Intentional Living, A New Way Of Life

It is nine o’clock tonight on November 1st. About a week ago, I started pondering the idea of writing a blog post a day for the month of November, kind of like a NaNoWriMo challenge. I found other things to do today to not get started. First, I didn’t take advantage of my morning and before I knew it, we were on our way to church. Then came dropping off my daughter to work, watching the Seahawks game, picking my daughter up from work, then watching the Packers game.

There are two main reasons I want to write a blog post. One is to document my thoughts around a 30 day intentional living journey by John Maxwell that my wife and I are currently doing. The other is to challenge myself to create a habit to add value to others daily through my experiences and thoughts.  I want to open up the spillways to the soul and pour out that value. Both of these are big goals. I am right now wondering if I am biting off more than I can chew.

You see, day one of the journey inspired this challenge for me. “Good intentions aren’t enough to make a difference.” I am great at good intentions, but not being disciplined and being intentional. Here are three examples to prove that point:

I have told myself for weeks that I need to clean out my closet of all the summer clothes I have and get out my winter sweaters. A small work item at the house, that would only take about 30 minutes that hasn’t been started yet.

I have a list of “actionable” tasks for work that I told myself on Friday I would spend time on this weekend. Most likely I will be going to bed instead of knocking one or more items out.

I intend to get back into exercise and eat better next month.  That was said in July, August, September, etc. You can fill in the rest of the months.

In all these cases, large or small, the intentions are good, but I am not intentionally doing anything about each item. I continue to make excuses.

Transforming to Intentional Living

For the first time in my life, all 46 years of it, I am reflecting on priorities, goals, and meaning. That in itself is a journey. I am becoming self-aware of my weaknesses, my strengths, and where I can live intentionally to serve a greater purpose. I am learning to understand what God has called me to do. The only way I can achieve this calling is through living intentionally.

My focus is shifting towards discovery of my relationship with God, my family, and those around me daily. I will struggle with the challenges that are set before me. John Maxwell has touched millions of lives through his writing on Leadership publishing over 80 books in 30 plus years. I am starting to take action for my next 30 years to intentionally invest in people to change lives. Living intentionally requires action. This blog post is my first action on that journey.

Won’t you join me and be intentional?