How to Live with Intention
“Being intentional” is a phrase that’s getting a lot of attention these days. I’m a huge fan, but what does it mean to be intentional? A quick internet search for definitions yields a dizzying array of outcomes, so it’s probably easier to define what a life without intention is. The answer is in the lyrics to an old Dylan song. “The answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.” Living without intention lets the winds of change and uncertainty buffet you to and fro. Living without intention allows the shiny balls of distraction to pull you in myriad directions. Living without intention reduces the likelihood of leading a rewarding, meaningful, fulfilling life.
We all want to be heard. To be “seen.” To be given respect and live with dignity. To live with intention is to improve the probability that one will be seen and heard.
So let’s say that you wake up one day and say: “Living without intention is no fun. I thought that living a care-free, happy-go-lucky life would be the way to go, but here I am, stuck in a dead-end job with no idea what comes next.” This is a great step forward, but to move from where you are to living with intention requires some work. It’s not possible to live without intention one day and live with intention the next. So what are the necessary conditions for living with intent?
Live with Intention: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Define your purpose. Why are you here? Why do you exist? If you’ve made the decision to be a net giver in this life, it’s necessary to know what purpose you’ll strive to serve. Beware, answering this question requires time, a great deal of self-reflection and self-awareness, plus a willingness to engage with a coach or mentor who will ask the tough questions and help hold you to account.
Step 2: Establish a vision for your future. Once you’ve defined your purpose, it’s time to set your sights on the future. Where do you want to go? Is there an aspirational version of yourself that you’d like to turn into reality? What is your desired future state of being? My advice is to start small and continuously improve. It’s okay to have big dreams, but for big dreams to become reality, we must crawl before we walk, and walk before we run. To help craft your purpose and vision, I’ve developed the Personal Planning Guidebook that’s available for download here.
Step 3: Build a plan. Without a plan, entropy (the natural tendency toward disorder) takes over, and your dreams and aspirations remain locked away in the ether of dreams and aspirations. A big part of the planning phase that a lot of folks either minimize or ignore is the education and learning needs that must accompany the change you aspire to make. Again, the Personal Planning Guidebook will be beneficial in helping you identify blockers, skill gaps, existing assets to deploy, and individual goals. Most importantly, draw an actual road map—I am “here,” I want to end up “there,” and “these are the steps that take me there.”
Step 4: Execute. This is the scary part—where the planning becomes the doing. It takes real courage to break out of the status quo and do something different. The execution phase is where the rubber meets the road and is another reason why starting small and breaking your plan into bite-size chunks is so important when aiming to live with intention. Big, hairy, audacious visions don’t come true overnight and one of the primary drivers of failure is biting off more than you can chew.
Step 5: Measure progress. During the planning stage (in step three), it’s important to identify quantitatively what “success” means. How will you measure progress against your vision? Determining a metric or two that corresponds to each milestone in your plan up front is important and helps you maintain a level of objectivity. If you don’t measure progress, it’s easy for emotion to cloud your path.
Step 6: Evaluate and adjust. Remember the concept of “sunk cost?” Sometimes things just don’t work out. We learn, we pivot, we adjust, and we move on. Continuing to grind away against the wheel of futility, or relying on “hope” that everything will magically work out, is a one-way ticket to disappointment and disillusionment. It’s highly likely that things will go wrong. Instead of getting frustrated and throwing in the towel, take a breath, ask a series of “whys,” be honest with yourself about what’s not working, and move ahead. The only way is forward, but it’s important to understand that forward is almost never a straight line. Life, even when you commit to live with intention, is filled with potholes, loopbacks, and left turns. Perseverance, agility, and persistence matters.
A Final Tip to Help You Live with Intention
So there you have it, living with intention is the byproduct of determining your purpose, painting a vision for your future, building a plan to get you there, and then getting after it. A neat trick that I’ve adopted is to either look myself in the mirror or sit quietly in self-reflection for just a few minutes each morning to remind myself to live with intention today. I’ve found that this quick check-in does wonders to keep me on track.
