![\"Create](\"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/images\/imgjhblog\/sunrise-380x271.jpg\")
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m big on intentionality. To put it plainly, I’m referring to the act of doing things by choice over chance, or happenstance.<\/p>\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m big on intentionality. To put it plainly, I’m referring to the act of doing things by choice over chance, or happenstance.<\/p>\n
That said, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not under the illusion that there aren’t times where things \u00c2\u00a0have to be done which, given the choice we would rather not do them. That said, I also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that we have to live every single moment of our lives in reactionary mode. Reacting to whatever \u00e2\u20ac\u0153life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d seems to throw our way. Sadly, far too many people do just that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why you ask?<\/p>\n
Because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t commit to being intentional — and accept that while doing the things they would like to do may require adjustments in their schedules, changes, or other inconveniences — the fact \u00c2\u00a0remains that they do have the option of making those changes and seeing the results they would if they would only do so. That doesn’t mean it is going to be easy. Nor does it mean it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take a certain degree of sacrifice. Positive life change, and growth isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about taking the easy road. If it were it wouldn’t require change now would it?<\/p>\n
Below I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to share three things I do every day which introduces intentionality into my life. These things have a profound impact on my life. When I do them my day flows — and when I neglect to do them — as I confess I do at times — I can usually tell a difference in the ebbs and flow of my day.<\/p>\n
Before I go further I want to be clear that the last thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to do in sharing the ideas below is to attempt to convince you that if you’ll simply adopt these ideas any and all problems or challenges you might be experiencing will magically fade away and your life will be all roses and daisies. That’s simply not the way life works. Instead, what I hope to do is share something I do, which you may or may not decide to implement. Try it all, bits and pieces of it, or none at all. Quite frankly the choice is yours. After All, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about being intentional — and as such it’s your choice to make… or not. Whatever you do decide — make an intentional choice and give it a chance to see how it works for you. Life’s a test — you never know it might be a life changer \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I also want to point out that my life is fluid. And yours is too. Which means that the ideas below aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done all my life. Who knows, some of them I may change up overtime. So please understand that at the time of this writing what follows is how I start my day off for optimal results…<\/p>\n
1. Upon waking up I pray and give thanks for all that’s going right in my life.<\/b> Here I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking gratitude and appreciation. Plain and simple. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been blessed with an incredible life filled with some truly amazing life experiences. I have had some absolutely fabulous people in my life. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ups and downs. Things which for whatever reason don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work out. So called “sure things” that simply don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come to fruition.<\/p>\n
Of course we all experience such times, at varying degrees. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m definitely no exception to that. And heck, I even wrote a book called, It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Your Life, LIVE BIG<\/a>. So see, if a guy who wrote a book on Living BIG can admit to having times where he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel as though he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s living so \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Big\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OK that we all have those ups and down times. What isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t acceptable, nor true for that matter is that we buy into the lie which is trying to tell us that things \u00e2\u20ac\u0153never go our way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153only the rich get richer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a limited group of people is trying to keep us down\u00e2\u20ac\u009d — you name it, insert whatever it is you’re telling yourself that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s allowing you to stay stuck in that broken victim mentality.<\/p>\n Look, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true, sometimes things do happen out of our control. Still, it is always within our control as to how we are going to react to that. And that little thing — the choice in how we react makes all the difference. Because in that difference we can find the thing which allows us to grow through it, and yes, emerge better for having gone through it. And friend, make no mistake, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always a lesson to be gleaned from each and every experience we go through — positive or negative in nature.<\/p>\n The thing we have to keep in mind is that unless we hold true to that idea that there is a lesson to learn — we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever hope to find it. Because we will move straight into a place of resentment, or victimhood. Bypassing the lesson entirely as a result.<\/p>\n With all that said\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n When I start in prayer and giving thanks for all the good things, life lessons, etc. I reconnect with what has happened in my life that is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good and right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I get to be intentional about what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m focusing in on. Sure, there are things I could pull up from my life, bad decisions I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made, misguided decisions, right decisions that for whatever reason did not lead to the results I was sure they would. I could give those things power very easily. And if I weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intentional about focusing just on the things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to be thankful for, and praying to GOD for what I hope for, and equally as importantly in my opinion praying for the needs of others, I would probably get sucked into thinking about all the things that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go right. Which would inevitably lead me towards a feeling that nothing ever goes right, which as you can imagine would only take me further down the rabbit hole until something interrupted that line of thinking, that pattern. In short, I choose to start my day in a place that is far more likely to serve me in a positive way. Give it a try, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the number one thing I do upon waking up, and before even getting out of bed for a reason. I have found that life is so much more rich when I begin this way.<\/p>\n 2. Mindfulness meditation.<\/strong> Guided meditation & breathing. A minimum of 5 minutes or more.<\/p>\n For me, this is a pretty simple practice. I visit a website where they let you listen to some free mindfulness meditations<\/a>. They all vary in lengths. I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even begin to explain all the degrees of positive impact this practice has on me — and how it works. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just say that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m much more relaxed when I take the time to do it. I should also say that you can find lots of mindfulness videos on youtube and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a resource I use to listen to one quickly during my day. Sometimes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll also integrate my own point of focus during the meditation time, and in my case I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just choose to focus on GOD, and give HIM thanks. I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get all detailed, nor let my mind wander to things of the past or future. After all, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of the point of mindfulness, to be in the present with a clear mind \ud83d\ude42 Again, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not advocating this per se\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just sharing something I do, which I have seen make a real impact on my life. If you decide to give it a try, you certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to make the tweak I sometimes do. Again, there are no \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right or wrongs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in terms of what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sharing. Others, far more studied in this area than I am may say so, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not my intention in sharing here.<\/p>\n 3. Exercise \/ walk.<\/strong> I spend the first part of my walk just processing all the content I take in throughout my day. If I’m up for it that particular day I will listen to a podcast or music. Whichever I decide on I always spend the first part of the walk just being quiet and processing what is running around in my mind.<\/p>\n When I am talking about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153content\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I am not necessarily referring to everything we take in during the day. Not the commercials or ads, meaningless tv shows, etc. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m referring to those things we can gain some knowledge from if we can manage to process them, and internalize the lessons in them.<\/p>\n For example, in my daily routine I take in a LOT of content in the form of podcasts, articles, contributed guest posts, consulting & coaching calls. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that I am processing those things in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real-time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as they are happening — that said, I find that often, when I am on my walks they further flesh themselves out. I do keep my phone handy (which gives me easy access to a note taking app) so I can record whatever thoughts comes to me that I would benefit from saving for later recall. When I come back from my walk I immediately eat breakfast. Sometimes, on the rare occasion I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll eat a light breakfast before I walk, but for the most part it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s afterwards. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just my personal preference. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t claim to have any \u00e2\u20ac\u0153master reason\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for doing so. It just works for me on most days.<\/p>\n Perhaps the ideas above have resonated with you, or not, in either case you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hurt my feelings. As I have said my point in sharing is to give you ideas which you may find helpful along your personal journey towards living a BIG LIFE.<\/p>\n Finally, I want to point out that after I have finished the three items mentioned above I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go right into whatever the rest of my day is comprised of. Perhaps I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give you a glimpse into how I plan out, and maneuver through the later part of my day at some future date.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m curious, how do you begin your day & what things do you do that help to ensure you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re operating at your peak?<\/p>\n Be Awesome,
\nJosh Hinds<\/p>\n