Any lifestyle that is founded on a person or group’s deliberate endeavors to live by their values and beliefs is referred to as Intentional Living Strategies. These may involve coaching, personal change, and leadership development, in addition to lifestyles founded on moral or religious principles. To this view, we must live by our values if we are to live with an aim.
It implies that we must be aware of our basic beliefs. Everybody has their own set of personal core values, which are the things that are most important to them. They have the power to control your actions and direct your daily decision-making.
But a major contributing factor to the lack of aim in many people’s lives is that they never truly figured out what their true values and priorities were in life. Therefore, identifying your own fundamental beliefs is the first step towards Intentional Living.
Some Tips For Intentional Living
1. Make Them Observable
You won’t remember your objectives if you write them down in a diary and then put the notebook in a drawer. You may say the same thing about your morals. They will go from your memory if they are only in your thoughts or if you write them down but never refer to them. They need to be on exhibit so you can view them every day.
This will act as a prompt to lead a life consistent with your principles. It will act as a helpful reminder to consider your values before making decisions and base decisions on them. Place them everywhere: on sticky notes, your computer’s screensaver, your phone’s background, and even on your fridge. You’ll be reminded to live by your values more often the more times you encounter them throughout the day.
2. Throw Out The Bad
The next stage of Intentional Living Strategies is to let go of items that don’t enrich your life or prevent you from following your moral principles. Let’s say you value eating healthily, but there’s a lot of junk food in your house. Organize your space and make it conducive to achievement. Clear out the junk food to create space in your life for the really important things.
You may need to get go of even greater kinds of stuff in your life. Perhaps you chose to become a doctor because your parents desired it. But your true calling was becoming an entrepreneur.
It’s not too late to make a shift if your work path isn’t fulfilling you. You have the option to change careers. Recall that they ought to be your values, not those of another person. It may even be necessary to cut individuals out of your life.
3. Prioritize Your Mental and Emotional Wellness
In the same way that you prioritize watching your favorite TV program, bringing the kids to activities, having your hair done, and going to work. It is up to you to decide how much to spend on your mental health.
Since decisions determine our lives, making an intentional choice to empower oneself by dedicating resources to your self-awareness path is necessary to become deliberate. A hint: reading anything like this takes intentionality.
4. Get Around with The Correct People
The five individuals you spend the most time with together make up your typical self. Even if the number five may not have any magical properties, the truth remains that your social circle plays a crucial role in both your career and personal success.
Consider this: You won’t be particularly healthy if you prioritize exercise and health yet spend your days around folks who smoke, consume fast food, and play video games.
Your personality is shaped by the people you spend time with. Spend time with individuals who share your essential beliefs, then. Spend time with individuals that inspire you, are enjoyable to be around, and uplift you. This is one of the ways of Intentional Living.
5. Create Your Life Vision
Have you ever taken the time to sit down and consider your goals for the next five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years? It’s like hoping in a vehicle and asking Google Maps to simply drive if you don’t have a vision for your life. Even so, I’m sure this would make for an enjoyable road trip. It is your life that you should be navigating, not Google.
Who are you aspiring to be? What are you hoping to accomplish? Which activities do you want to engage in? Want to start a family? Would you like to travel? Want to live a nomadic digital lifestyle? in a job in corporate America?
You are setting a course for yourself and a North Star that is directing your actions now by taking the time to consider what you want your life to look like in the years to come.
6. Get Organized with Your Time and Money
If you’re organized and conscious of how you use your time and money, you’ll be in a better position to make deliberate judgments regarding those resources. Analyze your calendar or make a plan of how you spend the majority of your days.
Do you continue to devote your time to pursuits that you find uninteresting? Are there any particularly disorganized or ineffective components of that? Can you organize yourself better, so you have more time to do other things?
Analyze your spending patterns as well to see whether they align with your declared values. For example, if you believe in charity, are you able to organize any donating campaigns? Do you prioritize experience above material possessions? If so, how much do you spend? Figuring out the answers is one of the Intentional Living Strategies.
7. Begin Small and Accept the Difficulties You Face Along the Way
Consider each day as it comes. Things typically start to fall into place if you identify a modest area that you wish to alter and put some effort into doing so.
Additionally, make an effort to face obstacles head-on and have faith that you will grow from them along the journey. There’s a saying that says you won’t change if something doesn’t challenge you. I’ve thought about it a lot, particularly in the last year.
8. Reflect at The End
Recognizing your potential deviations from your ideals and making necessary corrections is the only way to become better. Spend some time reviewing your day before going to bed to determine whether or not your actions were in line with your basic beliefs.
Now is a fantastic moment to celebrate your victories as well. Consider the moments during the day when you did live your ideals. Give yourself a pat on the back and recognize any good things that have happened throughout the day.
Consider who you want to spend time with the next day as well. Do they encourage and uplift you? If not, try to locate someone who shares your basic beliefs about Intentional Living with at least one person you can spend time with the next day.
At last, it is the moment to decide what you want to achieve the following day. Consider if there is anything in your life that you still need to let go of since it isn’t helping you. Imagine how you will feel when you wake up the next day and your morning ritual.
Why is Intentional Living Important?
Intentional Living by your basic values provides several advantages for mental health. To begin with, deliberate living reduces stress. According to Irvington, New York-based coach and speaker Genevieve Piturro, who assists people in discovering their genuine purpose, one explanation is that you stop “weighing the pros and cons of every decision, which causes us so much anxiety.”
Piturro points out that instead, you’re led by your North Star, which is, once again, a compass formed from your views and ideals. Additionally, research supports the advantages of living intentionally.
For instance, for 21 days in this research, individuals kept daily journals of their distress, well-being, and values-based behavior. More values-based behavior was associated with increased daily well-being and decreased daily distress.
In an investigation, College students who engaged in values-based behavior showed a greater capacity to handle difficult life situations, according to a Trusted Source study. Beyond that, several scientifically supported therapies use purposeful living, such as living by your values, to cure ailments like depression.
Living with purpose, according to Oakland, California-based therapist and author of “Already Enough: A Path to Self-Acceptance,” Lisa Olivera provides us access to our power, gives us a sense of action in life, and helps us feel more competent, present, and in sync with ourselves with some effective Intentional Living Strategies.
Living an intentional life means being true to who you are and finding great happiness and fulfillment in the process.
FAQs
Q: What is the key to Intentional Living?
A: Living a life that aligns with your beliefs is key to Intentional Living.
Q: Is intentional living consistently cozy and peaceful?
A: Although purposeful living has many benefits, it’s not always happy, calm, or simple. It may sometimes be difficult and even uncomfortable, particularly at first. But keep in mind that many excellent endeavors might sometimes be difficult. The secret is to never give up.
Q: Are there any books about Intentional Living Strategies?
A: Many books are available on that topic, such as:
- Love People, Use Things by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus.
- Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo.
- The Afrominimalist’s Guide To Living With Less by Christine Platt.
- Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki.
- Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver.
- Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits by Gretchen Rubin.
- Adventures in Opting Out by Cait Flanders.
- The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller.
