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How do you live an Intentional Life? Intentional Living is a lifestyle in which you create a space where you live fully and follow your dreams. Living an Intentional Life in 2021 means creating productive routines, positive habits, and maintaining an intentional mindset that guides you to achievement. Living Intentionally means your thoughts, decisions, and actions are made with a great understanding. This understanding offers confidence in what you intend to receive out of any situation.

Why is it important to live intentionally? Too often, we’re working day-to-day without a thought of what this day would look like in our future. Because more often than not, this day will look insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Living Intentionally doesn’t mean that each day will be extraordinary. However, it does mean that you work hard and make intentional decisions every day to make your future and tomorrow a more extraordinary possibility. Today on La.Rue, I will share with you HOW you can change your life to live more intentionally and WHY you should, to make 2021 your best year yet.

How to Live Intentionally in 2021

2020 was a wake-up call for all of us. I think the result of the shocking year brought some stark realizations of what is truly important to us. The major lesson I learned when my brother passed away is how short life really is or can be. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to leave this earth with any regrets. Although I may not have achieved my dreams yet, I know I’m working towards them. Every day I wake up and put in the work that puts me one step closer to reaching my goals and watching my dreams come to life. Over time, I think many people lose sight of what their dreams actually are. And as they distance themselves from them, the dreams  become less and less achievable. So, I am here to show you just how we’re going to change that.

This year, you and I are going to make a commitment to ourselves. We are going to commit to staying focused, determined, and resilient. On my Intentional Living FREEBIE, I tell you about the 5 core elements of Intentional Living. Using these core elements, I will show you how to make 2021 an Intentional Year in every aspect of your life.

The 5 Core Elements to Living Intentionally

When designing my Intentional Living Worksheet, I really thought about what core elements could encompass your entire life. So, what are the 5 Core Elements of Intentional Living? 1. Mind & Body 2. Career & Education 3. Selfcare & Relaxation 4. Lifestyle Development 5. Experience. Every blog I’ve written and will write is centered around making one of these core elements intentional in your life. No matter the topic, it can always fall under one of these subjects. So, here is how you’re going to make every aspect of your life intentional.

Mind & Body – Intentions Set for Strengthening 

Your mind and body, two things you own that no one can take from you. Every day we are growing our minds and bettering our bodies. Your mind and body are what give you autonomy in your life. Your mind is what allows you to make independent decisions every day, and your body is what allows you to move from one decision to another, from point A to point B. Too often, we are not taking care of our minds and bodies. It’s a thought that we don’t have every day, so we think putting in the minimal work to take care of them is ok. It’s not ok.

When you’re filling out the Mind & Body section of your Intentional Living Guide, think about changes you need to make to better take care of these parts of yourself. What do you need to change to improve your mind or take care of your body? The most important thing you can do is be honest with yourself here. You’re only doing a disservice to yourself when you hold back.

Career & Education – Intentions Set for Growing 

Whether you’re in school or working, this aspect of your life is pretty much what you center everything else around. This means this category is significant and generally sets the tone for the rest. You are getting an education to grow your knowledge to be better prepared for a career. Your career is where you center your knowledge. Ideally, this should be your main outlet for doing what you love. But unfortunately, not everyone has a career or degree they love.

So, your job for this section is to write out your next step, to continue growing. Where do you need to improve, or what do you need to change? When you’re writing your intentions for your career and/or education, understand where and how you’re going to grow. Take it slowly, because changes in your career or education take a significant amount of time. But understand where you want to change and take the first step.

Selfcare & Relaxation – Intentions set for Healing

Directly correlating with the last two sections, the Selfcare & Relaxation category is for you and you alone. This section is here for you to remind yourself of the care you need. Do you work too hard? Do you do too much for other people and not enough for yourself? Well, let me be the first to tell you, you are the most important person in your life, and being selfish is CRITICAL. You cannot take care of others if you are not taking care of yourself. You also cannot have any solid relationships in your life if you don’t have an amazing relationship with yourself, first. This section is here for you to bring that relationship to life.

Learn to love your own company and get to know who you are again. Your self-care is so important to who you are and how others perceive you. When you take care of yourself, it shows in your attitude, confidence, and abilities. People look at a happy person and wonder how they got there; it’s from learning to love yourself and your own company.

Lifestyle Development – Intentions set for Personal Improvement

Personal Improvement, a topic a lot of people are afraid to tackle. The Lifestyle Development category is here for you to see where in your life you can dedicate time to improving yourself by doing things you love. Do you love reading? Writing? Sports? Painting? Where in your life can you dedicate more time to doing something that you love that isn’t necessarily your career. It’s important to do the things you love and not constantly set them aside. When you make time to do what you love, you’re overall mood and happiness improve. Challenge yourself when you’re filling out your guide; make sure you’re making time to do what you love and not just the things you need to do.

Experience – Intentions Set for Action 

For the last category, we have experience. Your experiences in your life are what give you the memories you have today. Traveling, trying new things, going out with friends, and creating memories all come from your life experiences. So, what do you want to experience in 2021? This section is meant for you to write intentions that create action in your life.  What actions are you going to take in 2021 to continue building those experiences and memories? Take this section as an opportunity; let it be the place you optimize for your future. This can be the place you dream. What to travel to Paris? Move to New York? What actionable intentions can you set to create these experiences?

Now that you understand HOW & WHY Living Intentionally is so important in 2021, you’re ready to actually live an intentional life. Download your Guide AND the New Year’s Resolutions Guide if you haven’t yet made yours, take control of your life, and live out your dreams in 2021!