Living intentionally. It's a thing that people say we should be doing, but what does that mean? It means that you can't blame a mistake on circumstances beyond your control - you take 100% accountability for everything in your power that brought about a thing. Does that mean that we're taking responsibility for everything, even if it had nothing to do with us? No - it just means that we are 100% honest with our assessment of the situation and our options/potential actions that were at our disposal in the moment. Anything and everything that we had any sight to choose to actualize in the moment was anything and everything we chose to actualize in that moment and as a direct result of that choice, we created the result that we achieved. New insight that contributes new information and new choices that we had no idea was possible in the past moment does not have any bearing on how we could have acted - it has bearing on future incidents and future choices and possibilities of results.
To live intentionally is taking responsibility for one's self and one's own actions, and executing a specific set of actions based on careful deliberation over the most optimal course of action. To live intentionally is to have the end result in mind and a carefully plotted out course of action that leads directly to that result, which will also contain potential alternate results based on each of the decisions along that pathway that have been considered and could potentiate the alternate results. For example: Say that I have $100,000 worth of debt that I want to pay off completely. So my desired end result is to pay off $100,000 of debt completely. What does that look like to me? First logical conclusion in my mind is that I need to have enough incoming cash flow to eventually add up to $100,000 (next preference is in the shortest time frame possible). So here comes the "straight line" - so to speak - from my start point to the end point: I must now fill in the blank space that leads me to my result. What is realistic? If I felt like I needed $100,000 in one month, from the standard of a larger percentage of people who live in our world, one would consider this an unrealistic plan of execution because the odds of stumbling upon $100,000 in one month are hung upon the appearance of a miracle or chance upon a jackpot. However, dividing $100,000 up into smaller chunks, the reality of being able paying off the debt becomes more apparent. Say we divided it up over the course of 5 years, the extra payout of just under $1,700 a month would give a definite timeline for the actualization of this goal. One could also easily imagine the other end of that coin - say I wanted to save $100,000 without the extra assistance of low interest, safe investment strategies like CD's or Money Market Savings accounts. I could easily say that it would be possible for me to do so by putting away $1,700 every month or around $57 a day for almost 5 years. Now, I have something to work with. Now, it's about me finding out the best way for me to create $57 a day to put away for the next 5 years of my life and committing to that action daily so that I can have my $100,000 in 5 years.
Now, if we know that there are bank accounts that help us compound interest, we know that date will come sooner than 5 years. With a few more tiny tools in our back pockets, the date of accomplishment of my $100,000 goal may be in as soon as 3 or 4 years. With a few small adjustments, as long as I stay committed to my 5-years or less plan, I will accomplish my goal.
It really is that simple.
I suppose the irony of that truth - the truth of how simple this formula is - is that no matter how simple the formula is, it is human nature itself that complicates the simplicity of this formula. Our fickle and unsteady nature that is so easily distracted by the next shiny object that catches our peripheral vision, or the next feeling that catches us from the darkest depths of our souls and drags us into the comforting embrace of our blankets and pillows, holding us away from the cool oxygen that would fill our lungs and lighten our bodies if we only allowed the lighter feelings and parts of humanity to pull us up and out into the world. The beast of procrastination firmly biting into our appendages and convincing us that "later" or "just this once" are the most truest things that your mind can grasp, causing you to forget about the truth that with the fulfillment of your original promise, the small act of putting that $57 down today, and the consistent action of choosing to do this each and every day will have you reach $100,000 in 5 years or less.
Wrap your brain around this in the bigger picture: How much longer are you planning on pushing out the end date at the end of that 5-year timeline? How much sooner do you feel that you need to pull that date closer? What extra work are you willing to do in between now and then so that you ARE NOT working 5 years or more to achieve your goals?
Now let's scale back these thoughts to the topic of living intentionally: Visualize your perfect life. Imagine every detail that you can clearly see about the life that you want to live. Now look at the essential starting point on how to create that life - what do you absolutely need at the minimum to start creating that perfect life? How can you start today, and what daily actionables do you need to commit to in order to achieve that goal in a specific time frame?
What's stopping you from starting? Booking.com
Wonderfully stated!
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