Part 2
It’s important to take a closer look at what it means to be more intentional and live a more purposeful and meaningful life. When you know what you’re aiming for, it becomes easier to reach your goal.
- Realizing what being intentional really means and what impact it can have on your life and that of your loved ones is very motivating.
Ready to dive in and take a look at what being intentional means and how it will help you lead a happier and more fulfilled life? Let’s get going…
For Believers, The First Step for Being Intentional Means giving control to Jesus
When we live day to day without intention and purpose, we let life pass us by. Even worse, we let the things and people around us control us.
- We started by giving Jesus control of our lives. This is an ongoing process. One you will need to do more than once.
- When we want to become more intentional in what we do, and are able to give the control to the Lord and trust Him to have our best interests at heart. We allow Him to be the master of our destiny again. It’s also one of the big reasons why living with intention increases self-confidence and happiness – The King of the universe is in control of all that happens to us.
- When you’re living more intentionally, you think about what the Lord wants to accomplish in your lifetime. For example, if you want a closer and more loving relationship with your spouse you don’t just sit around and complain about how your husband isn’t as loving and caring as in years past.
- You talk with him, pray about it, and come up with a plan. This is how being intentional helps in making the necessary changes to follow the Lord’s leading.
Being Intentional Means Planning Your Life with Jesus as Your Guide
- It gives you an opportunity to seek the Lord for His plans for your life and your families life.
- “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11 ESV
- That’s a pretty big deal and it can have some huge consequences over the course of a lifetime.
- “If you start on a journey and you are three degrees off your bearing, you will in a short time be half a mile off course. In a few days you will be hundreds of miles off, and soon you’ll be in the wrong hemisphere. You will have completely missed your destination.” David Carl in his article “Morality is not the Point“, This Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
- This is why our planning time is so important. We do it yearly so we can check all areas of our life to see if we are still on course. “Our Planning Weekends were the compass that helped us stay on course.” Phyllis Sather in Purposeful Planning.
Being Intentional Means Defining And Living Within Your Values
- Another interesting aspect of living with purpose is that it forces you, or at least encourages you to define your values.
- To live with purpose, you have to know what’s important to you. To do that, you have to know what you value most.
- For us, that meant we wanted to be certain to be doing all that the Lord had planned for us as individuals and as a family.
Being Intentional Means Living Your Live With Purpose
- So often we get distracted from what we really want to do.
- Live is busy, time is short, but it’s also filled with things that distract us and take time away from us.
- How often have you sat down at your computer to pay some bills or look up an event in your town only to find yourself two hours later watching cat videos? It’s easy to get distracted when you’re not in the habit of living with purpose.
- Once you make that shift, you become more intentional with everything you do. You have a purpose in mind and you get things done. This helps you get a lot more productive, but it also means you end up with time to do things that are important to you … and to do them with purpose.
Being Intentional Means Making Good Choices
- Another big benefit of living with purpose and being intentional is that you tend to make better choices.
- You don’t take action based on a gut jerk reaction. Instead, when you are being intentional and living life to please the Lord, you tend to think things through and decide if the outcome is working toward what the Lord wants. This, in turn, leads to making good choices.
- If you know you want to save for a down payment on a house for your family, and you come across a cute, but clearly overpriced pair of shoes, you will be able to walk away (without the shoes… just to be clear). Living with purpose and intention allows you to delay gratification and make the right choice for yourself in the long run.
- Sure, that pair of shoes would be nice to own, but having a house is a whole lot nicer.
Being Intentional Makes You More Confident
- Something else that’s interesting is that being more intentional in what you do makes you more confident.
- When you’re intentional in what you do, you tend to have an end goal in mind. You also plan along the way and are ready to take action. That in turn means that you don’t have time to worry and second guess yourself because you that you are doing what the Lord has asked you to do. When you don’t worry constantly, you get more confident.
- Then as you start to take action and see that you’re making progress, you get this cycle of reinforced confidence going. You see progress which gives you self-confidence. The confidence, in turn, motivates you to keep going, which leads to more progress, which enforces your confidence… you see how this works. Your biggest job is to commit everything to the Lord and follow His lead.
Next week we’ll look at some of these ways of being intentional:
Being Intentional Can Help You Find Meaning In Life
Being Intentional Means Finding Your Passion
Your Intentions and Purpose Can Be Big Or Small
Being Intentional Helps You Feel More Secure in Your Place
Being Intentional Helps You Leave A Legacy
Please consider picking up a copy of our book Purposeful Planning. It is on sale right now for $ .99 on Amazon.
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