Being intentional.

Being intentional is taking the time to focus on what you are doing and who you are doing it with. You only spend your time doing the things that are meaningful to you. You also are particular with whom you spend your time. Birds of a feather flock together is an old quote that remains true to this day. There is evidence that being intentional improves your life significantly.

But do not take my word for it. I’ll provide you with some other people’s opinions for you to ponder.

Be intentional in all you do!

Posted by Chrysta Bairre on Mar 15, 2013 in Personal Development

What does it mean to be intentional?

It means you are purposeful in word and action. It means you live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling to you. It means you make thoughtful choices in your life.

Being intentional means you actively interact and engage with your life. You wake up every day and ask yourself, “how am I going to make this day great?”

You respond instead of react. You love instead of fear. You embrace instead of expect. You accept instead of resist.

Why be intentional?

Be intentional because you want to do more than just get by. Be intentional because you dream. Because you aspire. Because you care about something- anything! Because you live.

Sure, it’s easy to do what others do.

It’s easy to complain about Mondays because Monday is the most lovingly loathed day in our society.

It’s easy to live to work because we buy into the idea that we have to have more- more money, more credibility, more authority, more success. How often do we want these things because we think these things will make us happy?

It’s easy to trudge through life cursing the things you don’t like but staying stuck there. Is that the life you really want to live?

Quote from Diane Levy of Life your way says:

Intentional living is being willing to take a step back and evaluate the things you’re doing.

Living also means being willing to evaluate those decisions as you go rather than just making a decision once and sticking to it no matter what. I think that’s probably where we get our picture of what living intentionally looks like — over time, if you’re really evaluating your food choices, you’ll probably tend to move in the direction of eating more food. And if you’re really evaluating the things you own, you’ll probably end up decluttering along the way. But it’s not about waking up on January 1st and making those decisions; it’s about making choices and evaluating them all throughout your life.

Clark Gaither, MD, FAAP gives Five things ways to work an intentional existence:

1.) Set a goal. If you are about to run a race it always helps to know where to find and how to recognize the finish line.

2.) Develop a plan. Without a plan you literally have no idea what you’re doing so get that straight.

3.) Start. Good intentions mean diddlysquat. Being intentionally intentional means taking action on your intentions.

4.) Build in accountability. Pull people into your plans and have them monitor your progress, or lack thereof. This will keep you motivated and self-assessments will be more honest.

5.) Never quit. Quitting is never an option if you are intentionally intentional. Regrouping, course corrections, redesigns and reboots are not quitting. Stopping=Quitting=Failure. No one fails until they quit.

Over all, being intentional means charting a course, staying the course and making course corrections aws needed to live the life that is most meaningful to you. No one can define that for you .

As an older adult I can tell you that what is meaningful changes over time. Find things that interest you, allow yourself to dive deep in to things that you find joy or value in. Sometimes the only way to know what you find joy or value in is to take a step in any direction that has a bit of interest to you and figure out how you feel about it. if you find yourself around people you find do not r4sonat4e with your goals or lifestyle,make changes for yourself.If you find yourself in a situation that6 does not support you in your future goals or feels unhealthy or disinteresting, adjust. Ift you find yourself stuck, maybe counseling or coaching can help.

Karen Van Acker LPC

Counseling and coaching in Salem oregon

Teletherapy in Oregon, telecoaching across the globe.