What Is Intentional Living?
Natalie Bacon
https://nataliebacon.com/what-is-intentional-living/
Most people spend more time planning a one-week vacation than they spend planning their life.
– Michael Hyatt
Intentional living is about learning how to make better decisions, so you’re happier and have fewer regrets. Basically, it’s all about focusing on what matters most to you and forgetting the rest.
You still won’t be able to control the outcomes, but over time, the result is that you’ll design a life you love more likely than wandering somewhere you don’t want to be.
Intentional living means choosing to live in a way that is in alignment with your purpose in life.
Intentional living takes you from where you are not to where you want to go. It’s the roadmap that helps you navigate life.
Intentional living means valuing life so much that you decide how you want to live ahead of time. This will allow you to make the best decisions you know how to and minimize your regrets.
Living intentionally can help you be happier and have fewer regrets.
To live intentionally, you need to follow the process I’ve listed below.
For each step, apply the action to one of the life categories (or all of them). Focus on the areas of your life that you want to work on the most, but don’t leave any neglected for too long.
The main life categories are:
Health (e.g.: eating, exercising)
Relationships (e.g.: spouse, kids, coworkers, friends)
Finance (e.g.: money)
Career (e.g.: job, business)
Personal / Spiritual Development (e.g.: religion, reading, meditation)
Recreation (e.g.: fun, play, hobbies, sports)
Environment (e.g.: home, organization)
Service (e.g.: volunteering)
You can also add a final category that is your “Overall Life” category, that encompasses all of these specific categories.
Create a vision for each of the categories of your life. A vision is a desired future with a deeply rooted reason for that desired future.
Take inventory of each of the categories of your life. Write down what you’ve done in the past in each area and where you think you stand today. Be brutally honest and completely authentic here. You’re only hurting yourself by fudging your reality. Also, document whether where you are to this point is where you want to be for that category. This will help you decide what to focus on.
Create an overarching plan for each area of your life. This means you are going to decide how to get from where you are now (your inventory) to where you want to be (your visions).
Your overarching plan should be very broad, not like a specific goal, but list how it is you’re going to achieve your vision.
Set long-term and short-term goals for each category of your life. Goals are specific strategies that you will use to accomplish your overarching plans and live your visions.
Long-term goals are goals that are greater than one year and short-term goals are goals that are shorter than one year.
For your long-term goals, consider setting several long-term goals at specific intervals (such as a 5-year goal, 10-year goal, and 20-year goal) for each category.
For your short-term goals, set goals at shorter intervals, such as 1-3 months, 6 months, and 1 year.
All of your goals should be SMART, in my opinion. This is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.
Create a monthly and weekly action plan with specific tasks that will help you achieve some of your goals.
Your action plans are the framework and plan that will help you accomplish your short-term goals.
Implement supportive success habits that will help you achieve your goals and live the life you’ve always wanted.
For this step, decide how you can implement habits as part of your routine that will help you live intentionally. Weekly actions are small tasks that you set to accomplish weekly. Habits are daily disciplines that are part of your routine.
Reward yourself as you accomplish your goals, reflect on the process, revise as needed, and repeat as life changes.
Reward yourself as you complete your actions each week. As humans, we work really well if we’re rewarded for what we do.
Reflect on the process. As you implement your intentional living plan, reflect and evaluate whether it’s actually working for your.
Revise your plan as needed. Life will happen and your circumstances will change – for better and for worse. Adjust your plan accordingly. This means that you will have to monitor your plan and make changes periodically. If it’s helpful, decide to do this every few months.
Repeat the plan as you make big life changes. If you get married, have kids, switch careers, or something else, you are going to need to repeat the entire process.
Intentional living means that you are living on purpose. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best that you can do for the one live you have. It will leave you happier and with fewer regrets.
Final Note:
Once you start living intentionally, the habit of thinking about your choices becomes second nature. This is how you learn to make better decisions and have fewer regrets.
Intentional living is how you design a life you love.
ROJoson's Comments:
know why you are living on this earth and know why you are doing the things you are doing now.]
know your final destination when you make your intentional plan.]
your intentional living plan will be dependent on your core values.]
make and document your intentional living plan and implement it - this is your responsibility.]
[ROJOSON’s Strategy – formulate whole life intentional plan then break it into yearly plan, monthly plans, weekly plans, daily plans – daily plans contributing to the achievement of weekly, monthly, yearly and whole life intentional plan.]
true, there is nothing absolute in the plan but at least there is a plan and there is continuous evaluation and review at planned intervals say, every 6 months, every year]
[ROJOSON’s opinion: as mentioned earlier, there is nothing absolute in the plan but at least there is a plan and there is continuous evaluation and review at planned intervals say, every 6 months, every year – thus, intentional living is a continuous process; THERE IS A FINISH LINE in the sense you try to live with intention up to end of your life – the finish line.]
ROJOSON supports all the steps recommended with additional steps to be expounded in another document.
ROJoson's Collation:
Lifestyle based on an individual or group's conscious attempts to live according to their values and beliefs.
Personal transformation to have a more clear cut direction in life, the direction is guided by core values and personal choices (no wrong answer), being implemented daily, with continuous processes (make adjustments every day).
Without final destination and without finish line.
ROJoson’s concept of Intentional Living:
With final destination, with a finish line, not just daily living with daily plans contributing to the whole lifetime plan.
ROJ@19dec6