This article was originally published in The Simplifier #49.

Article: Time to Get Intentional!

By Shawn Tuttle

The last article offered a definition of intention as “aligning with what you want”. By thinking about intention as creating a culture, we saw how being aware of your intention can inform the thoughts and actions that support a goal.

When referring to intention in the context of space and systems, as we did in the last article, you might get the impression of an a la carte menu–”I’ll simplify the office, my invoicing system, and my inbox.” This is comparable to the separating of subjects in school: there’s English, Psychology, and Economics. They have different textbooks, different teachers, and different objectives.

This is how we typically view our lives: we put ourselves in a central place then look out to the different aspects of our lives: work, family, household affairs, play, and self-growth. We set goals for each one, then do our best to achieve those goals.

Categorizing your life this way can be useful for certain activities, such as planning and goal setting. However, it can be harmful in that it invites a compartmentalized view of your life. In reality, a negative attitude about invoicing indirectly affects your relationship with loved ones; delegating your payroll to an outside agency has an indirect affect on your community volunteer work. Everything is interconnected.

Simplifying your life begins with your Simplicity Statement. But is a statement enough to change your life? Possibly. (Far be it from me to deny the possibility!) For most people though, there is more to be done. Time to get intentional! Meaning, time to line everything in your world up in support of your Simplicity Statement.

A different way of looking at your life
What is “everything” to be lined up? While spaces and systems are not to be overlooked, the emphasis is on focus, attitude, thoughts, beliefs, actions, relationships, communication, physical stuff and commitments—basically, all the ways you relate to the world. From this perspective, the means to your simplified self are your various ways of relating, and not the categories in your life.

Say you are working with a Simplicity Statement such as: “My thoughts and activities support my heartfelt goals in the spirit of fun and gratitude.” Using visualization exercises, you’ve developed a vision and feeling of what this Statement means to you–an inner experience of what it feels like to be thinking and acting in accordance with the statement. This feeling becomes your intention. Then, you set goals that are in line with your intention. (This is where compartmentalizing your life comes in handy!)

Enter: focus. Exercising focus within the culture of your intention can feel like strengthening a muscle that’s been flabby for years. When you recognize how distractions have been pulling you in all directions, training your mind to be decisive when determining what is or isn’t allowed can be like a magical transformation.

Enter: discipline. If each of the means to your goal is a pathway, then it’s your job to stay on the path. Whether you are spending time with friends or working on a project proposal, are your thoughts, attitudes, and words supporting your goals? It’s like building blocks. When you place the blocks strategically according to a plan, you can end up with a great building. But the number of details along the way can seem infinite! As with most efforts to become disciplined, sticking with your intentions gets easier with time.

The list of pathways is numerous, enough to drive anyone nuts trying to monitor all of them all the time. Try taking one at a time. For example you could begin with one that is easy to identify, like time commitments. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve already begun by taking inventory of these commitments.

What about a pathway, such as thought, which is more nebulous? Definitely calling on discipline here! Over the course of the day, as you transition into a new activity, clarify your big-picture intention and the focus of that activity. Then keep an eye on your thoughts, bringing them back to your intention and focus when they stray. Dedicate a day to being hypersensitive in this way for practice. Once you begin catching your thoughts wandering automatically, you can back off a bit.

You can try thinking about this as dedicating your undivided attention to your goals and intentions. A simple example: if one of your goals is to spend an hour of playtime outside with your family every week, then talking on the phone with a colleague during this time is totally inappropriate. As is thinking about the front yard landscaping project, or stopping to talk for half an hour with a friend you ran into. These don’t support your intention of engaging and being present with your family.

This holds true for most situations, ranging from family time, to processing your inbox, or running a meeting. Simplifying isn’t something to go do, it’s how you relate with the world. You do this by being aware of your means of interacting and pulling them in line with your intention.

”Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” —William A. Foster

Since you have limitless possibilities for how your life plays out, consciously providing yourself with direction increases positive results. Let that direction permeate your interaction with the world!

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Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify.