How to create a life you live through intention

The Art of Intention

The first blog post I ever wrote on this platform was entitled, “The Void”. It was a post where I talked about how at one point in my journey, I felt a huge void in my life. I felt like my life had become so routine, and that I was running on auto pilot. As a result, an uninvited guest known as depression made an appearance.

One day, I was watching an episode of Super Soul Sunday where Oprah talked about what the true secret to her success was. She stated that while everyone in the world believed she was just extremely “lucky”, the real reason for her success was a lot of grace and intention.

Auntie O believes that “an intention precedes every thought and every action, and the outcome of your experiences is determined by the intention.”

This statement hit me like a ton of bricks! I realized that during one of the darkest times in my life, I was secretly living a life with no real intention. I sat in the passenger seat of my life, allowing it to take me to an unknown destination.

Intention governs your entire life whether you’re conscious of it or not! If you believe that your thoughts, words, and feelings create your life, I believe the true catalyst of that creation process is the intention behind it.

Here are some ways I’ve used intention in my own life. Creating clear intentions allows me to have clarity, certainty, and most of all, focus.

Have an Intention for Your Spirituality

If you’ve been reading 29th and Vibe for a while, you may have noticed that I focus more on the spirituality aspects of who we are. Spirituality can have different meanings for different people. I believe spirituality is an internal exploration of discovering who you really are and the becoming of your most authentic self in mind, body, and spirit. Spirituality isn’t any specific religion but more so an extension to whatever your practice.

Getting intentional on your spirituality is one of the most important intentions you will need for your life. It allows you to keep your cup filled with the necessary components of a full life that include abundance, peace, joy, and love.

For some, keeping that cup full may include prayer, meditation, reading or just sitting in silence. I keep my cup filled by all of the above! Meditation, while listening to a soothing sound bath, is the best way to connect with your source or whichever name you give it. YouTube university has also become a staple in my journey towards spirituality. Watching great thought and spiritual leaders keeps my cup overflowing.

Have an Intention for Your Dreams

I believe the two biggest reasons our dreams never manifest is because: 1) We give up, and 2) We never set a clear intention of what we want.

Anything I’ve ever intended to create in my life, I did. That includes getting my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, getting married, having a baby and buying my first home. Not only did I set the intention for them, but I created an emotion behind the intention as if it had already happened. I believe this is the secret to creation.

To change your life you need a clear intention and elevated emotion”

Joe Despinza

Intention is essential to creating our future. Without it, we will create a life by default and settle into a life that was handed to us by someone else. To simply put it: What we intend, we become.

Have an Intention for Your Time

I once heard the late Chadwick Boseman say, “Take your time, but don’t waste your time.” Life is short and what you do with the time you are given matters. Having an intention for your time will ensure that you are designating your time to things that need to be done.

I won’t lie to you guys; this intention is one that I just recently incorporated into my life. Having a planner has been helpful in writing out what my day will look like and what pockets of time will be designated for specific activities. This ensures I’m not unconsciously scrolling on social media or watching reruns of Moesha too long.

Let’s get real, not having an intention for your life is like getting in a car, putting an address in your GPS, then going the opposite direction of your destination. Moral of the story, you’ll never get there. So, let’s start today and set the intention to start living life on purpose!