Hello there, Happy New Year!. It’s 2021, I’m very excited to say that today the sun came out and we have been blessed with another day to follow our hearts and intuition. We are not restricted by dates and resolutions that may not happen right at the end of a year. Everyone is different, some people have a stronger will power than others. Not to worry, will power is something that we can work on and develop over time if we set to do so.
“Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make us.” Richie Norton
So what is living intentionally? It is choosing your path, adding and removing as needed.
Let’s say that you are working from home due to the pandemic and have noticed a decline in your mental health. You can start by doing a self-assessment of the things that you are doing daily. For example, your workday goes from 8:00 am-5:00 pm. You may ask yourself questions like
Do I wake up early and get ready right away? Do I stay in my pj’s for the majority of the day?
Small tasks such as getting up and having a structure that includes morning routines can enhance your day and improve your daily outlook and mental health over time.
My fiancé once explained that he loves to wake up before the sunlight and start his day before everyone else. To him, it feels good to get up early in the morning. For you, it might be different, and this is the beauty of intentions, they are personalized.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Intentional living also calls you to think about the gap between where you are versus where you want to be. This is not exclusive to weight, career, and relationships as far as losing 10 lbs, getting a promotion, or finding love with a new relationship.
If we take these three goals and break them down into intentional goals, we could end up with a list that looks more like this:
How do I make the food I eat work for me?
What do I need in order to advance my career goals?
How do I improve my own relationship before I start a new relationship?
Under these three categories, we can include the tasks that will take us closer to what we want to achieve. For some tasks, you might need the help of an expert. Take eating as an example: How do you feel after you drink that venti caramel frappuccino? An expert can break down the nutritional contents for you. You can identify bloating the next morning or that you are feeling heavy and have to unbutton those jeans after you drink it. Taking this information into account, you move towards a choice that will remove these bad symptoms. Treat yourself to a drink, enjoy what you like, in moderation. Order a tall instead of a venti. Choose to have that drink only once a week and not daily. You can also request to have less syrup or less sweetener in your drinks.
Circling back to those PJ’s. Set a weekly challenge for you, where you set the intention to get up, brush your teeth, change into comfortable loungewear, or fully dressed, up to you. Start noticing how you feel after the first day of doing this. I recommend apps like Calm as a tool to track your emotions if you would like to incorporate some tech into your intentions.
Have you identified any intentions today?
Stay focused and Stay safe. Happy 2021.
-Dee
TheChillEasy 