3359: 6 Thought-Provoking Questions to Discover A More Intentional Life (In Any Area) by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist

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[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily, 6 Thought-Provoking Questions to Discover A More Intentional Life In Any Area by Joshua Becker of becomingminimalist.com.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Justin Malik, and I'm going to jump right into today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_00]: 6 Thought-Provoking Questions to Discover A More Intentional Life In Any Area by Joshua Becker of becomingminimalist.com.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Minimalism is essentially about intentionality.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the intentional promotion of the things we most value by removing anything that distracts us from it.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: In most cases, when referring to minimalism, people think about physical possessions.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And it is true that minimalists own fewer possessions, but that's not the entire story.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Intentionality leads to intentionality.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So, becoming more intentional in one area of life, like possessions, typically spills over into other areas of life as well.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Schedule or relationships, for example.

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: When my wife and I and two young children began minimizing our possessions,

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: we began to notice how unintentional we had been living.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: We had closets and shelves and drawers full of things that we didn't need and didn't use.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: We owned more than needed.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_00]: When we began to consider how much money and time and energy had gone into purchasing, managing, and maintaining all those possessions,

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: we began to notice the foolishness of unintentional living.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Our lives were being wasted, to a great degree, pursuing and accumulating physical items.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew from that moment forward, we would be more thoughtful in the items we purchased, kept, and pursued.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: We both knew there are more important things to pursue in life than material possessions,

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and we had wasted too much on them.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_00]: This approach quickly spread to other areas of life.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Were there non-material things we had also collected that were distracting from our greatest pursuits?

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: What about our time commitments, our habits, our work pursuits, our finances, our parenting, even our relationships?

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Had we become unintentional in those areas of life as well, allowing things to creep in that didn't belong there?

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't take long to notice.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: We had.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: In this way, intentionality in one area of life, physical possessions, brought greater intentionality in other areas as well.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: So how do we become more intentional in all areas of life?

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: We begin by asking questions.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Not necessarily easy questions, but important ones.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Finding intentionality is not always easy.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It takes work and thoughtfulness and deep self-awareness.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But these six questions will foster those characteristics in your life.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You likely won't be able to answer them all right now as you hear them.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: But answering them quickly wasn't the goal when I created the list.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Write them down.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Or come back to this article.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Work through each one in order, seeking the richest answers for each.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: The time spent pursuing intentional living is never wasted, no matter how long it takes.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Six, thought-provoking questions to discover a more intentional life in any area.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Number one, what do I want to accomplish with my life?

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: An intention means an idea that you plan or intend to carry out.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: By definition, living an intentional life in any area requires an answer to this question.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: What is the aim of my life?

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: What do I want to accomplish with it?

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't quit on this question thinking you need every detail of it answered.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But a general direction is important.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: What three to four good things do you most desire to accomplish in this world?

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: It may be related to your faith, your family, your work, your passion, or any combination of them.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Do your best.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll need some answer here to continue.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Number two, what do I need in order to accomplish that goal?

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you want to accomplish in life, however you define it, will require resources.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It will require your time, your energy, your focus, and your money.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It will almost certainly also require some physical possessions, a healthy body, and enriching relationships.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: It might also require a certain level of training or education or personal attributes.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Your needed items will change or evolve over the years, but as you seek to answer this question at this point in time,

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: ask yourself, right now, to take my next step forward, what do I need?

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Number three, what is getting in the way of those goals?

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: What is accumulated in your life that is keeping you from reaching your goals?

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The items on this list may be actively preventing you from reaching your goal or just passively distracting you from it.

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, an unhealthy addiction may be an example of something in your life actively preventing you from being your best self.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: But watching too much television may be just an example of a distraction.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Either way, actively or passively, if it's keeping you from your goal, it is wise to recognize and identify.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Number four, what caused me to allow things into my life that don't contribute to that goal?

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: This question will require deep self-reflection on many levels, but don't avoid it.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: In order to identify how these distractions will be removed,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: it's important to recognize how they came to be.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Some habits, behaviors, possessions, or commitments appeared in your life just because you weren't paying attention.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: They started to accumulate, became normal, and weren't even recognized as distractions until we considered the previous question.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But others accumulated because of fear or avoidance or unhealthy motivations.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Unhealthy motivations that take us away from significance and meaning, or however you answered the first question.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: If we're going to find victory in the long run living an intentional life,

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: we need to begin identifying the reasons we pursue distractions from it.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Number five, what steps do I need to take in order to remove them?

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: After identifying your goals in life, the distractions that keep you from those goals,

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: and the reasons for them, you can begin making a plan to remove those distractions.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Granted, entire articles or blogs or books could be written about specifically removing distractions.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And depending on which distractions you need to be in removing,

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: the resources you turn to may vary from person to person.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Depending on what you identified in question three,

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: a simple Google search may be a great place to start.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: How do I stop watching so much television?

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: How do I remove unneeded time commitments?

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_00]: How do I break the habit of blank?

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, I don't think any of these questions are necessarily easy to answer.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you can see by now how difficult some of this work is.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: But answering this question is always worth the effort.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And number six, how often do I need to re-evaluate my life direction?

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Unintentionality has a crafty way of sneaking up on us.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: We can claim intentionality in our calendar today,

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: only to have it slowly fill back up again.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: We gain victory over unhealthy habits for a period of time,

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: only to see new unhealthy habits begin to emerge down the road.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So a final question to ask needs to be focused on how often you will return to this list.

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Consider it your intentionality checkup.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll find these questions get easier and easier the more often you ask them.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Answering them the first time is always the hardest.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And while it is true that our goals and needs and distractions

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: may change from season to season in our lives,

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: once we begin in a direction toward intentionality,

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: it's easier to steer back in that direction down the road when needed.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: These six questions about intentionality in any area of life

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: can be applied in countless phases and stages of our lives.

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: As well, they should.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Six Thought-Provoking Questions to Discover a More Intentional Life in Any Area,

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: by Joshua Becker of becomingminimalist.com.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Joshua.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_00]: There were a bunch of great questions in here that we can ask ourselves.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be putting some of these in my weekly newsletters.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I always have a question that you can ask yourself in there.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, if you're not on that free weekly newsletter,

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_00]: it's easy to join.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You can enter your email address at the bottom of oldpodcast.com.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I also put some of my favorite quotes from this show in there,

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00]: along with what I've been up to.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But back to the article.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the main question from this one, since he said we need to ask these in order,

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: is, what do I want to accomplish with my life?

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's definitely not an easy one to answer.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Plus, it's likely changing pretty frequently, and more so the younger you are.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Which is okay, and gets to my point, I think,

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: that this doesn't have to be perfect.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Just having some idea can help.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It can push us into moving, and then if we have to adjust, that's fine.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: We can do that, learn from the experience, and move on.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Better that than not be moving at all.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_00]: So while it's great to really deeply consider these,

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: try not to get stuck in perfectionism either.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, thank you for being here,

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and thinking about these things along with me means a lot.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Couldn't do this without you.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you over the weekend,

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_00]: where your optimal life awaits.