On Being Intentional: What Do You Need to Know?

Things continue to change, especially with how people do things. More and more people are becoming more intentional in interacting and conversing with people. I noticed this, too, in some of my close friends and myself. With everything going on, being a hard sell with everything you do may drive people away instead of inviting them closer. So, how does one become purposeful or intentional?

Disclaimer: Things I say or mention here are from my experience and may or may not be applicable or relatable to you.

How does one define being intentional or purposeful?

It begins by genuinely doing things that are most meaningful to you. You don’t feel forced or fake when you do these things or activities. Being intentional or purposeful means the things you do mean a lot and bring out the best in you. It’s not forced but stems from your core values.

In another definition that I read, being intentional means doing things that you usually do but with extra care or meaning. For example, doing chores no longer means just doing them but uplifting the spirits of those who live with you.

So, how does being intentional affect other aspects of your life?

At work

When it comes to work, being intentional means you’re not doing your tasks for the sake of doing those. Accomplishing every assigned task brings a different sense of fulfillment and imparts something valuable to your workplace or clients. Becoming purposeful at your workplace could ignite the same thing with your colleagues and inspire them to do the same.

Some companies and clients do not realize what happens when their employees or team members are inspired. It brings a different bliss, making work more bearable and productive. I realized this when I worked for various clients during my freelancing days and corporate experience. There are instances that managers fail to inspire and energize their team members because they’re too focused on climbing the corporate ladder.

This person fails to realize the importance of connecting with their team members. Unfortunately, when your team members lose their passion or interests, they find another work that will give them that.

At home

When you live intentionally, things or elements in your home are always a part of you. Your decor or meals are meant to nourish your physical body and soul. Even buying groceries doesn’t only imply surviving but nourishing your body with nutrients that will help you remain inspired and fulfilled across life.

On the other hand, shopping intentionally means not succumbing to impulsive shopping. You contemplate every single item in your cart before checking those out. In my experience, I used to add items to my cart whenever I found them pleasant but failed to see if they would bring me joy. Sometimes, it will give me a sense of happiness, but it would usually end up staying ignored on the shelf or hidden somewhere I couldn’t see.

So, when I practiced being mindful about buying stuff, I stopped myself from always adding items to my cart. What would I do? I’d think about it for a week or even more weeks before I would eventually buy it. It helped me curb my expenses and not mindlessly buy things that would give me instant gratification or a dopamine boost.

Doing hobbies

Trying out hobbies or other recreational activities gives us a boost in our self-confidence or self-esteem. But, there are times when these hobbies may seem too far-fetched even for us. So, how do your hobbies become purposeful?

Hobbies that contribute to your life make it intentional and purposeful. It brings out the best and inspires you to do your work and chores. These hobbies can be any of the following:

• Reading books of different genres (e.g., Fiction, Non-Fiction, Prose, Poetry, etc.)
• Playing video games
• Engaging in sports (e.g., team sports, individual or dual sports, or even e-sports)
• Painting
• Sculpting
• Writing or blogging

How to become purposeful in the things that you do?

There are some tips or practices that I’ve been doing that may help you become intentional in your life. Once in a while, I engage myself in yoga or other forms of meditation.

Some of these include the following:

• Meditate before going to work or starting your day — you can try the following techniques through apps like Calm, Headspace, etc.
• Doing a cleansing ritual at home removes the other negative energy within myself or my home.
• Write in my journal and list down things that I’m grateful for. That helps me realize how life has been good, even if some notable negative things happen daily.
• Sometimes I spend time stargazing; looking at how vast the universe is can make you feel relieved and grateful that you’re a part of it.
• I play games to take my mind off things or relieve stress or anxiety. But playing games can also be a distraction, especially if you’re someone like me with ADHD.

The best practices that I think would help in becoming intentional in life:

• Be grateful—to the people and things around you.
• Don’t give in to the sales you see because, most likely, those items aren’t what you need in your current state.
• Look at how my expenses prevent me from overspending or buying impulsively when I see something cute on sale. Remember, we don’t poop money. We work hard for it despite having deductions for every paycheck that we receive.
• Treasure the people who are always there for me and support me in becoming the best version of myself.
• Read books that will help me grow as a person and as a good content marketing specialist.
• Take breaks in between. It helps clear my mind whenever I’m dealing with something brain-intensive. That will prevent burnout and also crashing.
• Watch my comfort series if I feel anxious or depressed. Aside from sticking to my prescription and therapy, we also need to do the work ourselves because those are tools that help us. These aren’t magic that will remedy whatever we’re going through.
• Explore things that may seem uncomfortable at first. These will help you become more courageous and also learn about new things.

Takeaway

In the end, becoming purposeful and intentional with your life is a journey. It doesn’t happen overnight; you need to do the work for things to happen. Sometimes you need to become independent in some adventures, but it’s always best to remember that people are rooting for you and believing in the best you can be.

As I write this blog post to a close, it took me a while to compose everything and share it with you. I remember starting my first draft and forgetting to hit save, so I had to redo it from scratch. Frankly speaking, I think it was the universe talking that I’ll be able to share more with the insights I gathered after I lost my first draft.

Sometimes, we feel that everything is against us, but it’s only a critical point to push back and ask ourselves, is it worth doing? Furthermore, it could also be a possibility to ask ourselves if we are genuinely interested and inclined in what we are doing. Is it worth all the effort, tears, sweat, and blood?

If you feel stuck, you should take a step back and review everything you’ve done. Know that you’ve been doing this for your growth.

Lastly, don’t forget to congratulate yourself on all the progress you’ve been making!

Always be kind to yourself. 💖