Setting Intent

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There’s a saying from Marcus Aurelius, “Joy for humans lies in human actions. Human actions: kindness to others, contempt for the senses, the interrogation of appearances, observations of nature and events in nature.”

I think it serves as a compass when pursuing your goals and setting the intent of your pursuit. When we set goals, we tend to focus on the end product: that moment when we achieve the goal, whether it be a week, a year, or a decade from now. Over time, you learn that it’s not really the goal itself that brings joy but the pursuit of it. To lose sight of that is to lose life in the days that pass between setting the goal and achieving it.

That’s where intent comes in. Make it your daily intention to pursue your goals and take joy in them. For example, if your goal is to back squat twice your body weight, make today’s intent to do your back squats with perfect form and deliberate action, regardless of the weight on the bar. This has the effect of funneling the joy awaiting you at the end of your goal to today. Even though your goal isn’t complete, you still get to partake in the feeling of completing it by taking deliberate action toward its completion.

This works for non-goal-related items as well. Throughout life, we all must do things we don’t like but are necessary. A recurring example for me is paying my quarterly taxes.

It’s amazing to see the number of bullshit, useless, trivial, non-productive tasks I can devise to avoid doing this. The task takes about 20 minutes, but I can spend weeks avoiding it. How can I set the intention of this task in a way that aligns with my goals?

First, I have to consider why I avoid it. The root cause is I’m horrible at accounting. I’m horrible at accounting because accounting, in a nutshell, is a disciplined process of categorizing money coming in and money going out.

I suck at this.

So, when my taxes are due- there has been a lot of money going in and out but not categorized, so now I have to look at each transaction and figure out where it came from or went.

The solution is straightforward: every time I make a transaction, I open the app on my phone and enter it. Do I do that?

Nope Nope

So every quarter, I relish in self-degradation over my lack of discipline.

Discipline.

Wait… that happens to be one of my core principles. It’s something that I believe is a fundamental skill that I must possess and be proficient at. In some areas, I’m very disciplined. In others (like tracking my expenses), not so much.

So now, when I sit down to do my quarterly taxes, I specify the intent of this action is to work on a core principle: discipline. With this philosophy, I turn a dreaded task into an opportunity to improve a skill I value and consider essential.

TL;DR:

For every task you do in a given day, ask yourself how this task moves you closer to your goals of a well-rounded life. This applies to tasks you want to do and those you don’t want to do.

Today’s Tasks

Don’t forget to complete today’s tasks for the challenge.

  • Drink 1 gallon of water
  • Workout for 45 minutes
  • Read ten pages from your book
  • Stick to your meal plan
  • Meditate for 10 minutes

Once completed, head to the tracking site and mark them as completed to track your progress for the challenge. Tomorrow we cover one of my favorite topics: getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.