Recently I’ve started meditating more regularly and I’ve been noticing a positive shift in my life. I try and get my body moving, meditate and set a daily intention for my day before I do anything else. I’m not going to lie, I don’t actually do it everyday, and that’s ok! I do, however, find doing it more often than not, helps guide my life in the direction I want to go instead of being tossed around wherever life feels like bringing me.

Intentions vs. Goals

Sometimes people confuse intentions with goals, I think they’re both important but I think there is a clear distinction, and they should each be used in their own way. Intentions provide a gentle reminder on HOW you want to live your life, they can be more motivational and aspirational. Goals, on the other hand, are more tangible things to achieve. When setting goals its common to build in milestones for how to achieve those goals, you might even ask people to hold you accountable for reaching those goals. Both are wonderful tools for guiding our lives and they can both compliment each other, but today I’m going to focus on setting intentions.

Why are Intentions Important

We can all get caught up in having a busy life and wanting to jump right into our day, but setting aside time to set intentions can be a really powerful tool to increase positivity and productivity for your whole day! When I start my day with an intention I tend to feel better about the work I’m doing, I tend to feel less anxious and scattered. It helps ground and center me before the chaos of my day starts.

Often our life pulls us in different directions and it can lead to us acting mindlessly, intentions help focus us so we can approach our day and challenges with mindfulness. One great thing about intentions is that it’s not too late to start! Did you have an early morning call that got you off in a rush? Maybe around 11am you notice your day is a clusterfuck. No problem! Take a few minutes to reset, set your intention, and spend the rest of your day operating from this place instead.

How to Set an Intention

First of all, there are NO rules to setting an intention. Get creative here. If that sentence terrifies you and you want some more guidance keep reading!

Get In the Mood

I can’t jump right into setting an intention. I usually start with a hot water with lemon and honey, put on my favorite pandora playlist, and get my body moving. I like to stretch and get all the early morning wiggles out.

Choose Your Intention

For this stage you can use cards of some kind (tarot, affirmation etc.) to help start your thinking. Sometimes laying out cards, feeling called to one and then reading about it can really inspire your intention for your day! If that’s not for you, perhaps spend 5 minutes journaling and see if something arises there for you to set your daily intention.

If that’s not for you either, perhaps try a book. I like Journey to the Heart as it has daily thoughts that often help spark my own thoughts on my daily intentions. The reason I like utilizing some external things to give me guidance is because it feels like an unfolding of the intention, like I’m somehow being guided to it.

Feel The Intention

Once you finally set the intention. Focus on the feeling of the intention. What does it feel like? How does it play out in your life. If you really let the intention soak in how does it feel.

Meditate on The Intention

Typically once i’ve settled on my intention, I will either light a candle and gaze at it while focusing on my intention, or I’ll find a guided meditation on Insight Timer that really resonates with my intention.

Wait I’m Still Confused

Still need a little guidance? No problem! Here are some of my favorite intentions to help get you started!

Acceptance

To accept whatever happens as if it were my choice

Delight

Channel delight throughout my day

Strength

To be strong in the face of adversity

Light

To be a beacon of light in people’s day

Present

To be present in my life

Grace

To give myself grace

Flow

To allow myself to go with the flow

Simplicity

To create more simplicity in my day

Wonder

To bring a childlike sense of wonder to my day

Rise

To rise to meet my standards

Authenticity

To live today as my authentic and unapologetic self

Beauty

To choose to see the beauty in all parts of my day

How to Create Daily Intentions