6 Simple Ways to Be Intentional Every Day
Being intentional is about bringing a commitment, focus and attention to something that is important to you.
Intentionality increases your chances of achieving the things that matter most.
If you want to move forward on achieving your goals simply and easily, being intentional is on of the best capabilities you can develop.
To be intentional every day it’s essential to get clear up front about what you want to achieve and then take action on achieving it.
Getting clear up front requires being specific about the results or outcomes you want from any project or experience.
In this simple guide I’ll outline what intentionality is and share 6 ways to be intentional with your behaviour, your thoughts and your actions.
Being intentional is a capability that grows every day.
If you want to move your life forward, then being intentional requires you to be clear on what you want and then take action on achieving it.
What does it mean to be intentional?
Being intentional means having a clear purpose about what you want. When you’re intentional you take action on the thoughts and feelings and that are most important to you.
When you embrace intentionality you choose to live and create a life that has a clear purpose and is meaningful and exciting to you.
Being an intentional person means everything you do is done with a clear purpose and focus. You know exactly what you want to achieve.
When you become intentional, you focus your time and energy on achieving the results you want, and don’t let fear hold you back.
Being intentional means you appreciate and show gratitude for the things that matter most in your life. This helps create better boundaries around the areas of your life that aren’t as important.
6 simple ways to be intentional every day
Here are 6 ways to be more intentional every day.
1. Be deliberate with your actions
Intentionality ensures you are deliberate with your actions. When you’re clear up front about where you want to invest your time, energy and focus, you’re more likely to achieve the results you want.
Being intentional ensures you know exactly what to do and where to focus your attention.
This gives you direction and intention every day.
When you don’t have that clarity up front, you can waste time on non-important activities and get easily distracted.
To increase your intentionality, identify three important activities to take action on that will help you achieve the outcomes you want.
This intentional commitment to what you want communicates to your brain what’s most important to you, and where your focus lies.
2. Get clear on the results you want to achieve
When you are intentional you understand the benefits of achieving specific results or outcomes.
Unless you have that clarity about the importance of the results you want to achieve you won’t have the intention to take action.
To be intentional, get clear up front about the outcome you want and understand the importance of achieving that result.
When you have this level of emotional investment to the results you want to achieve your intentionality will soar.
3. Be intentional with your time
When you are clear about the outcome you want you can be more intentional with your time to help you achieve that result.
Being intentional with your time means focusing only on the specific activities, relationships, teamwork and collaborations that help you achieve that result.
Knowing where to invest your time creates better boundaries, helps you stay focused and makes you more productive.
4. Be intentional with your focus
Being intentional means aiming for a very specific result in any situation.
When you have that level of intentionality about what you want it narrows your focus. This focus reduces procrastination and distraction.
Having an intentional focus takes the guesswork out of where you should invest your time and energy.
Having this focus on your vision, your end goal and the action steps needed gives you the confidence to focus your attention on what matters most to you.
5. Be focused on your goals
Being intentional helps you set better goals. You know exactly what goals you want to achieve by a specific date in the future.
Being intentional about your goals gives you a measurable destination to reach and daily direction.
Goal setting gives you a specific plan and path to work towards every day and helps you start each day with a clear intention about what to work on.
For goal setting to work you need to be clear on the future you want to create for yourself.
That future must be exciting and motivating for you to take action.
This clarity helps you set up each day with a clear intention about exactly what you want to do and where you want to invest your time and energy.
6. Focus on your most important relationships
Intentionality multiplies the power of each relationship that is important to us.
What we appreciate grows when we give our focus and attention to it.
When we are fully intentional towards the people that matter most to us, their importance grows.
If we take a moment to express gratitude to someone their importance in our life grows.
Identifying what we want from our relationships ensures we are clear up front about the best result we want from that relationship.
Being present in communication and in person with the people that matter most shows how much we value them.
Summing Up
Our intentionality grows when we focus on being intentional every day.
Choosing to be intentional means getting clear up front on exactly what you want to achieve, and understanding why achieving that result is important to you.
Starting each day with a clear intention about what you want to achieve narrows your focus and increases your productivity.
Try starting your day with a clear intention about three things you want to achieve that day. It will give you greater clarity about what really matters in your day.
This article was originally published on the Lucemi Consulting blog.
About the Author
Mark Pettit is a time management coach and Founder of time management coaching company Lucemi Consulting.
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