Ready to make your life what you always dreamed it could be? We don’t get there by accident. We get there by living an intentional life. In fact, the more effort that we put in the more likely we are to see amazing results in any aspect of our life. If you are ready to get started, or want to get back on track, here are some tips for living a more intentional life.

Morning Practice: The cornerstone of the intentional life. A morning practice is a way forcing a good start for your day. Virtually anything can be a morning practice. It can be a meditation, reading your priorities, saying an affirmation, or anything that fits with your personal lifestyle. By putting first things first, your morning practice shows you, and life itself, what is truly most important to you.

Develop your Vision: To create the life that you want, it is important to know what it is that you want. If you do not spend time getting clear about the direction and vision you want for your life, you won’t know if you’ve ever gotten there (and you’ll be hard pressed to make much progress at all). It is important to consciously reflect on your life and take stock of your desires for the future during regular intervals in your life, like one time per year.

Priorities: In addition to envisioning the way that you would like your life to be, it is important to be clear about your priorities for any given amount of time. We have daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly, priorities. When we identify priorities in our life, everyday decisions become simpler and they reinforce our vision. When out priorities win out,we are certain to get what it is that we want from our life.

Create time: Literally. Living a more intentional life doesn’t mean living a busier life. It is important to block out times for “nothing,” so that your life does not become overly full. When life is too full we get stuck in the business of it all and can loose our hold on being more intentional. By making sure that there is space in our life to recharge and regroup, we avoid going off the rails and we can stay on track.

Pause: Before you take your sip of coffee, make a phone call, or do any other activity in your day, pause. Bring your attention to what you are doing and how you want to do it. Applying focus to every experience will help you in living a more intentional life. Even just the act of pausing and taking a nice deep breath will change your experience.

Declutter: Too often we are doing too much, getting lost in a sea of activities and responsibilities. Notice if you are spending too much time being social or taking care of others and begin to shift how many things you are saying yes to. Living a more intentional life is about making sure that the things your are saying yes to are in line with your priorities and your overall vision for what you want to create. Just as your time needs to have some empty space, so does your environment. Make sure that the things you are tending to are in service of what you truly want.

Gratitude: When we express our gratitude, it makes us aware of what we already have. Not only do we feel happier when this is the case but we also set a more positive tone that encourages us to stay on track with our intentional living even more.

Take care of yourself: You are at the center of your intentional life. It is virtually impossible to function in an intentional way without excellent self care. Taking care of yourself first will allow you to steer your life in the direction of your choosing.

Awareness: Whether it is meditation or the latest self help book, having a regular tool that helps you become more aware is helpful in creating a more intentional life. The more aware we are, the easier it is to both know what we want and identify obstacles to that goal. Work to see more of who you are so that you can better see your path.

Perhaps most important is this final question: Why do you want to have an intentional life in the first place? What will it provide you with? When you know why you want to be intentional then you will have the motivation that you need to put the building blocks in place to make it happen. Click here to learn how LifeWork Community can help you define your intentional life.