My Intentional Plan 2019

Intentional is a word that is used a lot among Christians. It took me a while to figure out what it meant. The dictionary definition of intentional is something that is done on purpose or is deliberate. Some synonyms of the word are: conscious, intended, planned, purposeful and voluntary. I took some time to think about what that meant in terms of faith and came to this conclusion: Intentionality in faith is to voluntarily live each day consciously thinking about your faith in all you do, purposefully keeping it in every plan you make and every action you commit.

As I walk into 2019 how am I going to use that definition in my everyday life? Well, I have made a plan. While making this plan I have considered three things: 1. Putting faith first. 2. Keeping myself as calm and happy as I can be. Lastly number 3. Not kicking myself when I mess up (as all humans inevitably do.) So with that said here's a look at my eight-point intentional plan for 2019...

Make a plan but allow for flow and change

Make a general plan for the day that could be as simple as blocking out an hour as 'waking up' time, a couple of hours as 'Bible/faith time;' after that some time for 'blog work' then a block for 'bedtime' with meal and snacks taken as needed. While it isn't a minute by minute plan of the day it has some structure, giving a general intentional plan to the day. This form of planning also allows for the unexpected changes that are completely inevitable in the modern world from something small such as an unexpected phone call to something larger like illness, injury or accident.

Set up quiet time and ensure you get it

Add quiet time to the daily plan and ensure it's done. As I said before sometimes there are unexpected changes to the plan but add this down as a 'must get done' item. Even if this means putting it down on the plan two or three times to make sure you are available for at least one of those times. It's a time of day that is just for you and God, some days it may be shorter than others but that's okay you just make sure that you get that daily quality time with the Lord.

Set up 'me' time and ensure you get it

Me time, like quiet time, is something that you need every day. This can be as simple as having five minutes at lunch with your favourite drink (hot chocolate anyone?) It's just something to give you some space, for your mind to relax. If you're like me and you struggle with social anxiety then my time is a great time to take a breath and calm down from the stress of social interactions.

Do one productive thing each day

I obviously don't mean limit it to one productive thing but it's a place to start. By productive, I don't mean it always has to be something that is socially or academically productive. I don't even mean to work on this blog or read my Bible. Being productive can be something as simple as brushed your hair or got dressed, it could be to go shopping or to finish a book. I think it is important not to decide that some actions have more worth in levels of productivity, by doing that you just keep raising the bar on what is productive and end up burning yourself out.

Have at least one 'self-care' moment each day

Humans are by their very nature incredibly fragile, we need to take care of the bodies that God gave us. Also by self-care, I don't mean bath bombs and face masks (although that could be a self-care moment.) It can be taking some time out if you are getting stressed, making sure you have eaten enough or had enough to drink. The Lord gave us all wonderful unique bodies and we need to figure out the best way to care for ours. While the internet is a great place for ideas I wouldn't suggest following someone else's self-care plan to the letter as it may not be what is best for your body. We need to make sure that we are taking care of our wonderful bodies, a few small self-care actions each day is a great place to start.

Think before you do and ensure all you do is well thought out

These days things are done so fast, what with the rise of technology and that in itself is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing for many reasons, as an example we can save more lives now because life-saving actions can be done with fewer steps thanks to newer technologies. With that being said it also has its downsides, such as we make decisions and carry them out very quickly many times without thinking them through. That can lead to us making bad choices, choices that could have been avoided had we taken a little time. In order to do that I like to give myself a minimum two-minute timer on decision making. So before making the decision, I take two minutes out; in that time I can think, look up facts or find some relevant Bible verses to help me make the choice. If I need more time I take it but this system just gives me a little more time to know that I am making the right decision. (I am obviously not talking about small decisions like 'should I have carrot or cucumber with lunch' or emergency decisions)

Take twenty minutes at the end of each day to 'breathe away the day'

What I mean by that is give yourself time with no phone, no TV and only calming music (Weightless by Marconi Union is my go-to song during my twenty minutes. It was created to slow your heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower stress levels.) Take time to breathe, let your body completely relax. As I previously stated the human body is fragile, as is the human mind we need to take care of it. We can do that by allowing ourselves time to recover, your body does so much throughout the day it's only right to give it a little down time before bed. Towards the end of my twenty minutes, I love to take time to pray, to give thanks for everything I had been given during the day. I find that even if I had a really bad day the combination of taking 20 minutes out and giving thanks for any good thing, such as thanking Him for the air to breath, can really make me feel so much better and gives me the strength I need for the next day.

Once the day is over - give it to God and forget about it.

Once a day is done, it's done. You can't relive it, can't go back and you can't change it; so the only logical thing to do is learn from your experiences and give it to God. There are many ways that you can learn and grow from a day without letting it haunt you. You can make a list of lessons to learn, a list of things you did well and then pray about it; (personally I make my lists before my 20 minutes breathing time, I feel that making them after may stress me and undo all the work that the breathing did to make me feel better.) The best thing you can do whether your day was good or bad is to ask God for his help with learning and letting go; He has the perfect plan for your life and He wants you to have it, all you have to do is ask.

On the day of uploading this (Jan 3rd 2019) I have already been doing these 8 things for the last few days; while I know that is a very short time to judge if something is working I can honestly say I have felt awesome and can't wait to continue with these steps as the year progresses. I know that this plan could probably do with some more work but it's the one the I have for now. I may have an update post later in the year telling you if I have added or changed anything and how I'm getting on with it.

Do you have any more ideas? Think any of mine could do with changing? Will you be joining me with your own intentional plan? Let me know, I always welcome new thoughts and ideas and love hearing from you all.