Everything You Need to Know About Powerful Intention Setting
As long as your attention is in the present, then your intention for the future will manifest, because the future is created in the present.
Deepak Chopra
What are Intentions?
By definition according to the American Psychological Association (APA) dictionary.
intention (noun)
1. a prior conscious decision to perform a behavior. In experiments, intention is often equated with the goals defined by the task instructions.
2. more generally, any directedness in one’s thoughts or behaviors, whether or not this involves conscious decision making. —intentional
Intentions can be used as a:
– tool to keep you on track when working toward your goals.
– guiding star to help you stay focused on what needs to happen in order to manifest your dreams.
– way of ensuring your energy is used to create the life you desire.
– reminder of what matters most to you and a way to stay focused as you move through life.
The benefit to setting intentions:
– Intentions can help you to break harmful patterns or hurtful habits in life. By doing so, it helps you to better integrate helpful habits which have a long-lasting, positive impact in your life.
– You are putting the Universe on notice. Meaning, you play an active role in creating your world and what you want in it.
The Science Behind Intentions: Neuroplasticity
Q: How can you explain this at a level that takes some of the ‘woo’ out of it and makes it more fact-based?
A: Neuroplasticity.
Our brains are amazing, complex machines. While current science doesn’t fully understand A-L-L the capabilities of the brain, we are making progress and uncovering more within the world of neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity can be viewed as a general umbrella term that refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience.
Source: Dynamic Brains and the Changing Rules of Neuroplasticity
Think of it as the way your brain can take your intention and create lasting habits. By harnessing the power of neuroplasticity and intention setting, you set yourself up for success in breaking bad habits and creating the life you desire.
What Does it Mean to Set Intentions?
Setting an intention is like creating a positive statement that keeps you focused on what you want to bring into life.
It helps you to create a life that is in alignment with what you desire; it’s a tangible way to implement change in your life.
Setting intentions helps you to create a mindset that opens the door to inviting more of the things you want into your life. You cultivate an environment that helps you to thrive and live your best life.
As we get to examples of intentions, below, you’ll understand a little bit more. Until then, let’s talk about intentions some more.
The Difference Between Intentions and Mantras
Our intentions act as a guiding light to help us stay focused on what we want from this life. Whereas, mantras allow us to create a positive (or neutral) thought process to help you break the cycle of negative thoughts that can hinder your progress.
While they are slightly different, intentions and mantras have a synergistic relationship. Being able to harness the power of mantras can help you to stay the course with your intentions.
As you write out an intention, you may start it with the phrase: “Today, intent to…” When you write (or state) a mantra, it begins with “I am…”
Once you have determined your intentions, you can write out mantras to support them.
Here’s the thing, you cannot have a mantra without an intention. You must start with the intention to ensure you are building upon a solid foundation.
Think of the intention as the cornerstone — literally one of the most important foundational portions of a building; if it is not laid properly, then the building will not be square.1 Historically speaking, the corner has also played an important role in the ceremony of the building by bring fortune and success.1 Once you have laid the groundwork with your intention, you can continue to build on it with your mantras.
Are Intentions Relevant to Wellness?
Yes, absolutely!! Intentional wellness means to consciously choose aspects of life that support your health and balance your body, mind, and soul. As you read more about intention setting, this concept will come full circle.
Health is adding a level of intention to every area of you life.
Miranda Anderson
How to Create Powerful Intentions that Work for You
This is where the magic happens. Now, it is entirely possible that you wish to skip steps to get this over with, however, I encourage you to take it one step at a time. This is not the sort of thing to be rushed. In fact, Deepak Chopra stresses the importance of being present when setting your intentions. By being present, you tap into the Universal source and have a better time harnessing the power of your intention.
Follow these five steps to help you create powerful intentions.
The First Step
Go to a place that you find comfortable, peaceful and/or quiet.
Step 2
Sit in silence for a few minutes. You may also do this through meditation.
“Your intention is for the future, but your attention is in the present.” — Deepak Chopra
Step 3
Bring your attention to the center of your chest where your heart space is located.
Step 4
Ask your guides, angels, or ancestors (who have your best intention in mind) to help you to formulate your intentions.
