Intentionality

Live with Intentions. Did I intend to be in the middle of this river? (Yes!) 

In my writings, I tend to stress many organizational related subjects, such as goal setting, mindfulness and planning. There is a common umbrella topic that all these things have: Intentonality.  I think intentional behavior is perhaps the one thing you should reflect on the most if  your struggling with difficult feelings This has its roots in the nature of habit forming. Habit forming develops in a separate area of the brain than our other cognitive functions, so when I’m sure my autonomous behaviors are driving me to feeling like Nietzschian trope, I immediately reflect on my current state and unpack my mindfulness.

Everything that makes up your ability think and act, the so called “executive thinking” , sits at the front of your skull while the habit forming behaviors behaviors are stored in your so-called lizard brain(its actually the Stratium which sits above it). These brain functions work hand-in-hand, meaning that your executive reasoning takes into account your primal thoughts (pain, pleasure, habits and routines) before making decisions. If you don't exercise critical thought, you might be prone to being in auto pilot. Ever drive out of your house to all of the sudden arrive at your destination without any memory of the trip there? Routines are like that. The reason routines are so pragmatic in sports is because it stops that few milliseconds of executive functioning that might slow down performance. That so called muscle memory is really your lizard brain taking the wheel.

So we can acknowledge that this autonomous behavior can have good and bad outcomes. It's great if you are an athlete training for an event. It's bad if you are trying to break a harmful habit or negative emotions. I've found the best tactic to be that of intentionality. With intentionality, you wrestle your brain's executive control back into the drivers seat. You can't allow habit and cravings to steer the ship. Intentionality has to happen the second you wake up.

When your eyes blink open from the pillow, you should start with something intentional. I start with a positive affirmation that has nothing to do with the addiction.

"I'm going to paint the house and it's gonna rock"

or if you have something going on at work

"I'm going to finish the project this week"

The affirmation is the start of the intentional thinking. It doesn't end at the beginning.

For me, my morning starts with coffee, talking to my daughter before she goes to school, and then planning my day. I sit with two day planners, one day planner has a to-do list where I brainstorm all the things that need to get done. Yoga, meditation, 10-12 work items, paying bills and so on. With the second day planner, I write down the times I will accomplish these tasks.

It seems pretty straight forward, right? I’m always monitoring my actions. I'm not allowing idle time. I'm not allowing the lizard brain to take the wheel. I set boundaries on myself and won’t put triggers in my path to be tripped. This isn’t avoidance, rather it’s making sure my goals are in line with the actions I’m performing. If my goal is getting the grocery shopping done, I shouldn’t be watching Hell’s Kitchen on the living room couch.

If I don't have a good reason for doing something, I won’t do it. And I always vet my reasoning before taking action. Sometimes my habits can sucker me in to poor decision making, especially with all the marketing tossed into our lives. . My advice is to start your days with intentionlality and find ways of keeping intentional behaviors throughout our day. Mantras are a good start, and task management and boundary setting are also good intentional behaviors to help stay on track.