Living Your Best: The Magic of Setting Intentions
Hello again and welcome back, as we dive into another deep and interesting topic to talk on. Haven’t we all heard multiple times “live life to the fullest” and even more times “life is short, enjoy every moment”? Well, time flies as days turn to weeks and weeks to months and years and each passing moment becomes a memory, we cherish forever. Each one of us experience a variety of phases throughout life, ups and downs as life goes on; from being a kid to growing old, each has it’s own charm, responsibilities, ease, moments of happiness, celebrations and experiences. But the thing that remains constant is the urge and passion to move forward, to flourish, achieve goals and fulfill dreams as we make something out of our life – remember: “don’t count the days, make the days count!”
Whatever the situation you are going through, the believe to live life to the fullest resonates with us all. This not only revolves around making the most of the time we have but also involves experiencing and learning something new each day, celebrating the good things in life, working towards personal and professional development and seeking out new opportunities and chances for yourself. By living with an intention, we can mold a life that is worth living. This will help cultivate stronger and longer-lasting relationships, achieve our goals, and discover a better sense of meaning and purpose.
When you truly engage and spend quality time doing positive activities and hobbies that bring joy and a feeling of fulfillment, it not only positively affects your physical health but also, your mental well-being. By making the most of your time, you experience a spike of positive emotions such as excitement, satisfaction and pleasure.
Setting Intentions as a Pathway to Fulfillment
Peloton instructor Kirsten Ferguson believes that: “an intention is a commitment to yourself that is aligned with action”. Also, keep in mind that intentions are different from goals. Owner and Clinical Director of Mountain Vista Psychology, Dr. Steffanie Stecker states: “many times, intentions are not really dependent of the outcome of any specific goal”. Relatively, they mainly mean how you want to be in the present moment, while goals are larger milestones that you want to concretely achieve within a span of years. Intentions help align you with your purpose in life, your goals and value; they bring you closer to what you’re looking to achieve out of your life.
Setting intentions makes sure your daily tasks are aligned well with your life mission and broader purpose and priorities. This encourages critical thinking, analyzing and reflecting your ambitions, and the specific aspects of life that require serious, careful attention or change. By keenly focusing on your intentions, you shift your mind from worrying about conclusions to relishing the journey and enjoying the moments. When you’re well-aware of your intentions and you know what you want to achieve, you fully exist in each moment, stay mindful, stay proactive, make decisions and take necessary actions that are in accordance to your desired path.
Benefits of Setting Intentions
Setting an intention means, you are principally concentrating on your thoughts, ideas, plans and actions towards a particular objective. It helps clear the fog from your mind and stand sure and confident with positive energy surrounding you. To make it easy, intentions act as Google Maps, leading you to where you want to go and whatever you want to achieve; that is your ultimate goal. You are investing your time, energy and resources into the output you want and not what you don’t want.
Your life purpose is the “why” part of your vision- where do you see yourself in future, how will you achieve that in life and why (the purpose). Purpose involves the central motivating aims of your life—the reasons you jump out of your bed every morning.
Purpose can guide your plans in life, decisions you take, actions and tasks you accomplish, influence how you act/react, shape goals, offer clarity and direction, and create meaning.
Every individual has a unique purpose; what you have set as your path may be different from what others think. Also, your purpose can actually change throughout life in response to the changing conditions, priorities and fluctuations of what you experience.
Similarly, aligning your life with your values is also important for the following reasons: a better understanding of your values helps guide your decisions and actions, make choices that are in line with the authentic self, you feel a sense of congruence between your inner beliefs and outer behavior, leading to greater authenticity and integrity. Aligning your life with your core values contributes to healthier and fulfilling relationships. You are more likely to reach your full potential and achieve self-actualization, leading a meaningful and purposeful life.
The 5-Step Guide to Setting Intentions
Step 1: Reflect and Decide Your Focus
Spend time with yourself and check what you enjoy doing the most. Reflect on your past life, see what good moments you have experienced, the happy memories you have created and the things you have enjoyed doing the most. Use these moments to choose your intentions. If you don’t go ahead with what you love doing the most and what you would like to continue further, you will not be able to commit to that intention. For example, if you like to keep pets and treat them with love and care, so, your intention might be “feeling a sense of companionship, responsibility, connection to nature and achieve therapeutic benefits”. Or another example might be if you love gardening and plantation, so your intention might be “promote environmental stewardship by creating habitat for wildlife, conserving water and minimize harm to the environment”.
