Ingredients for Success: The Art of Intentional Living
You’re hungry. It’s been a long day. You head into your kitchen, close your eyes, and reach into the fridge and grab 3 random ingredients, sight unseen. You do the same from the pantry. You throw each of the ingredients into a large pot, simmer for 20 minutes, and then ladle the results into a giant bowl. That’s dinner.
Ok, that probably shouldn’t be dinner. Using this strategy, you might end up using an expensive cut of steak instead of stew meat, orange juice instead of chicken stock, or oatmeal instead of orzo. It might turn out edible, but there’s a good chance it won’t be delicious.
And yet, so often, our life builds on a bunch of unrelated, unintentional choices based on what’s convenient, comfortable or captivated. But not the ingredients we would choose for a delicious meal. Or an amazing life.
Simon Sinek, famous for his book Start with Why, asserts “Most of us live our lives by accident—we live it as it happens. Fulfillment comes when we live our lives on purpose.”
So how do we change this?
In a previous post, I shared an overview of the Iteration Next framework, which includes being crystal clear on the outcomes you’re looking to achieve, understanding who you’re serving and why (including yourself), breaking big problems down into a manageable roadmap and backlog, and running and learning from experiments as you iterate.
At its foundation, the Iteration Next framework relies on understanding the outcomes you’re looking to drive - your north star for your decisions and motivation for when times get tough. When you’re grabbing the ingredients and equipment for the meal, you’ll have a much better result if you know you’ll be making a casserole vs a stew, or looking to make that expensive cut of meat shine vs make a colorful salad. You don’t need to know all the details to get started (once you taste the dish, you may decide it needs more acid or more sweetness), but knowing where you’re headed helps make stronger, better, decisions, which leads to much higher odds that you’ll have a delicious meal.
So how do you know if you’re living a life driven by outcomes?
You probably already know, in your gut, if you’re flying by the seat of your pants or living with intention, though for most of us it’s somewhere in between. To live with more intention, a few things you can consider:
Imagine your future self
Imagine yourself at some point in the future - perhaps 5 or 10 years down the road. You’re living your best life - fully realizing your life’s work. Who are you? What are you doing with your time, with your work, with your life?
Now consider how far off that future feels to you now. Is it a natural progression based on what you’re doing now, the choices you’re making, the habits you’ve built, the people you surround yourself with?
Consider your values
Think about the things that are most important to you - the values you hold dear. Perhaps it’s living an active lifestyle, spending time with family, living a life of integrity, or creativity.
Now consider a scale of 1-10…how well are you living into your values right now? Where are you staying true to those values? Where are you compromising?
Ask the Five Whys
Consider a recent decision you made…why did you make it? Just like a young child, continue to ask “why?” until you get to the deepest reason for why you made the decision.
Be honest with yourself - usually the reason we make a decision for real isn’t the reason we tell ourselves or others on the surface. It’s because of something much deeper. Perhaps it’s to avoid something we’re afraid of, to gain the approval of someone important to us, or because we think it will bring some kind of gain we value.
Now consider how you feel as you answer those questions.
Do you feel light and strong? Like you’re well aligned with how you’re showing up in your life today?
Or do you feel weighed down, conflicted, or overwhelmed?
Living a life aligned with the outcomes we want to realize is an iterative process - starting with awareness for our current alignment.
What outcomes do you want from your life?
Want to explore this further? Book your free strategy session and let’s dig in.
How will you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
July 25, 2024
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About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
Book your free strategy session.
