Living With Intention!
In the past few days I have started going through a plan called “Design your best year ever” by Darren Hardy. What an amazing outline. It has interviews and takes you through a planning structure for life and not only business.
When I first looked at this workbook I thought about how much work and time it would be to commit to. I mean planning and diligence takes a boat load of time and effort. I’m convinced that it is why it is not done very often. I know, I live in California, we are not planners, right? We kind of go with life’s flow and long term planning is often times where we are eating for dinner that night. But seriously, commitment to a well designed life and plan is what makes the difference.
Think about this for a moment. In 1999 we were bringing in a new MILLINEUM! We all seemed so excited to close the chapters of the 1900s and be the beginning of history for the 2000+ crowd. I can’t believe my own daughter was born in 2005???
I know for a fact I did not live the last 10 years by design. Don’t get me wrong some amazing things occurred and lessons and mistakes that have shaped me into who I am now. There is just something a lot different about me as I go through this book and think of the possibilities of how the last 10 years would have turned out if I just took some time to really manifest all it could be? Not dwell on it just reshape it into elements of what I could have controlled or designed better. I would say also to celebrate the really great decisions and moments that shaped you and set you up for the tremendous opportunities life has in store for you in 2010.
One of the first things I am continuously dedicated to is learning to truly live without the need for approval from others. I am intentional about thinking my decisions through while making sure I am not making a decision just so another person will approve of me. This has been an exercise in itself. Another shift is making sure that my goals are really MY goals. I think goals with your spouse and kids are super important, however I think we are all separate human beings that have original goals to explore. God didn’t give us our own talents so that we can simply rest on them. It’s our duty to use our own and combine them with others to maximize their potential. I know I have messed this up before and will constantly strive to understand and enhance my strengths in this area.
See, the truth is living a life of intention can look like hard work. We put habits in place to do this without thinking and it naturally eliminates that thought in a lot of ways. You have enough time to develop that habit before the new decade starts. Whatever has happened this year or last or even the last ten, it is time to let go. This is a fresh start on a new perspective. It’s like a new chance to do whatever you want. The world is opening up in your favor!
I heard this great story from someone close to me. When her son was younger and he would be upset about something, like all great mothers, she could tell. She told me that she would go and pick him up, sit him on her lap and imagine putting whatever the struggle or challenge was in a bubble in the palm of his hand. Together they would blow the bubble away and her son would smile.
This last ten years is a giant bubble of time. A time where we chose to do what we wanted or a choice was made for us. Who is choosing your next decade? Where do you want to go? How will you get there? Together lets blow the bubble of the past away and create a new future of honor and legacy for everyone. Who is dedicated to living, working and playing with intention in the next ten? I am looking forward to the experience with you all. Thank you for reading!
