4 Practices To Help You Start Living Intentionally

If COVID-19 has taught us anything over these last few weeks and months, it’s allowed us to redefine how we live our lives. Everyone’s lives have been turned on their head, with people out of work or working from home for the first time in their lives. Being apart from loved ones. Or even stuck with loved ones on a daily basis. The way we all live our lives has been changed. And I think one good thing to come from this is how it’s allowed us to start living intentionally.

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash

Don’t get me wrong, there is NOTHING good about COVID-19. It’s caused far too much stress and heartbreak. But I’ve always been an optimist and I always tend to try and look for the good in every situation. So what do I mean, when I say that this period of life has allowed us to start living intentionally?

Well firstly, we need to define what living intentionally actually means. In short, it means;

“Having an aim, a plan or something that you want”.

Living intentionally means quite simply that you do things with intention. You know what you want. You have a vision for how you want to live your life. And you take actions to make that happen. Most, if not all, of your actions align with your beliefs and you show up for yourself and your beliefs on a daily basis.

Why is it important to start living intentionally?

Living intentionally isn’t an over night job if it’s not something that you’re used to practicing. In fact, I don’t believe anyone can live 100% intentionally, 100% of the time. Life just doesn’t work like that, does it? I think the current climate has taught us that more than anything.

But for the sake of your own well-being and personal growth, it’s so important to at least TRY and start living intentionally. And adopting some practices into your daily life which will allow you to do that. Which we’ll get too in just a moment! So why is it important to start living intentionally?

• It’ll help you get a clearer idea on your vision for how you want to live your life
• It’ll help you start living in the moment
• It’ll help you realise what you really want and want you really love and allow you to drop anything you don’t
• It’ll have a positive impact on your daily life and in the future
• It’ll help you stop making mindless decisions

As you can see, these are all really important things which living intentionally can help you work towards. When you live intentionally, you learn that all your actions and decisions matter. And every decision you make can potentially take you further to where you want to be in your life.

When you realise all your decisions matter… you start making better decisions. 

Are you ready to start living intentionally? Here are some tips to help you get started:

Define or redefine your values and beliefs

If we know WHAT we want, we’ll be much clearer on what we need to do (and not do) in order to get there. So if we’re floating through life unclear on our values or beliefs, then it’s highly unlikely that we won’t be living intentionally and not even realise it. What are your core values? What are your main priorities in life? What do you believe in? Like, truly believe in? What do you WANT from your life? All hard but necessary questions to answer.

Slow down and stop multitasking

Living intentionally is all about getting out of that autopilot mode, which, let’s be honest, more of us are in these days! The easiest way to do this is by slowing the F down. And to definitely stop multitasking. Most of the tasks we rush through throughout the day aren’t urgent. They’re not a matter of life or death. And we could all do with slowing down a bit and savoring our days rather than rushing through them.

Set regular goals

This ties in nicely with the first point about evaluating your beliefs and values. And a great way to reach those beliefs, values and ultimately what we want from life is by setting goals to get there. I’m a huge goal person. I bloody LOVE a goal. And I make sure to set myself monthly as well as yearly goals of things I want to work towards. Financial goals, blogging goals, fitness goals. Even relatively minor goals like “complete Spyro the Dragon”.

Get offline for a while

Life exists away from the internet. Twitter isn’t real life. Pinterest isn’t what you’re seeing when you look out of your window or when you’re on holiday. I love the internet – it’s provided so many people with so much good. But you have to remember that your life – your ACTUAL living breathing life – isn’t what you post on Instagram. It’s what’s happening to you right now. It’s the smells you can smell. The tastes you can taste. Remember the value of being offline.

Need a bit of a helping hand with living intentionally? I’ve created a free 30 day intentional living challenge for you try! Each day contains one easy task which will help you start living intentionally, even just for a moment!

By implementing these strategies into your day to day life, you’ll notice that you’ll start to making more intentional decisions. Is what you’re doing NOW helping you to where you want to be? In 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? Is the choices you’re making today helping you towards the life you want to live?

This all sounds very strict and dramatic and by all means, I am not saying that by living intentionally you can’t have fun or clown around or chill out. But by living intentionally, you’ll be much more aware of what you need and when.

For example, when practicing Yoga, instead of muscling straight in to the flows and the vinyasas, you’ll find yourself thinking, “okay, what does my body REALLY need right now?” And you’ll provide yourself with what you NEED, rather than what external factors are telling you you need.

Where am I in my intentional living journey?

Well actually, since being at home so much due to COVID-19, I’ve found I’ve been living much more intentionally. I’m not sure whether that’s because I’ve got more time on my hands or because I’ve got less plans (well, no plans!) and less to think about. But it’s definitely helped me incorporate these strategies into my life which I can hopefully continue with long after the Coronavirus is over.

I’m slowing down. I’m taking much more time over each task, rather than powering through everything just to tick it off a to-do list. I’m clearer on my vision than I’ve ever been. I know exactly what I need to do moving forward with my blog and I’ve actively taken steps to get there. I’m also listening to my body more than ever. I’m exercising more. But I’m also practicing much more self care both for my body and my mind.

I still have a long way to go. That’s the thing, it’s a journey and an ever-changing process. But the act of living intentionally has started to change my life and I’m all for it! Do you do any of the practices mentioned in this post? Do you want to start living more intentionally?