Authentically Intentional

This is a term I’m making up but I think there’s something really special about it. I’ve completely oriented my life around being intentional. This means that I’m trying to live as consciously as possible so that I’m aware of what I’m choosing to do and how I’m choosing to show up. 

Intentionality requires two things: Clarity on what you want and discipline to follow through on the thing that you’ve decided to do about it. The more you can fine-tune your clarity and the more disciplined you become, in my opinion, the more intentional you are.

But there’s an extra detail that I believe needs to be layered on, and it’s the thing that people struggle the most with, myself included, when it comes to being intentional: Authenticity.

This concerns the side of clarity - Is this actually what I want?

In many cases, what we say we want is influenced by the expectations of society, demands of loved ones, or who we believe we’re supposed to be. But if you orient your life around intentions that aren’t true to yourself, you’re steering your life in a direction that isn’t fully yours.

In that way, the most sincere form of intentionality requires radical honesty. One where you’re painfully aware of who you’re being influenced to be, and who you want to be deep down at your core.

Being authentically intentional requires a level of vulnerability that doesn’t come naturally to you. It demands that you challenge what you’ve implicitly chosen you want and give yourself space to get to the heart of it.

We can make conscious choices all we want, but if those choices don’t steer us in the perfect direction, we won’t end up where we want to be.

Knowing the difference between what you want and, as The Spice Girls famously said, “What you really, really want”, is the game to play and the skill to build if you want to create your dream life. 

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