Have you ever felt that life is just happening to you? Or that your day somehow is just a constant reaction to whatever seems to be happening? Have you ever looked back over your day or week and feel that your life is characterized more by reactivity than proactivity? All these different questions have a common theme - that is the idea of intentionality.
In previous posts, we have been examining what it means to live a life of excellence. We have focused our conversation around three ideas, purpose, intention, and virtue. We examined the concept of purpose and described it as the thing that gives meaning to our existence and our activities. Today, we turn our attention to the idea of intentionality.
The dictionary defines intentionality as "The fact of being deliberate or purposive." Or stated differently, "The quality of mental states (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, desires, hopes) that consists in their being directed toward some object or state of affairs."
This leg of excellence flows seamlessly out of purpose. If purpose is the grand vision, the destination for a journey or the overarching “why” we do things. Intention, then, becomes very practical. It is the “what” that we are going to accomplish in service of our why. As we begin to engage with this idea of purpose, and understand our ultimate purposes, we begin to see that without specific action toward specific goals, our purposes will never be actualized. It is when intentionality meets purpose that we can begin to see growth in excellence.
The critic may say, yes, but not all things are foreseeable. Not all things are able to be planned, and therefore cannot be pursued with intentionality. Furthermore, there is a lot of life that happens in spontaneity. And some of the best things in life happen as a result of being flexible in the face of spontaneity. Too many plans limit freedom of action.
One person that I have found to be particularly helpful in my personal growth is Jocko Willink. He has popularized the phrase "Discipline equals freedom." These are three simple words that pack a powerful punch. So much so, that I repeat them to my boys, hang them in my gym and decal them on the back of my truck. These three words describe an ethos of intentionality.
Yet, as we repeat the words, "Discipline equal freedom," we realize that it is a rather paradoxical concept. On the one hand, discipline equals constraint. I, with intentionality, pursue some thing despite the hardships that I might experience in that pursuit. And more, I forsake other things that are not consistent with my pursuit. It is the idea that is being expressed in Hebrews 12:1, "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." That is discipline.
And so, it would be easy to say that the exercise of discipline is a limiting prospect. If I pursue one thing, I then cannot pursue something else. If I limit my food consumption at meals, I can’t have that second helping. If I discipline myself to get up early to work out, I cannot have that extra hour of sleep.
But the paradox is unraveled when we begin to take a broader perspective and realize that through discipline, and the effects that discipline brings, we begin to experience more freedom to pursue the things that are actually meaningful and valuable to us. Discipline opens the gateway for us to purposely pursue things of meaning and value.
Because I have the discipline to get up early and work out, I have the strength and fitness to be able to live life more fully. I can climb a mountain and be able to experience the beauty of a sunrise. I can run, jump, lift and play with my kids. Because I discipline myself with my finances, I have the resources to give my family some degree of financial stability and live charitably.
So, if discipline equals freedom, what about the opposite? Living lazily, without the will or desire to pursue bigger things will ultimately produce small outcomes. Laziness brings loss... lost opportunities, lost abilities, and lost resources. It is hard to spontaneously pursue enjoyable things if I do not have the energy or finances to be able to do so. And ultimately laziness will result in an atrophied sense of purpose and meaning.
So, we have a choice to live lazily or to discipline ourselves to live with purpose and intentionality understanding that we live constrained by time and resources. We need to shift our focus from what discipline causes us to give up and begin to see the bigger picture of what discipline can provide. It is only when we zoom our perspective out that we can appreciate the broader landscape. In the world, limited by time and resources, we cannot pursue everything. The psalmist in Psalm 90 asks, "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." With a careful understanding of our purpose, and the discipline of intentionality, we can live fully, meaningfully, and excellently.
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