Step 2: Focus On The Journey Rather Than End Result
An intention is more related to the steps you take towards achieving a desired goal, whereas, a resolution or goal is more closely related to the end-result. Pay close attention to the process needed to achieve the goal rather than solely focusing on the outcome. This mindset emphasizes on enjoying and learning from the experiences, challenges and growth that occur along the way. Value the steps taken, lessons learnt and the personal and professional development that occurs throughout the journey towards a goal.
Use intentions to frame your goals in a positive, clear and smarter way that helps you to stick to it as each day passes.
For example, “my goal is to practice mindful breathing exercise 10 minutes every morning“. Whereas, my intention is “I intend to cultivate daily meditation practice to promote inner peace and improve overall well-being“.
Step 3: Set Intentions – Jot Them Down and Hang Them Up
Focus is the key element when trying to achieve something small or big, whether in the short-term or long-term. Establishing daily intentions lets you live fully in the moment while the monthly intentions create a bigger picture. And, remember, both are equally important to track what have you achieved and what is yet to achieve. The best way to constantly remind yourself of the intentions you set is by writing them down on colorful sticky-notes and displaying them in a place that is clearly visible to you each day. This helps to reinforce your commitment and prioritize your intentions.
An example of daily intention includes: “I need to practice gratitude each night before going to bed for three things I’m thankful for!”
Whereas, the following can be counted as a monthly intention: “To prioritize self-care by sparing 30 minutes each day to do the activities which nourish my body and mind such as exercise, meditation or reading.”
Step 4: Keep Intentions Pure, Smart and Clear
Whatever you do, do it with a pure and open heart. Stay true to yourself but also consider other person’s best interest. Don’t be selfish or have the desire of getting something in return or any kind of praise. It should be for the good of overall involved.
Your intention should be clearly defined and focused. Also, it should be quantifiable so you can track the progress each day. It should be attainable within the available resources and constraints. Furthermore, it should be aligned with your values, priorities and long-term goals. Finally, set a clear timeline for completion.
Step 5: Regular Practice & More Practice
Practice regularly in a consistent and disciplined manner. Dedicate time and effort to engage in deliberate practice.
Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges
Spend a little time with yourself to see what’s stopping you from doing what you like. Is it fear or lack of confidence? Trace the source of your doubt. Remember, finding and implementing a solution will not be really helpful till you dig deep and figure out the root of the problem.
Do not compare yourself to others. It does no good, rather creates a feeling of envy and robs your joy. Instead, see where are you today and what have you achieved as compared to the past years.
Silent the voice of self-doubt from your inner critic. Challenge those thoughts with new ideas and brighter possibilities. Turn the negative thoughts and emotions flooding your mind to lessons learned and positivity to keep you going towards hard work to achieving your goals.
Keep a journal with yourself to note down about the difficulties you’ve faced in life, obstacles and how you’ve made through them. Believe in yourself as a stronger, more confident and wiser person. Also, do not forget to write down all your big and small achievements. Reading them triggers a spike of happy emotions and brings about a sense of satisfaction. Be grateful for all you have- learn to find and be thankful for all the little things in life.
Celebrate wins! When you accomplish a milestone leading towards a big goal or complete a difficult task in hand, treat yourself well for the success. Having a dinner out or going for your favorite movie are small acts to keep the spark alive, to achieve more and better!
Whenever you feel going back onto the track of self-doubt, plan for a confidence-building activity. Remain focused and consistent- it will create new pathways in your brain, allowing you to respond to the negativity in your mind rather than to react.
Managing Setbacks and Roadblocks with Resilience
Seeking Support and Accountability from Others
Reach out to the individuals you trust, whether it be family or friends, for assistance, encouragement and oversight in achieving personal and professional goals.
Support can be emotional, mentorship, advices or resources. It provides a sense of belonging and keeps you motivated to keep going as your accountability partner provides reassurance. An accountability partner creates structures to track your progress, sets milestones and timeframes for timely completion and provides feedback on your performance. This helps you to stay focused, determined and disciplined while moving towards your goal.
Tips for Finding the Right Accountability Partner
- Look for someone who has similar values, goals and plans. This will ensure you both understand each other well and can guide you to the right path.
- Also, ensure that the other person is reliable to trust and is committed towards his/her own good with dedication and honesty. Such a partner will help you stay focused and guide you at every step.
- Open communication is the key to success. Make sure you can discuss in detail everything with what you are going through with your accountability partner. A good accountability partner will not only help you through difficult times but also navigate through challenges and celebrate your small wins.