Step 5
Once you are done sitting in silence (or meditating), write down any thoughts that came to mind. Any words you heard. Or, images you saw.
Step 6
Write your intentions and place them somewhere you’ll see them several times a day—did someone say iPhone screensaver?
The mind is everything. What you think, you become.
Buddha
Things to Keep in Mind When Creating Your Intentions
1. Keep it positive.
2. Write on the present tense.
3. Refine/update your intentions, as needed.
{You are not a static being, your intentions will grow and change with you.}
4. Put your intention out into the Universe and believe you will follow through.
How Often Should I Set Intentions?
You might find the most success with setting intentions on a daily basis. However, if you are just getting started, that might be an overwhelming thought.
Instead of having a strict rule of how often you have to create intentions, tap into what you need.
You might feel called to write a couple of intentions for the month. Or, maybe you feel as though you need an intention for the week.
Setting intentions can be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. theres no right or wrong answer, its whatever feels right for you.
WORDS OF WISDOM
I am a firm believer in starting small and expanding from there. This means striving to create a couple of intentions for the month. Then, as you’ve grasped how to set intentions and developed your own system, you can move to doing them weekly. As you get better at it, and feel more confident, then you might consider daily intentions.
To me, this seems like the best way to set yourself up for success. But, again, do what works for you!
Journal Prompts to Help You Set Intentions
Since intentions are a powerful tool to help you work toward creating the life you desire— you need to know what you seek in life. You might have a general idea, but now is the time to really refine what you want.
Journaling is an incredible way to let your thoughts pour out onto paper to help you process what you’re thinking and to get clear on what you want in life.
Here are some journal prompts to help you with intention setting.
– What do you want out of life?
– Do you know your life’s purpose? What are your core values?
– Are you living in alignment with your life’s purpose? What about your core values?
– Where are you struggling? Do you want to create a positive shift? Or, are you scared/worried about what might change in your life?
– What do you focus on? Is it what you want to create more of? Or, are you ruminating on things you’d be better of letting go of?
– How can you take care of yourself more? What obstacles do you need to remove in order to take care of yourself?
– What brings you the most happiness in life? How can you replicate that more?
– Stress, unhappiness, and depression can often be the result of not living in alignment with your purpose and/or values. Is it possible that you are struggling for this reason?
Examples of Intentions
Intentions for Your Personal Abilities
Today, I will:
– prioritize my needs, dreams, and desires.
– believe in myself and my abilities.
– acknowledge and honor my strengths.
– value my thoughts and opinions.
– stand firm in my beliefs and values.
– bring peace and understanding to life.
Intentions to Help You Show Up for You
Today, I will:
– live in harmony and flow with the Universe.
– show up for myself and intentionally co-create the life I desire.
– consciously attract what belongs to me.
– take care of my body by moving with positive intention.
– welcome adventure into my life.
– seek clarity in life lessons to help me see the meaning of the situation.
Intentions for Gratitude & Happiness
Today, I will:
– give thanks for who I am.
– receive with gratitude and grace.
– seek out and create happy moments daily.
– connect with nature to regenerate my energy.
Put these intentions into real life application
To help you keep intentions at the forefront of your mind, plug them into the free YAPP Reminders app.
- Since it’s free, all you need to do is enter your own intentions (or affirmations). So, borrow the intentions that resonate with you the most and plug them into the app.
How do I Follow Through with the Intentions I Set?
Intention setting can be an incredibly powerful tool. I want to help you harness the full power of this practice and that means helping you to follow through with it.
Here’s the deal: it is one thing to talk about setting intentions, but it is entirely different learning how to practically apply them to daily life…
ANNDDD to actually remember to follow through with it.
Where my ADHD friends at? —I’m awkwardly raising my hand to my own question, so you are not alone here!
Here are five things to do to get the most out of intention setting:
1. Consistency
Once you have started playing around with intentions, and get the hang of them, work toward finding a consistent routine. This way, you can work toward successfully integrating your intentions into daily life.
An important question to ask yourself here: What feels like the right time of day to you to create intentions? If you are a morning person, it might make sense to carve out a few minutes to sit in a peaceful place and tap into the intentions for the day ahead.
On the other hand, if you are not the happiest person in the morning, then maybe a different time of day is better for you. Like, after you’ve gotten up and sat down with a cup of coffee (or your morning beverage of choice).
