Intentionality has a major role in our ability to follow through with our self care goals. When you make intentional decisions, you can feel more in control of the outcome of your life. Life no longer “happens” to you because you are focused on growth and positivity. By choosing to be intentional, you are in essence making a decision to be the captain of the ship called Your Life.

What Does Intention Have To Do With Self Care?

Intentionality is about acting purposefully. It is about making decisions based on your values, and setting goals that support those values. You choose actions to meet those goals that are consistent with your focus and beliefs. Your thoughts have to be focused on positivity to help launch you on your journey. You also become more in tune with the things in your life that don’t make you feel good, so you begin to eliminate the things that no longer serve you, including relationships. Over time, your thoughts, behaviours, and feelings become guided by intention.

Focus Areas For Intentionality

You have to start by focusing on what matters most to you in life. Do you want a better work-life balance? Are you surrounded by people that make you feel good? Do you need to change behaviours that don’t support your overall well-being? Once you know what you are trying to achieve, you can start you journey with intentionality. When you act with intention, you act from a place of clarity.

A sign that you aren’t guided by intention is that your overall well-being is not top of mind in your day-to-day activities. Do you just go through the motions because it’s the way it’s always been done or how you think it should be done? How many times have you done things because you think others want you to do something or because it is expected?

Below are some questions that you can help you explore intentionality to improve your overall life.

What is your purpose?

Whether it be your career, a hobby, or volunteerism, what makes you feel like you are living up to your purpose(s)? If it is with work, how are you building your skill set? How are you growing professionally to support a better work-life balance? How are your relationships with your colleagues? If it’s in your personal hobbies, are you dedicating the time to achieve what you want? Are you neglecting your hobbies because you have too many commitments? Does volunteering in your community make you feel better about yourself? Are there other opportunities that could make you feel better?

What relationships do you foster?

We often take for granted the people in our lives that are actually good for us, and tolerate ones that are detrimental to us. Do you have healthy boundaries in place? Are toxic situations in your life because you fear what will happen if you put an end to it? Do you prioritize others over yourself? Who goes to bat for you when you aren’t in the room?

What do you do to ensure your health is the best?

Do you jeopardize your exercise time to fulfill someone else’s priorities ? Are you eating a bag of chips for dinner because getting a healthy meal is virtually impossible? Is sleep something you dream of because there are never enough hours to get everything done that you have to do? How do you prioritize your self care pillars?

How do you manage your money?

Does spending money become a way to please others and reduce conflict? Or is a quick solution to get a meal? Is taking an Uber, rather than walking, to get from point A to point B a trade-off you prefer? Is spending money the only way you get any satisfaction?

Build Intentionality

Now that you’ve been thinking about areas of your life that could be improved, let’s look at ways to start introducing intentionality. Intentionality is about decisions you make that are based on your values, so let’s start with those. Once you are clear on what your values, or beliefs, in life are, you can start to make decisions on goals you want to accomplish, and the corresponding actions to get there. This will require some planning, and review. Start small and build up.

By thinking with intention, you become more aware of the impact your thoughts can have on your behaviour and your feelings. Intentionality helps us focus on the positives and target the negative self-talk when it creeps in. Often when we are struggling with our thoughts, they tend to be ruminations of past ordeals, or fears of what is to come in the future. By prioritizing intent, we can be more in the present, and grateful for what we have.

All of these efforts will inevitably help you improve your overall well-being by reducing stress and empowering you more in your day-to-day life. By choosing to be intentional, and reminding yourself of this underlying principle, you can be consistent and deliberate in what you say and do. This also means you slow down and think before you talk and act, a great skill to develop which helps manage different kinds of relationships.

Be intentional!

Living intentionally helps you create the life you want. The focus in your life becomes your own self, and hence, you become more self-aware. It takes you from being a passive observer of your life, to being the conductor. Intentionality is about choice. You choose the path forward. That includes choosing the people in your life, the work that you do, and how you spend your time. You choose your thoughts and corresponding actions, and as a result, become less reactive to situations. This doesn’t mean you stop having bad days, or that bad things won’t happen. It does mean that when faced with challenges, you will be better prepared to deal with them, you build resilience. By choosing what you value and what your goals are, you can better support your self care journey.

IMAGE CREDIT: Pexels | Christy Ivey.