For much of my life, I flung myself blindly into each day. I typically asked myself at the beginning of the day, “What do I need to do today?” I always had a “to do” list – usually quite long. There were always more to “dos” than time to do them. As a result, I was always focused on tasks, on doing, on checking things off the list and adding even more to the list. I could never move fast enough, be productive enough, get enough done.
Then I had two different friends ask me two compelling questions that stopped me dead in my tracks:
- In addition to what you have to do, what do you want to be?
- As you set off on each day, what is your intention for the next 24 hours?
These were totally foreign constructs – but compelling ones. What I really wanted to be was a good leader, a compassionate and capable person, a great parent. Yet in truth, my “be” on most days was busy, rushed, task focused, and sometimes frazzled.
I began to spend a few minutes at the start of every day to set my intentions for the day ahead. I began to create a visual image of my day and envisioned myself as I walked through the day. How did I show up? What were the optimal results I hoped for? How did I want to “be” today?
I began this practice by spending time after breakfast jotting down my thoughts. Over time, paragraphs turned into sentences, sentences into bullet points, and finally into simply a mental exercise (and often as I lay in bed just before I get up).
No matter how I set intentions, the practice of being intentional as I begin each day has been transformational. I find my days go more smoothly. I am less hectic and more focused on the things that really matter to me. And when, in the course of a day, I find myself tipping into doing without thought to the being – I can catch myself and recalibrate – so that I am a more often “being” the person I want to be.