Or, you might be more engaged in the process in the evening. In that case, consider tapping into your intentions at night for the following day, so they are ready to go when you wake up.
2. Write it down
After you write down your intentions, display them or keep them in a place where you will see them frequently. By having them displayed in a prominent location, it’s a visual reminder to stick with it.
3. Help Your Future Self
Use intention setting to help you in the future, such as worrying about an anticipated situation coming up. To be more specific, imagine that you are attending an event later tonight that will be challenging for you. Perhaps you don’t know the people there very well or you have struggled with what to say around them in the past. Use your intention to help you successfully navigating the conversations during the event. Or, help you to reduce your stress associated with stepping out of your comfort zone.
If you struggle with what to say, this intention may be helpful for you:
– I value my thoughts and opinions
4. Alert to remember.
Set an alarm or calendar event to remind you to spend some time thinking, writing down, and reviewing your intentions.
If you have ADHD, like me, you might find yourself struggling to remember to follow through with setting intentions, even if it is something you want to do. Oh, look… that thing is sparkling! {and, now you’re gone and didn’t finish the task. LOL}. As a result of this, I live by alarms, notifications, and calendar event reminders!!
5. Reflect
At the end of the day, sit down take a few minutes to reflect.
Reflecting on your intentions is a great way to look at what is happening in your life compared to what you’d like to happen.
Were your actions in alignment with your intentions? Or, were they not in alignment with one another?
Here are something things to think about when you are reflecting (might be some more good journal prompts!):
– Are you doing the things that you want to do?
– Or, are you allowing too much external influence in your life? Is that causing you to get off course from your goals?
If things didn’t go the way you wanted—or intended—here are some questions for you:
– How can you adjust your intentions for the future?
– Or, do your actions need to be changed?
– What can you do to set yourself up for success?
– Are you standing in your own way?
Note: This is not a time to insert judgment. You are taking this opportunity to assess what is happening in your life—not to pass judgement on your actions, or lack.
How to Start Living a More Intentional Life
To live intentionally is to incorporate intentionality into your daily living. You wake up each day with a clear direction to what you wish to create in life. Once you’ve refined your intentions setting process, and are able to make it a regular practice, it’s time to make it a larger part of your life.
When you live intentionally, it also means that you are learning from life’s lessons. Instead of hiding or negatively responding to something that went array in your life, you intentionally seek out the lesson you were supposed to learn. And, then apply that lesson to future decisions or experiences.
In order to live an intentional life, it requires that you dig deep and learn about yourself. It’s necessary to ask yourself — and answer— one B-I-G question: Do you know your life’s purpose?
Here’s the thing, many of us do not know our true life’s purpose. An example of that, while talking with a stranger in my favorite coffee shop, I posed this question to him. He looked back at me like a deer in headlight and with good reason, he has been feeling lost. This is because he is not connected to his life’s purpose.
Heads up—your life’s purpose does not need to be reflected in your job or career. These can be two different aspects of your life, such as having a full-time job and pursuing your life’s purpose on the weekends or you day off. Please do not fall victim to the rhetoric that you are not living your life’s purpose if you are working a job that is not in alignment with it. Those who are able to make a career out of their life’s purpose are incredibly privileged; not all of us have that luxury in life. And, realistically speaking, if you made your life’s purpose your job, you might not find the same joy in it. So, do what’s best for you!
To help you understand your purpose, ask yourself: Why?
- Why do you do the things you do?
- Why are you here on this planet? In other words, what is your driving force to live?
Your answer may include any number of reasons. And, you might even uncover some themes, such as family, friendships, or work.
When you explore your why—pay attention to your body. Are you tuned into the way your purpose makes you feel?
If you are feeling stress or tension when thinking (or talking) about any of these, why is that? It could be that you are not living in alignment with your true purpose.
Perhaps it is because you are worried about what others would think? It may also be an indication that you need to change something in your life to help you to live more intentionally.
When you know your life’s purpose, it is time to uncover your core values.
When you are working toward uncovering your core values, it is something that you want to come from the heart—not your ego.
Here’s what I mean: It is one thing to say you want to live a core value in life, but it is entirely different to actually follow through with it and live it in your daily life.
