intentionality

glad you made it here

a few thoughts on intentionality

two layers

your “head” and “heart” represent two layers of intentionality.

HEAD represents a superficial layer and is often what we SAY our intention is. your head is focused on short-term results.

HEART represents a deeper layer and is what our ACTUAL intention is. your heart is focused on long-term needs.

impact of intentionality

we typically behave based on a single layer of intentionality – the head layer.

unfortunately, things get turned “upside-down” when we only operate with this one layer. that is, when we are unaware of what our heart’s intention is.

if you are NOT aware of both layers you are creating negative consequences for yourself and others.

SOLITUDE VS ISOLATION  

let’s take my real life “going for a walk in the woods” as an example. 

so im pissed off at my wife and i tell her “i’m going for a walk in the woods for some solitude”.

unbeknownst to me (i.e. unawareness of my heart’s needs) my head’s intention is to “get the f&*k away”.

my action leads to isolation and separation, disconnection, loss of perspective, sadness, and damages my relationship.

in contrast, solitude in the service of taking care of myself leads to renewal and recharge, fosters time for reflection, creativity, and connection with my spirituality. 

same action, profoundly different outcome.

this is the power of intentionality

UPSHOT: you need to be aware of what our heart’s motivation is in order to “align” your head and heart and ensure you get the powerful benefits of an intentional action. 

intentionality first

another interesting aspect of intentionality is you can only be intentional on the “front end”. 

in other words, you can’t assign intention to something that has already happened – you can only assign intention to an action before you do it. 

if it turns out you went to the woods to isolate, you can’t rewrite that story. you have already isolated yourself and created the impacts of isolation.  

UPSHOT: being intentional requires being proactive.  

living with intention

being more intentional requires you first determine the deeper motivation of your heart.  

this can be done by taking a moment to write down a few of your needs. 

if you don’t know what your needs are, start with a google search for “needs” to get a list and see what jumps out to you – some examples include connection, autonomy, adventure, respect, creativity. 

then, with your needs in mind, make a plan to do something that’s going to align with those needs.

then repeat everyday, often.

that’s it.

its that simple. 

UPSHOT: as you begin to live more intentionally, i guarantee you’re going to start to see some real positive momentum in your life.