{"id":743,"date":"2019-02-24T08:33:10","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T13:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/?p=743"},"modified":"2019-09-03T18:41:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T22:41:29","slug":"intentional-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/intentional-living\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Intentional Living?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Have you ever heard the phrase, \u201cintentional living\u201d and wondered what it meant? It\u2019s certainly not a new concept, but it has become quite a buzzword in the last few years.\u00a0 Stick around and not only find what it means, but I\u2019m going to give you five action steps to take so that you can begin living intentionally yourself.<\/p>

Intentional living is simply defined as, \u201cMaking a conscious attempt to live according to your values and beliefs.\u201d\u00a0 It is determining what is important to YOU so that you can live in a space of integrity and well-being regarding those things.\u00a0 It is about knowing WHY you are doing something and then aligning your behavior and habits with what you really want out of life.\u00a0<\/p>

It sets the tone and the trajectory for your life, allowing small actions to compile, making the life you\u2019ve envisioned for yourself.\u00a0 When you think about it, greatness doesn\u2019t always have everything to do with talent.\u00a0 It\u2019s the consistency with which that person acts. \u00a0Small consistent actions over a period of time produce change.\u00a0 That is the formula.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0<\/p>

Whether that change is good or bad, keep doing a thing over and over and it\u2019s going to produce an effect.\u00a0 So, you had better figure out what result you want to see!\u00a0 Figuring out what food you want to come out of the oven is going to determine what ingredients you need to put in.<\/p>

STEP ONE:\u00a0 Do some self-reflection.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>

Decide what the values and beliefs that you want to ascribe to your life?\u00a0 You need to set goals and decide what the \u201cWHY\u201d behind that behavior is.\u00a0<\/p>

Here is a simple example\u2026if you know that you don’t feel peaceful and you don’t sleep well at night if your kitchen is a mess, then that will be one of the areas you should probably address.\u00a0 Perhaps you should decide that your kitchen will be tidied every evening by 7pm so that you can relax knowing that it is done and off your plate.\u00a0 Then you also won’t spend your entire evening having it hang over your head because you’re procrastinating about doing it.\u00a0 You intentionally choose to address it and make it happen in a way that brings you the most peace.<\/p>

Clean dishes are awesome, of course, but the why behind doing this every night by 7pm (or whatever time you choose) is because it brings you peace<\/em> and allows you to be more fully present<\/em> in the rest of your life without worrying about t.\u00a0 See where I\u2019m going with this?<\/p>

For me, I know that if I don’t meditate first thing in the morning, I will feel off all day.\u00a0 I won’t be as centered, balanced, and grounded as I normally would.\u00a0 So, I have intentionally made it part of my morning routine and now I meditate before I do anything else.\u00a0 It is one of my non-negotiables in life.\u00a0 And speaking of non-negotiables, what are yours?<\/em>\u00a0 I plan to make a video about this soon and I’m curious what your thoughts are on this topic.\u00a0 Leave a comment down below about what things in your life aren’t negotiable for you? \u00a0What are the things that are must haves?<\/p>

Okay, I know that the example of the dishes being done was incredibly simplified when it comes to deciding what the core values and beliefs for your life are.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to spend some time thinking about this though.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going, it will be hard to get where you need to be.\u00a0<\/p>

These concepts can be broad like\u2026peace, having close relationships and connections, being known for producing quality work, being environmentally conscious, or just being a “good person.”\u00a0 Or they can be more specific things like, someone who always has a clean house, someone who is on top of a specific religious or spiritual practice, a specific charity, or that your yard has the prettiest daffodils every spring.<\/p>

The thing is that you are the only one that can decide this.\u00a0 You are the author of your life and you will get out of it precisely what you have decided you want out of it.\u00a0 Personally, I like to start with the broader concepts first because I think they naturally lead you down the path to the more specific examples.\u00a0<\/p>