Additionally, if your core values come from a place of ego, it is likely coming from something outside of yourself. In fact, stress often manifests in our lives when we are not living in alignment with our core values (or those core values are not truly ours).
To give you some ideas about core values, check out the values shared on the Bring About Happy’s What We’re All About page. The core values there mirror those in my personal life.
Please know, I am not saying I am a perfect person with these core values. I’m human which means I’m perpetually in a state of growth and learning (oh, and I fuck up from time to time). But, I strive to embody these values in my personal life and business.
After you know your purpose and core values, here are some ways you can incorporate them into your life to live more intentionally.
Ways to Incorporate Intentional Living in Your Life
Positive mindset.
This simple concept can actually be more complex as we start to dig deeper into what it entails. It is beyond doing the things that make you happy, help you to feel energized, or fill your heart/soul. That said, if you have not grown up being taught how to have a positive mindset, you are working against a host of barriers.
Moreover, a positive mindset does not mean you just push all the negative things out of your life or deny their presence. Just as it does not mean you sweep your true feelings or emotions under the rug and forget about their existence.
Positive mindset is recognizing life is full of ups and downs and learning to embrace all aspects of what life has to offer.
If you are new to the concept, it requires retraining your brain—and that takes time. It requires time and conscious effort. And, it will require you to challenge everything you’ve been taught, even the things you do not recall being taught.
Think of retraining your brain to have a positive mindset as trying to replace ruts in the snow caused by several people cross-country skiing the same snow packed track. If you try to deviate from those ruts, it is very easy to get pulled back into them.
To create a new cross-country skiing path can be difficult too. It takes time. You’ll have an easier time if get out there right after a snow storm. But, if the snow has an icy layer, you may have to wait a little longer. If you have the resources, there are things to speed up the process, such as bringing in the right equipment for the job. But, we don’t always have access to those tools.
In the long run, as you are able to lay some good tracks for cross-country skiing—and a positive mindset—you will be able to reap the benefits of your efforts. It is a muscle that you have to flex though. If you stop using your new positive thinking muscle, you’ll have to relay those tracks.
Gratitude.
If you’ve read anything I’ve written before, you know I am a big fan of Gratitude. It feels like something that I’d be shouting from the mountain tops, if that was more than a metaphor.
Why am I so obsessed with gratitude? Well, it can have a profound impact on your life when you implement it properly.
The most important thing to know, gratitude is not about having a lavish lifestyle, taking grand vacations, or even being a lucky person. Gratitude is best practiced when you learn to recognize the small, everyday blessings in your life, such as acknowledging and appreciating the fact you are alive today or that you have the ability to laugh at something funny.
Take ownership.
This is the time to step up and take ownership for your life. You are the one in control. You have the power to stay put, play small, and/or continue to live the same existence you always have.
On the flip side, you have the power to change your life. You are responsible for changing, growing, and living the life you desire.
Now is the time to step up and take ownership for where you are and decide what you want to be different.
Don’t compare your life to others.
When we compare our lives to others, we are not living intentionally. And, it’s a recipe for disaster.
You’ve likely heard the term “the grass is always greener on the other side.” I love to remind people that the grass is greener because they spray paint that shit. You just can’t tell from your viewpoint.
So, stop comparing your green and brown speckled grass to the neighbor’s dead, yet green grass from the spray paint. Focus your energy on watering your own grass. Before you know it, your grass will be greener. And, your life will be what you want because you’ve been intentionally focusing on creating the life you desire.
Set Boundaries & Respect yourself.
Setting healthy boundaries helps you to respect yourself and your time and energy. Think of it this way: When you respect yourself, others will respect you.
So, are you respecting yourself by respecting your time? If you spend time on things that take away from your true purpose, you may not be respecting yourself. Here are some examples:
- TV and social media can be major time sucks, especially if you are not consciously aware of how much time you spend partaking in these activities.
- Drama in friend groups can take your attention away from what you desire to accomplish and keep you stuck by engaging in gossip.
- Some people can also serve as a distraction by taking advantage of you, such as they ask you to do things they can easily do themselves.
RE: People taking advantage of you.
