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On La.Rue, you will find me preaching that Intentional Living is a way of life; it comes from transforming your life so that every decision you make directs you towards achieving goals and moving forward. Changing your everyday life to live intentionally requires much thought, planning, and above all, commitment to create change and take control of your life. There are five core elements I have created tied towards creating an Intentional Life.
On my Intentional Living Worksheet (available to download in my shop for FREE), you will find it separated into these five core pillars: (1) Mind / Body (2) Career / Education (3) Selfcare / Relaxation (4) Lifestyle Development (5) Experience – each of these core pillars serves to set intentions that promote growth, action, and change in your life.
The Five Pillars to Intentional Living
Mind/ Body – Intentions set for Strengthening.
Career / Education – Intentions set for Growing.
Selfcare / Relaxation – Intentions set for Healing.
Lifestyle Development – Intentions set for Personal Improvement.
Experience – Intentions set for Action.
I define Intentional Living as creating a life in which you feel you have lived every day “fully.” You know the expression, “Live every day to its fullest?” Yes. Well, I think it is entirely unrealistic to live each day “fully” for many reasons. First, you have to remember that life happens, there will always be days where you’re not “on” or feeling happy or yourself, and that is completely normal as a human being, just living life. You may have off days, or days where you’re feeling lazy, and those days I think, are necessary to survive. To be “on” all day is impossible and extremely exhausting.
So, I define Intentional Living as a lifestyle in which you create a space and mindset that you have defined as “full.” What do I mean by that? Full, to me, is defined as a life I have created for myself in which I am living out my dreams. I have created a comfortable daily routine for myself that sets roads for success and achievement. Each of these Pillars requires critical thought, and over time, they are built by your belief of what is “full.” By setting Intentions for strengthening, growth, healing, personal improvement, and action, you’re curating a connection between your past self, in which you seek improvement, and your future self, in which you pursue success.
By creating an Intentional Life for yourself – setting goals, making changes, and creating routine – you optimize your future for success by taking actionable responsibility in the decisions you make in your life. These are the steps you need to take to create an Intentional Life.
The Beginning Steps of Intentional Living
1. Set short-term and long-term goals for yourself. When you do this, you cannot just write down a goal and not address the how. The challenge in this task is defining HOW you will achieve these goals and what steps you’re going to take to get there; once you’ve clarified the how you immediately become active in making changes in your life.
2. Now you can begin to create a routine centered around achieving these goals. For example, if one of my short-term goals is to read ten classics novels a year to reach my long-term goal of reading the top 100 classics, then I would create a routine using my Habit Tracker to make time in my life to read these books.
3. I know this example might seem arbitrary, but let’s analyze the long-term effects of what it means to achieve this goal. Say I finish and read the top 100 literary classics, not only would I have read some fantastic novels, but my knowledge of literature would have grown. I would have a strong background in contemporary English, how it functions in today’s society, and continue my education without even stepping in a classroom. By analyzing the benefits of
achieving a long-term goal, you are able to see the
changes it can affect in your life.
4. After taking these three steps, you’re ready to implement these changes into your life. Many of us may find this the most challenging step, to actually change the way you live your life. But, to reach your goals, you must create change. By implementing these changes in your life, you’re able to take control of the expectations and goals you have for yourself and begin to achieve them.
5. Which takes us to our final step, achievement. To reach this step takes a lot of effort on your part. Achieving goals is hard; we all know this. However, with all of the correct tools, determination, and accountability, you can create extraordinary change in your life.
Head over to my shop page by clicking the ‘Shop La.Rue’ tab to download your FREE Intentional Living Guide today. The most important thing to remember when creating an Intentional Life is that you yourself are the only person who has the power to do so. From this process comes growth in your commitment to change, your drive for success, and your passion for achieving your dreams.
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