A little over six years ago, I found myself staring into the eyes of a beautiful baby boy. He was the third of three cherished boys who each entered my life, giving me a newfound sense of purpose. My youngest son came after three years of secondary infertility and heartbreaking miscarriages. Staring into his beautifully dimpled face almost instantly transformed my spirit. I had ached for another baby for so long. At last, my heart was full, and my family was complete.

I think this is probably the very first time I really embraced the idea of living an intentional life. I felt this overwhelming desire to become the best version of myself and to live each day with that goal taking up space in the forefront. It all started with a feeling of completion and a grateful heart. I knew I didn’t want to take all that I felt or had for granted, so I dove in and started working towards living a more intentional life, placing my family at the central hub of my journey.

What Is Intentional Living?

Intentional living is the act of first, identifying your WHY and secondly, designing a life that you love based solely on that WHY. It is the decision to live your life with purpose, no regret and focusing on your central hub – your WHY, and sort of blocking out the rest. It means to live beyond the distraction of things that, in the grand scheme of things, really don’t matter.

Each of us has seven main life categories in which to focus on when choosing to live intentionally. While we may focus more heavily on one category than the other, all of our life categories are important in order to find true balance and happiness.

Main Life Categories

• • Relationships
  • Personal Growth
  • Health/Wellness
  • Environment
  • Personal Finance
  • Work/Career
  • Leisure

My WHY…

In the beginning, I chose to focus on my core relationships and my role as mom to my three boys. It had been a fight to get there, and because of that, I lived in this realm of awestruck gratefulness for a really long time. Having been told over eight years prior that our journey, without the intervention of IVF, would be one of constant struggle and heartache, I was in complete awe that I had my arms wrapped around my three little miracles. The gratefulness that forms from such a journey is one that is profound, to say the least.

As the years continued, I found that to live a truly intentional life; I had to focus on other things outside of just my family. My WHY had to involve more than just loving my babies. I started a wellness journey where I focused on my mind, body, and spirit. I knew that in order to be my best self and to live my best life, I had to feel good from the inside out.

During that time, I also became a sponge of information. I took online courses and learned things like shooting manual photography, graphic design, how to start an Etsy shop, a blog and so much more. I started spending more and more time focusing on the things that filled me up and made me happy, and thus my true intentional living journey began.

By this point, my WHY revolved around my family, my personal growth, my health, my home, and my hobbies. As each little thing trickled in, my level of contentment grew. That journey was life-changing, and I was left forever changed.

Do you wonder what intentional living could do for you and your life? How it could impact your level of contentment and happiness as a whole? Following are some questions you can ask yourself to help you discover your why and start your intentional living journey as well.

Questions To Help Get You Started On Your Journey Of Living An Intentional Life

1. What are the top 3 or 4 priorities in your life – your central hub?
2. Does your current lifestyle support your central hub?
3. What things are holding you back or interfering with you living a more intentional life?
4. What changes could you make that would allow you to live more intentionally today?
5. How could you implement change while working towards your goals of living more intentionally?

Grab a sheet of paper and write down answers to these questions. Writing things down can help push you towards not only, making your goals but implementing them as well.

While this is just an overview of what led me down the path of living an intentional life, I will write a more in-depth post later about how you can live a more intentional life as well. And in turn, find contentment and happiness in your own life that you may never have thought possible.

Do you already live an intentional life and if so, how do you think you could improve in your journey?

Holly Paul

Holly is a 42 year old wife and mom to 3 boys, from Nashville, Tennessee. She is a hot tea lover, book reader, journal keeper, Pinterest pinner, podcast listener, y’all sayer, self-taught graphic designer, hobbyist photographer, writer and dreamer of all things big and small. You can find all of her ramblings here at Blu Nest Bloom.