As we work our way through the first full week of the New Year, I wanted to share a little something that I want to focus on as we move into a new year and a new decade – living intentionally.
As we move into 2020, I encourage you to approach this year with intention – in the way you spend your time, in who you surround yourself with, and in the ways you invest yourself.
Intentional adjective
: done on purpose; deliberate
The new year is always a reminder of passing time, a chance to reflect back on the past year, and in this case the past decade. The one constant is that time continues to march on, and it makes me evaluate the ways in which I have spent my time over the past 10 years of my life. What have I accomplished? If someone were to look at the distribution of the areas in which I spent my time, would my values be accurately reflected? Would they get an understanding of the person I am and want to be? In some ways, I’ve done a pretty good job of using my time intentionally. However, there is definitely room for improvement, which is why I want to actively focus on living intentionally in 2020.
Being Intentional with your Time
We have a finite amount of time to work with. I’m not saying that every second has to be dedicated to productivity or to getting one step further in “the rat race.” However, what I am saying is that you should be able to look back on your the ways in which you spend your time and identify patterns and progress over time. Rest, relaxation, and self-care are important parts of this, but I think it’s also important to identify the areas where we can improve the way in which we spend our time.
How often do you find yourself just flipping through Facebook and suddenly realize you’ve lost a half hour? What about when you start watching the new season of your favorite show, and before you know it, whoops, there went 3 hours? It may not hurt anything, but how many other things could you have been doing that are still relaxing but also intentional? Trust me, I’m guilty as well, but I’m also trying to identify these moments to redirect my energy into a better outlet. Honestly, who looks back and thinks, “man, I really should have spent more time on Facebook this year?” It’s an easy time-killer, but it’s just that – a time killer. It doesn’t provide any benefit to you or your goals.
We all have less time than we’d like, and even less free time than we hope for. This year, I challenge you to find areas of your life where you can use your time more intentionally and make it work for you, rather than just finding ways to “kill time.”
Part of working to become the person you want to be also entails considering where and how you spend your time. Are the things you’re doing in line with your priorities and ultimately closer to your goals?
Choosing your Circle Intentionally
As I mentioned earlier, how you spend your time matters, but who you spend your time with also matters. The people that you surround yourself with have a huge impact. Are the people in your circle engaging you, challenging you to be better, lifting you up, providing a support system? Are there toxic people that constantly bring you down, belittle you, make you feel inadequate?
I’ve learned to value authentic, genuine people in my life. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that people that draw me in the most are those that are authentic in who they are, in the way they present themselves, and in the way the build a relationship with you – whatever the nature of that relationship may be.
Not everything or everyone deserves to continue into 2020 with you. There’s something so freeing in the letting go of things that no longer serve your needs or bring you joy. It’s worth revisiting the relationships you maintain periodically. Maybe that doesn’t mean completely cutting people out of your life, but maybe not giving them the same amount of power that you had. Maybe it’s recognizing the people that are toxic and letting go to allow healthy, authentic relationships to thrive. Be intentional with who you surround yourself with this year.
Ask yourself a few questions:
- Who are the people that show up and keep showing up?
- Who are the ones that don’t let you down?
- The ones that consistently stand by their word?
Those are the people you want to pull tighter into your circle. It’s also worth reflecting on whether these are the characteristics you bring to your relationships, or maybe 2020 is the year that you start investing in your circle. Start small – reach out to someone that you haven’t engaged with as much as you would like. Just say hi, let them know that you were thinking about them, or maybe set a date to catch up.
Investing Yourself Intentionally
As I mentioned earlier, how you spend your time matters. The things that you invest your time and energy into are a reflection of your priorities. You can get stuck in the day-to-day, living on autopilot, or you can invest your time and energy intentionally to work towards accomplishing your goals and becoming the person you want to be.
Achieving your Dreams
In 2020, allow yourself to start working towards those secret dreams you keep locked away in your heart. Take the first steps, even if that just means voicing them out loud for the first time. Put yourself on a course to live a life you don’t feel the need to escape from.
One of my favorite quotes is “Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” The key here though, is working towards that dream. Taking those initial steps, then taking those scarier steps – the ones that may lead to failure or struggle. The steps where things get tough. Even if it is incremental, by continuing to make forward progress, you are pushing yourself one step closer each time. Alternatively, passing time in other manners is fine. However, if you’re not using your time to work towards a goal, you may just end up looking back down the road and realizing that you could have been well on your way to achieving your original goal, if only you had started to dedicate your time to it.
Pro-tip: Get a great planner that will help you track your goals, both long and short term, and allows you to break them down into the daily, weekly, and monthly tasks to help you achieve them (I use Unbound and LOVE it! No ad, just a genuine fan). You can also create a vision board to help yourself visualize where you want to be in five, ten, or even twenty years.
Becoming Who You Want to Be
Use this year to focus on becoming the person you truly want to be. Even if you’re on the right track, there are always areas where you can bring your current self closer to your ideal self. Life is about change, progress, and evolution. If it’s going to happen anyway, might as well do so with intention. Embrace the fact that change is inevitable, and use that to get where you really want to be.
A few questions to ask yourself:
- What kind of person do you want to be?
- When you look in the mirror, is that who you see now?
- If not, what things do you need to start doing to move in that direction?
- What areas in your life can you invest in to get closer to your ideal self?
- What are the specific actions required to then start moving in that direction?
Steps to get started:
- Identify the characteristics, traits, and talents that you want to make up the essence of who you are.
- Analyze the areas that you are doing well and identify the gaps that don’t align with where you are now and where you’d like to be
- Brainstorm specific actions and activities that can start closing that gap
- Set up a plan to incorporate these actions into your regular tasks and goals, so that you are intentionally working on these areas throughout the year.
- Periodically throughout the year, look back on the progress you’ve made, and set new tasks and goals to continue working toward your ultimate goal.
So here’s my ways of living intentionally in 2020: I’m pouring myself more into this project, The Wild Souls Collective. I want to throw myself into my community, make new friendships and strengthen those that I have. I want to focus on my health and make intentional strides this year toward where I want to be.
Keep an eye out for more in this series. I’ll dive more into living intentionally and provide some ideas and tips to be intentional throughout this year. Check back next week for the some of my favorite resources for living intentionally!
P.S. If you’re interested in the Unbound planner, you can find it here!
Comments are closed.