Intentional living is actively living by values. It is the power that comes from knowing that we have the opportunity to make better choices within each moment of our time here on earth. And it is the awareness that we are able to completely create our lives rather than passively living through predefined, limited options.
The truth is, we do not fit into any box. We are unique. We no longer believe that a CEO thousands of miles away knows what’s best for our home and health better that what we internally and innately know.
Within each change we make to better ourselves is a seed to start something bigger and grander than ever before. We slowly can work up to living a beautifully compassionate and holistically healthy life: one that is good for ourselves, the environment around us, and the creatures that share this planet with us. The most powerful thing we can do is to be aware of the upstream and downstream effects of our consumption. Once you start to step into this power, I promise you will feel deep pride in knowing you are creating this life through and through.
As a guide, use these three pillars of intentional living as rapid- fire questions you can ask yourself throughout the day: is this choice the best for my health, the best for the earth, and is it ethical?
Below is a list of small changes you can make to start living with intention:
1. Set an intention to live for yourself everyday
Because you are worth it. You may be a partner, lover, child, parent, employee, etc.; but you deserve to feel sovereign over your life. You may not be able to do everything you want to do, at every moment (no one is omnipotent) but you can start to do more of what is really important to your deepest self. Self- care is true compassion that can only radiate to others after you, yourself, feels fulfilled.
For a deeper look into feeding your true self, check out this post: The Art of Being Unapologetically Authentic
2. Set an intention to feel good everyday
This sounds simple but is a struggle for virtually every human. We constantly put ourselves in self- fulfilling negative cycles: not getting to bed on time, not choosing to wake up a few minutes earlier, not eating the healthy meal, spending too much time on distractions (social media, Netflix), and the list goes on and on. Simply asking yourself, ‘will this make me feel good’ can be extremely potent. Better yet, ‘will this be a lasting joy?’
3. You don’t have to change all the bad, but if you add in more of the good, the negative will likely lose its power
Paralleled with #2, it would be unreasonable to believe any one has the ability to be perfect. There is no way to completely remove negative habits but we can minimize their hold on us. Add in some plans to make more healthy choices like eating 5+ servings of vegetables a day, reading more interesting books, and going for longer walks. Magically, these choices will spread like vines into other parts of your life. Suddenly, you have less time for the unhealthy foods, less focus or care for distractions, you get better sleep from the exercise you did throughout the day, and you make smarter choices due to being well rested and not bogged down by processed foods. Little by little, these choices will transmute the struggle of staying afloat into potency and positivity.
4. Before buying, think ‘does this benefit my health,’ ‘Does this benefit the planet,’ or ‘does this benefit my knowledge of the world’
Everything you buy should be doing good for you or it is not worth your exchange. If it is not helping you achieve a healthier mind, body, or spirit and it is not helping the earth in some way, shape, or form, it is most likely causing damage. On a similar vein:
5. Know your products “story”
We can be picky with our products. We are spending our money to probably make a CEO rich so they better be looking out for our best interests. We live in a time of uncovering truths. You can find out all of the company’s practices just by doing a bit of online research.
Is the company animal testing? Spraying tons of pesticides and chemicals? Deforesting like crazy? Implementing slavery, unfair labor wages, or sweatshops?
VET your companies and don’t buy from anything unethical- there are so many amazing companies that don’t do any of this!
6. It is possible to have all of your beauty, home cleaning, and makeup products as edible and chemical- free
All you need is probably already in your kitchen. It is truly wonderful that we live in a world where everything we need can be found in nature. Don’t believe me? There are hundreds of properties in plants such as antibiotic, antimicrobial, antifungal, and antioxidant/ anti-aging. As well as every color- so dyes or pigmentation of any sort are easily achievable for makeup. Almost all companies know this, but few decide to act on it until we demand it- that is why you see “Argan Oil Conditioner” in the stores; but if you read the contents, Argan Oil is buried and embedded amongst dozens of unrecognizable ingredients (chemicals). It is possible to go straight to the source and go chemical-free.
7. Taking responsibility and control over your moods and the way situations make you react is the ultimate liberation.
Reactivity: It is possible to want to change something but still have a positive disposition. The best source of action is a clear and focused mind.
Mood: No, we don’t have to be stoic at all times but being responsible for what we put out in the world is a form of intelligence that is not widely employed. That is because it comes from self- inquiry and social awareness rather than knowledge learned in school. When we push our emotions onto an innocent bystander, it gets trapped in a cycle of pushing it onto another and another until 1) the whole world is in a bad mood or 2) someone decides to break the cycle
8. Virtually any goal is able to be achieved if we set a clear intention everyday
It takes discipline. It takes knowledge. It takes tweaking things that aren’t working. It takes challenging yourself. But none of this is possible if you don’t set your intention and mindset every day to achieve these goals.
9. Try to go as low or no waste as possible
Sadly enough, plastic is taking over our planet. Every. Single. Piece. Of. Plastic. Ever. Made. is here to stay for at least another few hundred years. It may seem far off because we probably don’t live on a landfill but our universal home (earth) is being ruined with tons and tons of trash every day. It is estimated that we use 2 million single- use plastic bags every minute!
Consumer questions: If all of the waste I produced throughout the week ended up in my front yard- would I even be able to get out of my house? What waste went into creating my products: think creating, packaging, and shipping. Start to brainstorm ways to eliminate single- use plastic to combat this issue.
For a list of my own brainstormed tips, check out the post: Slashing Waste Consumption
There are infinite ways of bringing intentional into your daily life- these are just a few of my favorites! Brainstorm ways of handcrafting your life, and drop a comment of your favorites below
Thanks for reading!
xoxo