For years, I allowed people to do this to me. So, if you are just now recognizing the fact you’ve let others do that same to you—you are not alone. Here are some examples of how this can show up:
- Someone asking a question to an answer they could have easily figured out themselves. Google, my friend, G-o-o-g-l-e!
- People using you as an emotional dumping ground. Uh, I’m not here for you to dump all your shit on and then walk away. That feels like a parasitic relationship, if you can even use the word ‘relationship’ in this context.
- Constantly being called upon by others to do tasks they are fully capable of doing themselves. Brenda, you are a grown adult. You can pick up your own groceries, there is nothing wrong with you.
If you have found yourself doing these things—such as those above, especially when they are capable of doing it themselves—I’m sending you a hug. And, consider this your (not-so-)gentle reminder to respect yourself and your time.
Self-care.
No, we are not talking bubble baths, massages, and facials. Rather, self-care is a w-h-o-l-e other conversation. Here are some other articles you can read about self-care:
- Radical Self Care is the New Cool Thing
- 8 Sunday Self Care Ideas to Help You Have a Better Week
- What is Radical Self Acceptance? Plus, how to get started today.
Prioritize your needs.
You can also think of this one as making your dreams a priority. How much time are you spending on the things that matter most to you? Harsh truth, you might be playing catch up with life and aren’t spending any time doing what you want. If that is the case, this is not the time to go down a shame spiral. This is a common occurrence in life. Instead, take this knowledge and figure out how you can move toward prioritizing the life you want. What type of things can you take off your plate? If you’ve gotten stuck doing things for other who are fully capable of doing those things themselves, start there. Are you creating busy work for yourself that is detracting from your greater purpose in life? {GUILTY over here!!}
How can you create more time in your life to fulfilling hour purpose?
Mental Health break.
As human beings, we are not meant to be in go-go-go mode all the time. We require breaks. If you’ve gotten sucked into the rat race of life, consider this a cue to take a break and reassess things. Are you pushing yourself beyond reasonable expectations? Is the manner in which you are going through life sustainable? Are you physically and mentally exhausted all the time?
If you are nodding your head in agreement to any (or all) of these, it might be time to reconsider that path you are traveling down right now. It is not too late to course-correct and pick a new path. You can take a break — You have the power to make that decision. In fact, I’d argue that if you are worried you don’t have enough time to take a break, that is a key indicator that you need a break.
This seems to be a recurring theme lately, so much so it was something I address in a recent post about radical self acceptance:
If you think you do not have time for this right now. Then, you don’t have the time to not address it.
See the double negative there, that means you gotta do it right now, whether you feel ready for it or not.
Healthy habits.
Being intentional helps you to create healthy habits. In fact, it is a key factor in removing unwanted/harmful habits from your life.
It’s a form of intentional wellness!
Move your body with intention.
Some might insert the words work out, physical activity, or exercise here. I’m not going to put that sort of negativity into your life (assuming you don’t enjoy those things).
Instead, we are talking about moving your body is a way that makes you smile or causes you to feel more energy. As an example, I have a couple of friends who really enjoy moving with intention while using their VR system (virtual reality games).
For myself, this means practicing yoga. It is not in the form of punishment either because it’s not something I have to do. Yoga is a way to mindfully move my body and a way to decompress from the day (or stressful situations).
Make time for important relationships.
When you get busy? Do you have a tendency to let your friendships slide? As in, it is the first thing removed from your calendar as you start to feel your stress levels rise?
I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my life where I’ve felt too busy to add anything to my life. And, as a result, my friendships suffered.
Here’s the plot twist—if I had take the time to meet up and spend quality time with my friends during those busy times, it would have helped me to decompress and recharge so I was better equipped to take handle the stressful things happening in my life. {Record scratch!}
The lesson learned here, despite being busy, I am working on being intentional and carving out time for important relationships. I hope this little blurb will inspire you to do the same.
Consistency.
Living an intentional life is about continuing to make choices in alignment with what you desire for your future.
Once you think you’ve gotten into the groove of living intentionally, this does not mean you can stop.
It is something you will dedicate time, space, and energy toward for the rest of your life. {Wait, not in a scary, threatening way! Think of it as a beautiful way to allow your soul to live in harmony.}
Routine.
An ideal routine. Yea, that would be ideal. However, I encourage you to make this smaller to ensure you successfully implement it.
