Creating balanced intention around my life is something that I have chosen in place of setting goals. There is a distinction between goals and intentions I have used both to determine what I truly want for my life, both in the short-term and in the long-term, and in a balanced way.
Real intentions are beautiful because they allow me to learn and grow as I move through them. I can still set them and keep them as structured as I wish them to be. It is the act of focusing on them daily, weekly, monthly, and annually as I plan my work and play time that allows me to hold them really close.
Over the course of the last few years, I made the decision to change completely from goals to intentions. It was a life-changing decision for me. Focusing on my vision for my life, in all areas, my dreams, and my roles allows me to dig deep and create intentions around the areas that needed attention and warranted work. My intentions have fed me; whereas setting goals was draining, disappointing, and often left me feeling defeated.
The beauty of balanced intentions, looking at all areas of my life, allows me to incorporate the spiritual aspect of my core being. As I work toward balance, I am not just look at getting healthy or fit, losing weight, growing my business, being a better spouse/parent/children/friend… I am also working on the spiritual aspect of my life.
For 2015, I set intentions in each of these areas:
• Physical
• Mental
• Business
• Relational
• Emotional
• Spiritual
When we act out of alignment with our purpose, we can begin to live unintentionally… which is currently how I seem to be operating. I admitted on an accountability call a few weeks ago that, while I did well in the first quarter of the year, I fell short during the second quarter. I have not been living as intentionally as I wish and I know that needs to change.
In August, I set aside a day to regroup and re-focus. I will be reviewing my business and personal intentions to see where I am in and out of alignment and then set myself up better for September through the end of the year. Painful, but necessary.
I will report back here how that goes. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about intentions and intentional living, I have a free eBook. You can grab it right here!
To quote Rick Warren, “Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. Don’t waste your pain; use it to help others.” What are you doing with what has happened to you?