5 Tips for Living Intentionally
Have you ever heard the phrase living intentionally and wondered what it meant? Different people have different interpretations, but broadly speaking, it is about making decisions regarding how you want to live your life as opposed to just being carried along by the flow. In other words, instead of falling into a career at the first place you are hired, living intentionally would mean making a conscious choice about the career that you are going to pursue. The advantage of this approach is that you conduct yourself in a way that is more consistent with your values and what you want out of life. The tips below can help you live your life in this way.
Know Your Values
The first step is identifying what your values really are. This can be more challenging than it seems on the surface because sometimes, it can be difficult to separate what you really believe in and want in your life from what your friends and family believe in and want. Spend some time really thinking about this question, writing in a journal and talking to friends or a life coach about your thoughts, and figure out what matters most to you.
Prioritize
The next step is to choose your priorities. Maybe you want a career that involves helping people, and you’ve decided to go into teaching or health care. Both of these require a particular type of education and certification, so you might need to go back to college. You’ll need to figure out the logistics of what this will involve, including how to pay for it. You can look into scholarships, grants and federal loans, but another option is taking out student loans from a private lender. Many online lenders make it easy to check your eligibility for these loans.
Understand Tradeoffs
One of the tough parts of this process, especially when it comes to prioritizing, is that you will have to make tradeoffs. You can’t do everything, and up until now, you were taking the path of least resistance. Aiming for an intentional life might mean having to say no, set new boundaries and accept that you may have to give up some things that you enjoy in order to pursue the things that mean the most to you.
Hone Your Intuition
As you continue to live a life that better reflects your own values, you will probably get better at following your instincts. You will get that gut feeling when something is wrong for you and when something is right. This isn’t a magical process as it’s simply about being more attuned to what you want and noticing elements of a situation that appeal to you or repel you that you might not have been as alert to before.
Take it Slow
Once you have decided to develop better habits and live in this way, it can be tempting to try to change every aspect of your life at once. However, it’s important to slow down, pay attention and take your time making these changes so that you don’t get overwhelmed.