Hey everyone!
I hope you had an amazing week and rested and recharged over the weekend. It was so cold here in Ottawa, Canada, over the last couple of days. The cold has kept me cooped up inside way more than usual; I don’t want to wander too far from the cozy fire in the wood stove.
But life is full of seasons; different times call for different ways of being. I try to embrace each moment and encourage you to do the same.
Fully embracing each moment requires that you act with intention, which is the theme of this week’s article.
Let’s dive in!
1 Simple Step To Start Living With Intention
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You are a human being, not a “human doing”. Yet I will bet that you focus a lot more on what you are doing rather than on who you are being. We all have to-do lists, but I have not heard of people having a “to-be” list, even though I think that a “to-be” list might be more useful.
You will never get through all the items on your to-do list. The better you get at delivering on your tasks, the more tasks you will end up getting handed. Simple fact of life that we might as well accept.
I don’t remember where I heard of the idea of having a “to be” list; I had heard it quite some time ago on a podcast. The idea really resonated with me and I took the time to prepare one. I took some time to reflect on the type of behaviours that my “ideal self” who have. How would they act? What would they prioritize? How would they treat the people that they encountered? What factors would influence their decision-making?
I ended up boiling it down to 5 key ways of being that I wanted to strive for.
- Be mindful. Pay attention to the manner in which I communicate, thoughtful of what others need and want, and conscious of how they may perceive things. Basically, be aware of others and show empathy.
- Be wise. Make choices that bring me more into alignment with the life that I desire. Ensure that I apply long-term thinking, considering second and third-order consequences. Remember that every decision and action that I take compounds with time.
- Be reflective. My default is quick action, all the time. My ideal self does not procrastinate, but makes time to let ideas simmer and stew. By thinking things through before acting, I increase my effectiveness.
- Be healthy. Make the right choices concerning the foods I choose to eat and get some exercise in. Only consume alcohol in moderation, make time for meditation. Remind myself that taking care of my body, mind, and soul is the only way to respect myself.
- Be playful. Time management practices are helpful, but life is not all about squeezing more out of every day. Ensure that I take time each day to do an activity that I enjoy.
Once I had developed my “to be” list, I put it into practice. I tried to align my behaviour and decisions for the day to this list, and I found it to be helpful. I won’t say that my life had radically changed that day, but I will say that I did a better job of being the type of person who I could be proud of.
Since I found that this was an effective exercise, I thought I would spend a few minutes each morning doing this exercise. My thinking was that this would set my day up for success, as I laid out my intentions for how I wanted to show up and who I wanted to be that day. I quickly realized that these were longer-term objectives for me, rather than something to be set at a daily level. They were more static than I had initially expected.
Even though I had discovered that reviewing my “to be” list was a super helpful way to set up my days, I somehow fell out of the habit of reviewing this list in the mornings. In fact, this list had completely escaped my attention, and I had forgotten all about it. Just by chance, I came across it the other day and remembered how effective I had found it to be. So I have made this a part of my morning ritual once again. And thought I would share it as it will probably help you as well.
Give it a shot; accomplishing everything on your “to be” list is possible – and you will feel great on days when you do it.
Let me know how you make out!
Quotation that I have been pondering
Many people have the impression that high-performers are always working, always producing. One of the prominent mindsets in our Western culture is that “hard work is the key to success”, that the more work you produce, the more successful you are.
What if that assumption was wrong? What if the secret was actually less work and more play? It is an interesting thought, that leads to this quote from Walt Disney;
By leaving room for fun and play in life, you find you bring a better version of yourself to your work. You are more effective, and more satisfied with life.
Sounds like a winning formula to me.
Journal Prompt
An integral part of living an amazing life is having clarity about who you are at your core and what you stand for. We each have our “own thing”, something that is so important to us, something that there is no compromise on. A line that you draw in the sand.
Knowing where you will draw hard lines in your life is an important step to understanding your deeper self.
Have an amazing week, one where you move yourself forward towards your dreams.
Better is always possible.
Tim
