Life that has no purpose has no direction. It is a life that floats but does not go to a “particular somewhere”. Those who live a life with no purpose, go through the motions. They bounce like a ball, pushed from time to time by people with an agenda. They do not live per se. Instead, they survive. Survival is their only goal. They stop at the small and dare not to be something more than a regular Joe. They roll.

And then there is life that has meaning. Such life is designed. It has an architectural quality attached to it and a certain vibrancy that is almost infectious. Meaning changes everything about life. It makes it to be rather important, it makes it matter. Those who live a life with purpose know that they matter too. They count, because they participate. They bring something to the life’s plate and in return for their effort, for that little piece of their genius and potential, they get invitations to parties and events organized by life itself. They live a vibrant and interesting life and they know where they are heading. They sit behind a wheel and enjoy their journey.

So, how do we find meaning? Can we search for it, stumble upon it, pick it up from the ground? I doubt. Meaning is a quality that does not exist somewhere out there, waiting impatiently to be discovered. Instead, meaning requires a conscious effort of creation. It has to be made and tapped into. It cannot be forced. Instead, it has to be channeled and requires connection, alignment and self-awareness. Meaning is a lot of work, but one that pays off. And it begins with intention.

Intention is a big deal. It is a focused idea, an energetic message, that initiates everything. Intention is a starting point of all doing, and if followed by discipline, it eventually takes you to a place where the very “how” resides. In other words, the “how” shows up to those who live with intention. And when it does, when it reveals itself, life takes shape. It suddenly moves from a thought into an action and from an action into solid results. It gets designed, built, created, only because there was this initial idea, this concept with a direction, that put life into motion. Except, this motion comes from a real focus and knows exactly its destination.

Being intentional in life is where all the difference is. Any intention counts, although some intentions lead to big creations meanwhile others simply help us stay on track. Intention is like a map to life. It comes with knowing what good, happy life looks like. It is also very individual as we all hold our own measuring sticks. No one else knows what works for us in life. And that simply means that in order to become an intentional person, we have to do some serious self-evaluation. We need to look closely at ourselves and decide what kind of life we desire and on what terms. We need to be clear about what is a waste of our energy and time. We need to identify our habits and practices and eliminate those that do us little good. We also have to stop beating our identities up, being angry and cruel with ourselves. Because if we happen to be mad with ourselves it does not mean we are bad. We simply have wrong practices and habits in place that we can decide to change or replace. So, we need to learn to observe because observation and self-awareness are our ways of learning how to improve our lives. From there we can build, design, create. Intentionally. With full awareness and ownership of all that we want and do.

I hope that by now you recognize that it is somehow critical that we quit the idea of being survivors.  Those who want to survive tend to do a bare minimum. This is not what we want. Our intention should be directed at something higher and better than just going through the motions. For our life to have meaning, we have to get out from the survival mode that has been the reason of all human tragedy, I daresay. There is absolutely no reason why we should not intend to go big, think big, dream big. There is no reason why we should not be extraordinary.

Being extraordinary is a choice. Like everything in life. For some reason however, majority of humans is used to choosing small. Yet, a choice is a choice. So, why not choose big? Why not choose splendid and great? Why not choose full potential and power? Again, it is all about the choice, the choice that is supported by intention.

Now, here is a little tip. Both the choice and intention are mental processes. Nothing else. They happen in our mind, which is a form of headquarters where all the decisions are made. It is also our dream factory. A big mental warehouse with an ongoing production. A giant enterprise, a powerhouse that works 24/7 designing whatever it is we focus on. It is tireless, it never stops. No breaks, no vacation, no holds. It works like a mad man so our vision can get delivered. If the vision is small, it does not really matter. The mind will excel at “smallness”. It will deliver the smallest life we can imagine. It will turn us into living dwarfs. Because this is how our mind works. As our servant it takes our intentions very seriously and asks no questions. So, why not give it a task that would inspire it to aim at greatness? That would make it focus on extraordinary for once?

I said intention and choice are mental processes. You can probably agree with me on that. And if you do, then perhaps you would be interested in a little challenge. Every morning after waking up, I would like you to take 5 minutes to focus on what it is that you would like your day to be. What kind of day would you like to have? Would you like to be productive and focused, or perhaps more relaxed and calm? Do you want more joy, more movement of your body, more connection? You choose. You decide. And then think about it for those 5 minutes. Focus. Set intention and focus on it. When you are done, write it down somewhere so you can remember it during the day. And when you do, try to act on it. Try a little action. It can be shy at first or bold if you feel like it. Just make sure that you really follow your intention. That’s it. That’s how you make choices and how you act intentionally. Play with it. Have fun with it. Until it becomes your routine, your second nature, and eventually takes you to a level of extraordinary. You owe that to yourself.