Trying to change all the things at once just sets you up for failure. So, focus on a single aspect of your routine you’d like to change.
Think morning or bedtime routine. These are typically easier places to start. Now, again, don’t do too much at once.
Consider removing scrolling through your phone before getting out of bed as a place to start. (Speaking from experience here!!)In order to change your behavior and set yourself up for long-term success, you need to replace the behavior with something new.
If you are ditching touching your phone before getting out of bed, it might be helpful to charge your phone in the bathroom so you don’t automatically reach over to your nightstand and start scrolling without thinking.
If you are thinking about switching up your bedtime routine, you might consider not using your phone in bed (as I edit this on my phone in bed!). An alternative idea may be taking a couple of minutes to do a few stretches before/after putting on your pajamas.
Planning your day.
When figuring out what you are going to do for the day, be sure to keep your greater purpose in mind. As you look at your tasks for the day, are they helping you to get closer to the life you want to live?
Of course, there are some tasks that will never truly “fit in” with this, such as running errands, grocery shopping, etc…
However, look at the day or week as a whole—is a majority of your day or tasks to be completed out of alignment? How can you create a better balance?
New Year’s Resolutions.
You might want to harness the power of intentions as you plan your New Year’s Resolutions; check out this blog post for more on Setting Intentions for the New Year.
Journal.
Ok, I can sense your resistance. Particularly if you haven’t really been the type of journal. So. recognize that you are not alone.
I’ve never been a journaler (is that even a word?! LOL). Though, I’ve pretended at several points in life. I’ve bought journals. Some were written it in only once or twice… and then the journal just sat there.
In other situations, the journal literally never had a single word written in the journal because I didn’t know what to write or I didn’t want to ruin the newness and beauty of the journal with my true (deep and dark) thoughts.
Minimalism. Or, clear your space.
Okay, this one might feel out of alignment with the other things here — stick with me. Think of it as a reminder to take time to reflect on this question—is your living space reflective of the life you desire?
Full disclosure: I totally expect you to say that your living space does not reflect the life you desire. Why? Because when we are’t living a life of intentionality, then we aren’t really considering this sort of thing to be important.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it is entirely possible that you have been intentional with your living space. Perhaps you did it without even realizing what you were doing (as in recognizing it’s a form of intentional living). Or, maybe it was the only way that you knew how to living intentionally. Regardless, don’t take this as a jab at you or to feel as though you need to clear all the things out of your closets.
Now, back to the matter of minimalism (or clearing your space):
If your living space does not reflect the life you desire, how can you start making (small) adjustments?
It’s not about doing a whole house make-over. So, put down the trash bag and keep reading.
This is also not about picking up everything you own and moving to another state. Close that Zillow browser with houses for sale.
Creating a space that reflects the life you desire is about assessing the possessions in your space. Do they speak to you, do they bring you happiness or make you smile, or remind you to keep working toward the life you desire?
Marie Kondo says to hold things up to your heart and see if they make you smile. While I love her approach, you don’t necessarily need to be as aggressive in donating or discarding items you currently own. A plunger for the toilet doesn’t make my heart happy, but logically we need to keep it around anyway. In other words, don’t overcomplicate this one.
A word of caution—or several of them.
As you work to live a more intentional life, this does not mean you need to start doing all these things overnight.
Ideally, you want to slowly incorporate different aspects of these ideas into your life.
This is also not an ordered list where you have to do them in any particular order.
>>>Quick reminder: Bookmark this page for future reference!<<<
Start by finding one thing on this list that you’d like to do—make it something that you know you’ll be successful in doing. Incorporate it into your routine.
Work through the ups and downs or highs and lows of a new routine before trying to add anything else.
You want it to become practically second nature—you do it by default without even thinking about it. Kinda like driving to school or work. You just go on autopilot and don’t to think through it. When you get to that place, that is an ideal time to start consider adding a new habit.
More About Setting Intentions
Real Life Application—Here’s how I implemented mediation and yoga into my daily routine:
I started with living a more intentional life back in November 2021 by focusing on meditating daily. I decided on this after purchasing the Chopra Meditation app (not an affiliate link). It felt right at the moment because I wanted to meditate more, the app was on sale, and I wanted to justify the expense of the app.