Inspiring Stories of Individuals Who Have Transformed Their Lives Through Intentions
Asma, a friend of mine and a mom of 3, had been struggling with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, reducing her low belly fat, eating healthy such as fat-free and low-calorie and reducing her stress levels due a sedentary job at a private organization from 9 am to 6 pm. After years of gaining 76 pounds, she finally set an intention to prioritize her health and improve her well-being. Having setting clear and focused intentions and jotting them down on sticky notes and pasting them on her front desk, she started regular exercises, decreased her office hours and instead started work-from-home. Along with mindful breathing exercises to reduce her stress and anxiety she also began mindful eating, spending time with pets and meditation. Over the time, she experienced notable improvements in her physical health, mental clarity, and in the overall diameter of life. By setting intentions and taking consistent action for a year, Asma transformed her life and became the healthiest and happiest version of herself.
Maalik, aged 35, an assistant manager at a private company was not satisfied with his career field and lacked purpose and direction. After a struggle of 3 years to adjust with his current career, he finally decided to make a change. He asked himself what was missing in his career that he wanted to do and set an intention to pursue his passion and find fulfillment in his work. Maalik acted proactively and explored different career paths, acquired necessary skills and gained his preferred industry experience. Through focused intention and hard work, after a year, Maalik was awarded a job in a field he was passionate about and experienced newfound satisfaction and success in his career.
Tips for Living Your Best Life Through Intentions
1. Set intentions for each day, week and month. This helps you to stay focused, determined and you are likely to move forward with passion and purpose in the right direction. Setting intentions and closely monitoring your progress helps achieve better insights of where you are standing in life currently.
2. Visualize your goals and intentions. Make clear where you want to see yourself in future and how can you achieve that. A clearly defined vision helps to establish what you want in life. Visualization is like an imaginative test run before you take any actions or move further while making decisions.
3. Take frequent short breaks from your daily routine and practice meditation and mindful breathing exercise. You can find more about them here.
4. Unwind your thoughts through noting down points in a journal. Bringing your thoughts from mind to paper helps manage stress levels and reduce anxiety. Journaling helps organize your thoughts as you cope up with life in a sorted and productive manner.
5. Travel – not necessarily to expensive cruise vacations or spending thousands of dollars in a 5-star hotel nor going to a beach vacation at Miami. Simply, going to a road trip with your family or friends and having moments of laughter, love and joy while enjoying your favorite snacks for a few hours helps reset your mind and freshens you up for busy schedules ahead.
6. Take conscious steps towards improving your diet. Eat healthy- live healthy. Mindful eating practices and mindful breathing exercises go hand-in-hand. Incorporate whole foods such as more green leafy vegetables and fruits in your diet. Take small breaks, close your eyes, breathe deep and let go of the stress. Gradually add healthy living practices into your daily routine to bring out a better version of yourself. Discover secret tips to achieving Health & Nutrition here!
7. Fall in love with yourself! Embrace the good in you, the little things that matter to you the most. Do not neglect your intuitions or emotional well-being. Remember, achieving a dream life is not possible without giving the best to yourself. If you are satisfied with yourself, it will be surely reflected outside.
8. Read books and articles that boost your brain power. Sparing 15 to 20 minutes for reading something that interests you and aligns with your passion and life goals, will not only stimulate your mind but also inspire you towards taking the right actions and achieve what you have longed for.
9.Transform the negative thoughts in your mind to positive energy that drives you. Let go of the little voice in your head that criticizes you or questions all you do. Self-awareness is a must, and believing in the fact that nothing is impossible if you try with complete focus, clarity and determination will definitely take you to newer heights.
As we conclude, setting intentions doesn’t necessarily involve achieving specific goals; rather it helps in providing direction to our lives and living with purpose and meaning. By clarifying our core values, focusing our energy towards positivity, and taking measure, we can bring a meaningful change and achieve a life that reflects our achievements and aspirations.
Setting intentions provides clarity and direction to nurturing personal growth and fulfillment. Hence, we can experience greater joy, resilience, and satisfaction, leading to a more purposeful existence.
I encourage you to set your intentions, explore your inner self, trust that you can do it and begin your journey towards a positive transformation.
Share your intentions with our community and support one another in living authentically and purposefully. Together, let’s create a ripple effect of positive change and inspire others to join us on the path to a more intentional and fulfilling life.
Here’s to embracing intentionality, living authentically, and creating a life filled with purpose and meaning.
