Most of the time, I really try to live my life with intention. I try to be conscious of what I’m thinking and feeling and base my decisions and actions off of them. I give my best effort to be positive and purposely gravitate towards actions that I know will make me feel good at that moment.

Are there times when this doesn’t happen? I’m human, so of course! In our house we call this being in a “rut” and whoever is in one will typically announce it to alert everyone. For me, I think of it as the S.O.S. call for someone to give me an idea or pitch in to help get me out of my stale, crabby mood (Yuck, yuck, yuck – I don’t even like to think of that feeling).

When you’re in a rut you basically feel like you’re just going through the motions of life. You do the same things over and over. (i.e. Picking up the house, loading and unloading of the dishwasher, feeling so overwhelmed it paralyzes you, etc.)

I refer to these as the ground hog’s day moments of trying to get ahead. We’ve all been there, and although I dislike that feeling, I am grateful for it because it eventually gets me to step up my game with new ideas. (See how I turned that negative into a positive?)J

My energy increases and intentional living happens once again. Ahhhh… back to normal. When you are conscious about the actions you take, you feel like you are back in the driver’s seat of your life. It’s about truly thinking, feeling and experiencing each decision and action you take.

It’s normal to have a few “off’ days here and there, but don’t settle for a life that has you uninterested in what’s next. Life should be fun to see how it all plays out. And living with intention helps you bring things into your life that you love and inspires you to be your best self.

So if you’ve felt like that you’ve been on autopilot for a while, let’s put it in manual and make some positive changes. You can’t do an overhaul overnight, but you can start little by little to make more conscious decisions. Whether that is being more present with your family, better spending of your money, taking better care of your health and body, or whatever area(s) need tweaked.

Here are some tips to help live life with more intention:

1. Be mindful and reflect on your life regularly.

This could be during a time of daily gratitude or a weekly review of how your week went. Are you doing things that you enjoy and make you happy? Review and adjust accordingly.

2. Work your goals in 3’s.

Don’t be overwhelmed by what you want to accomplish by the end of the year, instead focus on what you want to accomplish in the next 3 months. Pick just 3 things. Break them down into 3 monthly/weekly/daily actions. Commit. Do them. And do them well.

3. Who’s watching?

When you are conscious about how you live, you may start to notice how you are impacting the world around you. Are you aware who is watching? Are you living life the way you hope your children will? Are you being a good role model? Your life is important and think about how it impacts others.

4. How do you spend your time?

We all have the same 1,440 minutes a day. But, it is very easy to come up with excuses to how we don’t have enough time for ourselves. Take a look at your daily calendar or log how you really spend your time in a day or two (Netflix and all!). The truth is that we could all find some autopilot/unintentional minutes to spare to better ourselves instead.

So, continue to ask yourself the tough questions and be honest with yourself. It is how we learn and grow. And, tomorrow when the alarm goes off… Don’t snooze. Know what your goals and actions are for that day, and get up to seize the day with purpose!

Get fired UPP for the best version of you,

Nat

#positivechanges #livingintentionally #consciousliving #gratitude #spendingyourtime #howyouimpactothers #breakinggoalsdown #mindfulness