It took a little over a month before I felt confident with my meditation routine/consistency. So, I decided it was time to add something else.Yoga had literally been on my to-do list for over 5 years, so it felt like it was finally time admit why I had been holding myself back.
Here’s what I realized: 1) I was overcomplicating it, 2) it had not been a priority, despite intending it to be.
In order to successfully integrate yoga into my daily life and not fall off the bandwagon with the yoga or the meditation, I dug deep into understanding the two factors above.
By recognizing I had overcomplicated things, the path to finally incorporating yoga into my life had become more clear. It was time to take the perfectionism out of it.
Side note, a former intern wrote a blog post about a feeling out of control and choosing where to put her energy instead; a topic that feels like it relates to this piece here.
I decided to plan a way to make the habit smaller. Instead of yoga which, in the West, is typically viewed as an hour long practice at a yoga studio. I decided it was time to make the entry point less intimidating and more feasible.
To do this, I lowered the bar and simplified what it meant to do yoga: 2-3 poses OR at least 5 minutes on the mat. There were a few times in the beginning that my yoga practice was me doing just two poses — Child’s pose being one of them because it’s so simple.
As I started to do it more regularly, my practice expanded and became sometime I craved. Talk about a 180º change from the past several years.
By lowering the entry point, and simplifying what yoga meant to me, I was able to successfully implement it into my life. In fact, I now make it a priority after years of not doing so. Anyway, my reason for sharing this is to help you lower the bar, get rid of the barriers, and simplify what it means to incorporate a new habit into your routine. Hopefully it helps you to successfully implement setting intentions as a part of your routine or daily life.
Differentiating Intentions and Goals: Are they actually the same thing?
A goal is different than an intention. As a quick overview, here are the definitions:
intention (noun): 1. any directedness in one’s thoughts or behaviors, whether or not this involves conscious decision making
goal (noun): 1. the end toward which effort is directed
PUNCHLINE: Intention is more about the thoughts and behaviors that take you closer to a goal. Whereas, is a goal is more about the end result. In other words, an intentions shows you the way to achieve your goal.
Quotes about Intentions
“Intentions count in your actions.” — Abu Bakr
When your intention is clear, so is the way.
Alan Cohen
“…Intention transforms. What ever you put your attention on will grow strong in you life. Whatever you take your attention away from with wither, disintegrate, and disappear.” — Deepak Chopra
“Through your intent you can literally command the laws of nature to fulfill your dreams and desires.” — Deepak Chopra
Good Intention Quotes
“Our actions are the results of our intentions and our intelligence.” — E. Stanley Jones
“Approach people with good intentions and love, there is nothing more precious in this world than time, good intentions, and love.” ― Santosh Kumar
“I truly believe the intention of creating positive change is so important to the collective consciousness. When you have a group of people that have the intention and the capacity, talent, and intelligence to actualize those intentions, then you have something really powerful.” — Jimmy Chin
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not change, determines your destiny.
Aristotle
Intentional Living Quotes
“The busier you are, the more intentional you must be.” – Michael Hyatt
Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make us.
Richie Norton
“Slow down. Be intentional. Notice the energy you are bringing into this space and moment.” — Brendon Burchard
Additional Quotes Related to Being Intentional
“I am sure of nothing so little as my own intentions.” — Lord Byron
“The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.” — Steven Covey
It can bum you out when your intentions aren’t, like, translated properly.
Kesha
“Hell is paved with good intentions.” ― Samuel Johnson
“But remember that good intentions pave many roads. Not all of them lead to hell.” ― Neal Shusterman
“The future depends on what you do today.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James
Are you ready to set intentions now?
Hopefully you learned pretty much everything you need to know about intention setting and applying it to your daily life. It is a lot of information to take it. And, I’d suspect you need some time to let it sink in. You may even find yourself needing to come back to add more details after applying some of the higher level information to life.
That said, take a quick moment to bookmark this page so you can come back later. Or, pin it to Pinterest.
In the meantime, if you’ve got any thoughts, comments, or follow-up questions, drop a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Citations
- The little-known purpose of the cornerstone: Blog: Bill Whittaker. Bill Whittaker, Registered Architect. (2019, July 24). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.billwarch.com/blog/the-little-known-purpose-of-the-cornerstone/