Living a more intentional and focused life

 Today I was thinking about living life more focused and intentional. I know I am not the only one that needs to slow down sometimes. In this fast-paced world it is easy to lose focus on being intentional. To live life intentionally you need to first slow down. Slowing down allows you to think more clearly. Slowing down helps you to live more in the moment. 

But what does it mean to live more intentionally? 

The first thing it means for me is taking it slow. FYI: I have learned all of these lessons the hard way. I had to learn and relearn all of the principles that I am going to talk about in this post. I find it very interesting that it seems we people put the least amount of thought into the most important decisions. 

I think society is geared that way and for a reason. Most people never really learn how to think through their problems and live intentionally. Most of the time I feel that we (people in general) just jump right into things and deal with the consequences later. I think the divorce rate in America speaks to what I am saying here. I know in my life some of the most important decisions that I have ever made in my life was done with little thought. 

I am not saying that I regret anything. I know that God has a plan for me and that He is working on me along the way. I am definitely a work in progress! But looking back at my life I can see now that I should have put way more thought into what I was doing along the way. I could have made better decisions that would have impacted my life for the better. Instead, I had to learn a lot of things the hard way, and I had to learn the big tough lessons too. 

Living intentionally also means to focus!

With everything that is going on in the world it can be hard to focus on what is really important. I do think that the covid crap did help people realize this more. Although you can be focused on the wrong things too. I think covid taught us that too. By focus I mean spending the time and attention. We need to focus on what really matters in life and FYI; that's not your phone. I think the world is a great example of focus but on the wrong things. 

We need to focus on those things that make our life truly better! And that involve the most important people in your life. Also, you may not agree with this, but God should be the #1 in your life. Everything that you choose to focus on should stem from your relationship with God. I know that I don't have to tell you that losing focus on what really matter can impact your life in a negative way. If we choose to focus on the negative side of a problem for example it will hinder our progress towards solving it. 

If we are always busy making money than we will probably not spend time with those in our life we say we love. Likewise, if we choose not to put God at the center of our lives we will choose to follow the world, and that is no good! I don't want to say too much here about that but I'm sure you get my point. For this article I wanted to give you some practical ways and steps you can take to live life more intentionally.

My top ways that you can live more intentionally 

I was sitting in the car on my phone lol! When I started to think about steps that anyone can take to live a more intentional life. These are things that you already know and do. In any event it is good to be reminded. Living intentionally and choosing it every day will change your life. I know it from my own personal experience. And it starts with something as simple as putting your shoes on! 

I will explain...

Do you get up early in the morning? 

Living life intentional in a lot of ways starts with getting up early. Think about how you feel when you sleep too long. The day seems short and you are not as productive as you like to be. Even if you work from home, it is important to get up early. Think about your perfect most productive day that you have had. Chances are it started with getting up fresh and early. 

GETTING UP EARLY

This next one goes along with the first one. Yes, it is important to get up fresh and early. But what is also very important to living intentionally is what you are doing after you get up. When you get up and intend to be intentional, you need to be ready for anything! How can you get in your morning workout or prepare a healthy breakfast if you are not ready for anything in the day? 

A good practice to get into first thing in the morning as soon as you get up is putting your shoes on. If you get up and slip on your slippers you might not take them off lol! It sets up your whole day for either lazy or intentional. You are ready to get shit done or you're not! If you are the kind of person who showers in the morning, then make sure to get it done and get those shoes on. 

Getting ready for the day first thing in the morning is a very power step and will set you up for success the whole day. Don't leave your bedroom without being ready for anything! I find that when I do this my whole day is more relaxed and productive. I prefer to wake up early, get dressed and shoes on. That way the first thing I do other than use the bathroom is going outside in the fresh air. Then I am ready to take my dog for a little walk and get in my prayer time before doing anything else.

GET YOUR SHOES ON

When you get up in the morning PUT YOUR SHOES ON. This way you are intending to do something other than lounge around. When you have a good pair of shoes on your feet you are ready for the day! You say to yourself "I am ready for the day" and when it is time to go out and get things done. You are ready to do it! 

Anyway, that's all I got for this right now! 

God bless you and remember to live intentionally. 

Life is going whether you live it wisely or not. 

New Year New Life!

 Greetings to however is going to read this :) 

Here is to a New Year, New Day and a New You! 

God bless you and your family! I really need and want to write more often. The truth is I often will get into a writing mood and do a lot more. It is where I need to do the work. Last year I started 15 minute a day writing challenge and got some good content in. Then I get lazy and stop doing it consistently. And sometimes I am not in the right mind set to write down anything lol! 

But I am starting it up the 15 minutes a day writing challenge and for this article I want to focus on a New Year and a New Life! About a year ago I created my new motto. This new one is a lot like my old one that I had since I was a teenager. That one is basically a daily mantra, "today I will be better than I was yesterday!" That is my motto :) 

Over the years I will admit that I failed on this motto at times. I have had some stressful times, personal freak outs, sadness, and times of extreme depression. I am not here to lie to you or sugar coat what I have been through. I have had to learn of tough lessons in my life and this was not without pain! I know you can relate. If not praise God! But let us also praise God for that pain because without it I would not know what I know now, and I would not be the persona that I am today. 

For many others as well as myself the 2020 plandemic fiasco was at times extremely stressful. I don't know about you, but it brought on some feelings of depression for me. This is not to say that other times in my life I have had the same problem. I am also very sorry for those who have lost loved ones I know how stressful that can be. 

