You may be wondering “what exactly does it mean to live intentionally anyway?!” Intentional living is a journey unique to each individual. In a nutshell, to live intentionally is to align your everyday choices with the values that you have and the things you are passionate about to become the person you want to be in your life. When you aren’t practicing intentional living, your life looks like you are just going through the motions, day in and day out until you die. I know, harsh. It’s easy to fall into this pattern of living without even realizing it. However, the good news is that anybody can start this intentional living journey at any point in time. And there is a secret to intentional living. I implore you to stop chasing more – bigger and busier. When you embrace simplicity and the art of intentional living, you can be happy. I’m sharing 4 secrets to intentional living so you can get started!

Secret #1: Want What You Already Have

The first secret to intentional living is to want what you already have and be grateful that you have it! So often, we are playing the games, “Keeping Up With The Jones”, “Hamster Wheel”, and “Hustle & Grind”. To tell you the truth, they are exhausting and frankly, make me feel awful. Enough! Have you ever heard the song lyrics: “it’s not getting what you want; it’s wanting what you’ve got.” I think it’s from Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up The Sun”. But it’s so true! The more that we express gratitude for what we already have, the more we become apt to get what we want. Win-Win!

Secret #2: Work Hard For Something Besides Money (& Quit Hard!)

The second secret to intentional living is that I am not making a point of doing all of this “work” that will automatically make your life easier. In fact, it is harder. We have to develop our awareness of our thoughts and the energy of our homes. If you add that to your day of working a 9-5, being a stay-at-home Mama, wife, CEO, Chef, Maid, etc. the list goes on and you’re feeling overwhelmed, right now? Right? That is NOT the hard work that I’m talking about. I’m talking about finding your passion and putting your effort into that besides just working to make money. I love to make money but life is more than that.

Two words: quit hard. Start automating your life. It is really okay! If you’ve been eyeing the meal delivery service or Instacart for doing your groceries, go for it! If you want someone to come to clean your house so you have more time to focus on how you want your home to feel, go for it! You will thank (and love) yourself later!

Secret #3: Start Creating Space & Time For What Matters

Declutter. Tidy up. Do a packing party. Start to sell, donate, or trash physical items in your life that are not serving you. This doesn’t have to mean minimalism, but it can. Almost all of us are hanging on to physical items that we no longer need or want. Everything from dishes to credit cards to email subscriptions to books can be pared down. Try not to think of this as just “getting rid” of stuff, but making time and space for what really matters.

Secret #4: Start Living For You (Not Others)

Remember, the games I talked about earlier? “Keeping Up With The Jones”, “Hamster Wheel”, and “Hustle & Grind” are those games. So very often, we add things to our life because we feel like others think we should, or because other people are doing it and therefore we think we should. Before you buy that new thing, think about why you are doing it. Is it to impress others? Because your friends have one and you feel like you should have one too? If you are content with where you are in your life, don’t let other people take that away from you. Just get intentional and ask yourself, “Why am I giving this my energy, time, and space?” Your future self and I will thank you!

Final Thoughts

An intentional life might mean watching less TV to start painting watercolors. Or it could mean quitting painting because it drives you crazy and you finally have time to watch a little TV. It’s up to you. It’s your time, your life, and your definition of an intentional life. Either way, I hope that maybe you’ll enjoy less stress, better health, and quality time with people you love! Maybe you’ll find contentment with where you are right now. Or maybe you’ll find that you are someone who enjoys the pursuit of more, more, more. If it makes you happy in the end, there is truly nothing wrong with that because now you know the secret to intentional living!

Love,