider your mental health too. All of these things require deliberate action.
So you want to become healthy and more fit in the new year? The first thing for you to do is to break down this goal. How does it look like for you to be more healthy in your everyday life.
This can be goal can broken down in different ways. For example, you can start by looking at your nutrition. Are you a person who eats a lot of take-way or just eats one meal a day. What are some of the ways you can change this. Can you look into making more home cooked meals? What are some meals that you know how to cook?
You can research healthy home cooked meals on nutrition websites, find cookbooks, YouTube, Tik Tok. Asking a friend or family member to teach you how to cook and make healthy meals. There are many resources out there, so use them. That way, the next time, you go for your food shopping, you have an awareness that your goal is to become healthy. That awareness can lead to you to making deliberate health choices.
Do you see that in this example, becoming more intentional required for you to break down a massive goal to something small and achievable. After that, you are able to apply that to you daily life with intention. Imagine what a difference it can make to your health to start eating healthier meals that include all the necessary nutrients we need.
2. Make conscious decisions and stick to them
One thing about intentional living is that is helps you to take control of your life. Being intentional about the things that you aspire to do, is very important. However, this requires for you to make conscious decisions everyday and actually stick to them.
If you are intent on becoming a more kind person to others and yourself. How does this look like in real life. Often,when people say that they want to change and become kinder to other people. This thought lingers in their mind. But what they fail to do is to make a conscious decision about it, which they can apply to their everyday life. If your goal is to become a kind person to others and yourself. This is a very wonderful and good thing to do. We need more kindness in the world!
The way that you can make conscious decisions is by self awareness and monitoring your behaviour to others. If you have made a decision to be kind to others. You have to look at the ways in which you interact with other people, and how you speak to them.
All these things entail conscious decision making. Which you can then start applying. Speak to people with respect. Be kind to those you may not know. There’s so many little changes that you can make everyday, that can get you to that place.
3. Weekly Reflection
Another way to start living intentionally is by incorporating weekly reflections. Reflection is defined as a serious thought or consideration.
So something that you can start doing weekly or monthly, is reflection. This is a good way that you can assess your progress by looking that the things that are working or not working in your life. Then focus on how you can improve on these things next time. By definition, I think weekly or monthly reflections are one of the best ways that you can start living a more intentional life.
Most people do these reflections in form of journalling.This gives you the opportunity to write down all the things that didn’t work, or that worked in that week. Make sure to celebrate your small wins. Then you can conclude by writing down any goals that you may have for the following week or month. Doing this, will help you to live an intentional life as you are consciously aware of what you want. Also, honest reflections about yourself can be the push you need, to identify if you need help in any area of your life.
10 Things to be Intentional about Every Day:
• Choose Joy and Happiness.
• Be kind to yourself and others
• Try to see the good in everyone & every situation.
• Prioritise the things that help you to grow: Your Faith, Prayer Time, Reading the Word.
• Be mindful of how much time you spend on social media.
• Be mindful of what you consume on social media.
• Spend time with Family, Friends and your loved ones.
• Try not to spend a lot periods of time isolated and alone. A sense is very community and belonging is very important.
• Be weary of the company you keep.
• Rest
O’L Takeaway
Intentional living is a wonderful and great thing as it helps you to take control of your life. As we know, life can be very difficult and busy. Somewhere in between all that, we can lose a sense of our goals and aspirations. Therefore, becoming a more intentional person can help you to be more deliberate and purposeful in your journey of betterment and self growth.