But for me the last couple years was at times difficult for me in other ways. It was after all this that I created my new motto to help me and hopefully others to live their best life now. I decided that life is too short to spend any more time on sadness, depression, regret, self-loathing, fear and anger! And I know all of this very well I can admit. Oh, the time in my life that was wasted on all this negative attitude and emotions. 

I decided that I'm done, and I will LIVE MY BEST LIFE NOW! And a new motto was born, LIVING MY BEST LIFE RIGHT NOW! Not later, not tomorrow, not next New Year, but today, and right now! 

Best life now is not about the things we cannot change, but about the things we can change in our own everyday life. I have written a couple articles about this already and I will link them below for you. If we look back at our life, what would we want to change if we could? 

In the past I thought that was certain people in my life, but these thought only brought me more pain and sadness and did not make me a better person. I don't want to elaborate on that because that would not be productive to my message or my best life! Long after I'm gone these words may still be here for those to read as long as no one deletes my blogs. 

I learned a long time ago that regret is evil and only produces depression and sadness. In fact, the devil loves regret. When we regret our past no matter what mistakes we have made, we are saying that God doesn't have a plan for our life, that He doesn't have a purpose for our suffering. This of course if false and the devil loves it when we live by a lie. The devil is the father of lies (John 8:44) and every lie separates us from God.  

But to answer the question, when I look back honestly what I would want to change is my attitude, my thoughts and my feelings. And it just so happens that I, and you are in control of those things always! Never mind the past mistakes that have been made, we can't change that now. If you have hurt someone in the past go to them and apologize, do what you can now to make things better. But we cannot change what we have done in the past, but we can change what we do right now!

And that is where we need to spend our time, energy and efforts. I don't know about you but I waisted too much time in my life being upset about things either out of my control or upset about things that were in my control, but I did nothing to change it. Living our best life now is about empowering ourselves and knowing that our best life starts now! 

It starts with our thoughts, words, and actions! And that is something that we can control right now to give ourselves that gift. No more time wasted when we are living our best life now! 

Anyway, that is my 15 minutes plus much more spent on this. I hope that it was a blessing to you!

 Please let me know what you think. There is more to come! 

Thank you! 

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Practical ways to live your best life now!

  YES, YOU CAN LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NOW! 

       In my last two posts I talked about my new motto, BEST LIFE NOW! I talked about what it means to live your best life now! In this post I wanted to just give to you reading this and myself of practical ways we can go about that every day. Sure, a nice motivational saying is great! But how do we go about practicing it? We need practical ideas that we can do every day that allow us to live up to LIVING OUR BEST LIFE NOW! So, I thought that is what I will do in this post. 

1. Adjust your mind set! 

     I am placing mind set as number one because there are some bad habits in our thought process that we need to change. I talked about this in the last post about getting rid of the "I will start Monday" Complex. You need to think differently! You need to know that the important things in your life can't wait for Monday, you need to do it now, today! You also need to BELIEVE that you are worth changing for the better. You are worth eating healthy, you are worth making the necessary changes that will dramatically change your life for the better! No more time needs to be wasted on not being the best version of yourself. Also included in mind set is staying positive. No matter what, you can look for the good in everything. You can stay positive and remind yourself that this will pass. And it will pass whether you are positive or not, so you may as well stay positive. I don't think I have to tell you that being negative and stressed will not make the struggles any less difficult to deal with. In fact, it will make the struggles worst. 

2. Have a plan! 

No matter what it is that you have to accomplish today, and, in your life, you need a plan. A long-dated plan is not for me. But having a daily plan is a great way to make sure that you are living your best life one day at time. Don't worry about your ultimate goal. You know you will get there after you have mastered your day first. It is certainly important to have those long-term goals. But if you don't concur your day first, you will not get to the end of the month or year. You know what it is that you need to accomplish every day to be living your best life. Every night before you go to bed write out a plan for the day. This is where a journal comes in handy. Make a list of tasks from most important to least important. Start your day with your most important tasks and then move on to the others. Healthy meals like salads, veggies, dips and dressing can easily be prepped the night before or in the mornings. Will you be scheduling time for exercise, work and family? When you have a plan, you take the guess work out of it and can just move on with your day. At the end of the day, you will see how much you have accomplished to better your life and will feel accomplished. 

3. Make yourself a priority

 We need to make ourselves a priority in our own life! I have learned, so I tell people that if you don't prioritize yourself, no one will! If you don't take yourself, your life, your beliefs seriously don't expect anyone else too. You need to star in your own life and the necessary tasks that make your life, your best life. No one will do this for you, you have to do it! This is not saying to be selfish, but if you are not doing your best, you are not going to be good for anyone else! You need to prioritize your life so that you can be a good example to those you love. And be healthy so you can be there for them when you are needed. Schedule time in your day for others so that it doesn't interfere with the time you need for yourself. You only have 24 hours in the day. That's why having a plan and then prioritizing your important tasks in absolutely necessary. 

These are my big three practical ways that you can do to live your best life now! I had a couple more, but I lost my post this morning. I hope this was helpful to you in some way! When I am inspired with more insights, I will include them in a post. Yes, we already know this stuff but let it be a reminder to you and an encouragement in your life. In a lot of ways, I have learned these lessons the hard way. We are all a work in progress and it is never too late to change your life for the better, as always God bless and thank you for taking the time to read this! 

By Joanne Utke

Thank you! 

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