For instance, it is important to me to cultivate a calm, peaceful life and to keep my energy and vibrations high.\u00a0 To meet this goal, I intentionally decorated my home in soothing, neutral colors with lots of natural earthy elements like wood. I distanced myself from certain toxic people that were in my life, I meditate daily, and I am careful about what activities I participate in, what movies I watch, and what music I listen to.\u00a0 All these things done consistently add up to a life that is peaceful.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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STEP TWO: \u00a0\u00a0Realize that this is all your choice<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Have a serious talk with yourself and make sure you understand that you are the author of your life.\u00a0 You are creating this, and no one decides what it looks like but you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Make sure you are in the correct frame of mind and shift your perspective if you need to so that you are approaching this with the right attitude.\u00a0 You can take joy and pride in knowing that these are the things that are important to you, and you are living in way that honors that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I say this because as humans, because many times I\u2019ve seen people fall into the bad habit of feeling like a martyr or a victim to the decisions and behaviors in our lives.\u00a0 When if we simply shift our perspective, we see that it\u2019s always our choice and it is a blessing to be able to make little decisions that make our lives better.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Intentional living creates a dream life.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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STEP THREE:<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0After identifying what your core values are, begin to list behaviors, habits and activities that will contribute to living in a way that honors that.\u00a0 Conversely, you can also list behaviors that you may be prone to that will detract from your goal.\u00a0<\/h2>

For me, I\u2019m prone to be a night owl and it is SO <\/em>easy for me to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.\u00a0 But I know that if I don\u2019t get enough sleep then I don\u2019t feel good and the quality of just about everything in my life is thrown off.\u00a0 So, staying up too late and ignoring my sleep schedule would be on my list of detractors.<\/p>

Another example is saying that travel is important to you, but your finances show that you chronically squander your money on impulse shopping or eating out.\u00a0 Can you see how this is out of alignment with what you say is a core value for your life?\u00a0 Plan to limit your impulse spending and to increase your savings so that you can travel more.\u00a0 This is what I\u2019ve had to do and even though it\u2019s not easy, the rewards will be worth it.<\/p>

STEP FOUR:<\/strong>\u00a0 Look at your current lifestyle\u2026<\/h2>

does your behavior and your habits match with your list of positive\/contributing behaviors?\u00a0 If not, where do you need to make the changes?\u00a0 What do you need to add in?\u00a0 What do you need to take away? \u00a0<\/p>

STEP FIVE:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now go do it!<\/h2>

Remember that consistent deliberate action in your life is going to produce results. \u00a0Soon you\u2019ll begin to feel an alignment with your true self.\u00a0 Your outsides will begin to match your insides, as I like to say.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

And be gentle with yourself as you\u2019re getting used to new habits and patterns.\u00a0 I recommend starting a morning routine and being intentional with the first hour or two of your day.\u00a0 When you start with a place of peace first thing in the morning and you take your time, it sets a balanced, peaceful tone for the day.\u00a0<\/p>

At least it does for me.\u00a0 Perhaps you are a person that needs to get amped up and energized first thing in the morning.\u00a0 Maybe you need to go for a run, drink some coffee and have dance music playing.\u00a0 If so, do that!\u00a0<\/p>

The author Annie Dillard said:<\/p>

\u201cHow we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.\u201d<\/h3><\/blockquote>

When you look back on your life, what do you want it to look like?\u00a0 Now go make it happen\u2026you\u2019ve got this.<\/p>

xoxo,<\/h2>

Veronica<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Action steps for intentional living<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever heard the phrase, \u201cintentional living\u201d and wondered what it meant? It\u2019s certainly not a new concept, but it has become quite a buzzword in the last few years. Stick around and not only find what it means, but I\u2019m going to give you five action steps to take so that you can begin living intentionally yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[18,100],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mind","tag-intentional-living","tag-morning-routine","entry","has-media","owp-thumbs-layout-horizontal","owp-btn-normal","owp-tabs-layout-horizontal","has-no-thumbnails","has-product-nav"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/int-lvg-thumbnail.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholenessshift.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/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