Living Life with Intention: Habits vs. Intentions on the Road to Self Discovery
We are inspired this week by the idea of living life with intention. On our road to self discovery, what do we intentionally include or look for in our lives? Do we pay attention to what nourishes our creativity? What happens when we are intentional about who and what we include in our lives?
Lynne Bryan Phipps, Inspirited Living’s founder, shared some thoughts about what it feels like when we allow ourselves to experience joy.
Living Life with Intention: What Brings you Joy?
What brings you joy? This can feel like a simple question but when was the last time you took a moment with yourself to choose more of what brings you joy? If not joy, what is filling our lives instead?
When was the last time you looked at your morning routine and considered whether it supports your path to self discovery? Do you make coffee, stop for coffee, or drink coffee at work without really enjoying the way it tastes and smells? Does the way you do your morning feel like a routine or a ritual? Is it calming and setting the tone for the day or does it make you jumpy and nervous? Does your morning ritual bring you joy?
On the road to self discovery, we sometimes have to take a close look at our habits and determine if we like the underlying intentions as we try to find what really nourishes our mind-body-soul connection.
Habits vs. Intentions
Habits are the patterns that our brains form consisting of a trigger, a routine we perform, and a reward. It’s a kind of three step loop or habit circle that we record in our brains so that we can cover everyday things like brushing our teeth, parking the car, walking the dog, and making coffee without really paying attention to them.
There are lots of books on bestseller lists about habits. This NPR interview on Fresh Air, is talking about “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg.
“The Power of Habit” helps break down the triggers for certain habits and how to recognize when advertisements prompt you, or trigger a habit. Marketers and advertisers are extremely good at hijacking the habit circle to get us to buy a product, for example.
Intentions vs. Habits
Intentions, as Lynne Bryan Phipps, shared in an earlier post, start with paying attention to what YOU are drawn to…
Intentions are about paying attention to what feels good to YOU…
On the road to self discovery, intentions are about noticing and bringing your awareness to what you need. Intentions are about making deliberate choices that support you, not what the outside world tells you is important.
Intentions are also about prioritizing what is important vs. what’s easy.
How you do design an intentional life?
Lynne Bryan Phipps has some new courses coming this year that guide you through how to design an intentional life. Stay tuned for the sign up links!
Her first step in designing an intentional life on the road to self discovery, is to ground and bring your awareness to what feels comfortable and expansive in your own body. Then notice what feels tight or nervous, or anxious.
As you notice the discomfort, it’s important to know that the goal is not about changing or fixing or judging any part of your experience, it’s just about noticing what feels uncomfortable.
Lynne’s second step is curiosity and compassion.
Ask yourself, what’s the discomfort about? Why do I feel it? What’s making my shoulder’s tight or my neck tense? Why does my stomach feel icky? Curiosity without judgment is a kind and compassionate approach on the path to self discovery. What does the world feel like to you? Why does it feel that way?
Inspirited Living’s third step to designing an intentional life is moving towards what feels good. This can be the most difficult part of the intention. Not just setting it, but acting on it. There’s often so much self-judgment about doing our chores before we play. We can get so fixated on doing that we forget how to take time to just be.
If you are struggling on how to turn towards what feels good, give your body a break with some forest bathing. Give your creative brain a chance to engage with some stunning art from South Africa. Give your soul a chance to soak up the joy of lavender by engaging the senses.
Stay tuned for more from Lynne on Inspirited Living Courses about designing an intentional life that works for you!
Self Discovery: Habits vs. Intentions
So why does this matter from an Inspirited Living perspective? By bringing your awareness to your daily activities and really noticing what you spend time on, how you start your day, where you eat your breakfast, who you spend time with, YOU can start creating a life You love. An intentional life.
Try Inspirited Living’s morning ritual to design an intentional start to the day that works for you. Notice what you are drawn to. Notice when a habit is triggered and ask yourself: I wonder what that’s about? Does that really bring me closer to what I want? On my road to self discovery, is there something that would feel better? Is there something else I could choose, or try, or experience that would feed my soul more?On the journey to self awareness, we can be very deliberate and intentional about what we allow into our lives. On the road to self discovery, you can choose where you focus your energy.
Try asking yourself: Does your morning ritual nourish and support your creativity? Does the food you chose support your body? Does it give you what you need to be healthy? Does your focus outside your home support your intention to be calm? Would more time in and around nature be helpful? Would some support or help from Lynne and the Inspirited Living community help you to shift from habits that are unfulfilling to intentions?
We are feeling supported this week by 
As the seasons shift and the light changes, our schedules can shift, too. Perhaps the early morning sun through the curtains that prompted you awake at 5am has changed to 6am? Maybe you want a few extra minutes asleep because your days seemed filled? …And then, are scrambling all day to catch up and never quite feel like yourself?
Start with the visualization of your roots going down into the ground. It lets our minds drift towards the sturdy strength of trees. Tapping into the energy of the earth. Connecting ourselves with the living world and reminding us that we are part of something vast, powerful, and beautiful.
How can we stay in the moment? How can I live life with intention?