What is the difference between intentionality vs. passivity in a fast-paced world? There is the phrase, “Our days are fleeting.” And, if you are like most of us, you will wonder where all the time has gone.
The Need for Vision that Utilizes Our Real, True, and Best Self
There is another saying, “Without a vision the people perish.” What this simply means in regard to intentionality is without a meaningful reason to go through life that aligns with your real, true, and best self, you will lose hope and “deteriorate from the inside out.”
The Need for Clear Goals
Another saying is, “Dreams without goals are fantasies. And goals without dreams are drudgeries.” Our goals need to be ownable (something we want to do), reachable (something we can do), and measurable (something we know when we have accomplished). Goals help us know what we are doing with our time.
The Need to Set Aside Time to Evaluate
Setting goals is necessary to be intentional, but assessing and evaluating those goals is important also. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Discover what strategies work and what does not work? This takes some time and some attentiveness. Just doing the same thing over and over is just a recipe for activity, not progress.
- What activities are the most profitable and which activities are just good, okay, and poor?
- We need to adjust our goals based on our outcomes. First of all, we do not always get the outcomes we want. And the way to deal with this is to keep adjusting our goals until we get the outcomes we want.
The Need to Persevere
Giving up completely never takes us to a fulfilled life. Perseverance helps build the character we will need to handle any success that comes our way.
The Need for Faith
Whether we want to admit it or not, we use some sort of faith every day. As funny as it may seem, we trust simple things around us without question based on the probability. We don’t check every chair we sit on to make sure it won’t fall apart when we sit on it. We don’t check the soundness of every bridge before we cross it. I personally believe faith in God and reasonable faith in ourselves and others is an important ingredient to overall success and fulfillment in life.
One Practical Example
Our financial situation is one practical example of where intentionality goes a long way. If we keep doing the same activities in regard to our finances that we are doing now, where will we be ten years from now? What if we have a financial emergency or we get laid off? Do we have a Plan B for our finances? All of these questions are not meant to create worry, but to bring attention to an area of our life could use some intentional planning and work. This is one reason I joined Six Figure Mentors in order to have a “Plan B” and to be financially free to create the life of my dreams. If you would like more information on how to be intentional about creating the life you would love to live, you may check out this link:
Bringing It Together
Without being intentional in life, we just “coast along” without direction and purpose. Therefore, we need a productive vision, clear goals to go with that vision and be consistently evaluating and adjusting those goals for better outcomes.
Your Takeaway
What part of the intentionality process are you doing well and what part do you need to improve on? Do you use more intentionality vs. passivity in a fast-paced world or are you more passive?
