Intentional Living
Living a Life that Matters
Most people are very busy, and successful people even more so. But being busy isn’t the same as being productive — and being productive isn’t the same as being intentional about what you do. Quite often, people drift through their days at the mercy of their schedules and chaos. Getting people to take responsibility for their days will require a shift in how they see the world.
The goals for participants in this course:
• Understand the difference between good intentions and intentional living.
• Discover their unique purpose.
• Embrace the mindset of valuing and adding value to people.
• Develop partnerships with others to make a difference.
• Make a habit of anticipating and seizing opportunities for intentional acts of kindness.
• Choose a life that matters.
Introduction:
What will it take for you to be successful? Maybe that’s a question you have asked yourself before. Most people do. If you were asked that question right now, how would you answer? Opportunities? Education? Money? Relationships with influential people? Recognition? Talent? If you asked John C. Maxwell for his answer, you might be surprised. He says, “Intentional living is the key to everything you want to accomplish in life. It’s more important than where you were born, how much talent you have, or what kinds of connections you have. Intentional living empowers people to make the uphill climb to success—and to significance.”
Most people want to be successful. Most people also want to make a difference. They want their lives to count. And they have good intentions about these things. But good intentions aren’t enough to achieve success or experience significance. That requires intentional living. John explains that intentional living is characterized by three words:
Deliberate: Being intentional never occurs by accident. It requires people to think about their lives, consider where they want to go, and plan what they intend to do.
Consistent: Being intentional requires a person to follow through every day, week after week, year after year. Intentional living is a journey, not a destination.
Willful: Being intentional is a choice we must make and continue making as we face obstacles and challenges. Making a difference takes ongoing effort.
These three words are essential for you to travel the uphill journey of significance.
Here are the lessons in this course:
1. Your Life Can Be a Great Story
Most people don’t see life as a story they can write; in fact, most don’t even see life as a story that they live! Instead, many people wake up and just passively accept whatever the day throws at them. They drift within their own story.
Now, some people are organized and systematic, and there’s not a minute in their day that’s not accounted for. But having command over every minute doesn’t count for much if the way those minutes are spent is determined by someone else’s agenda.
The point with this lesson is to wake people up to their own story, and to the power they have within every day to live a better life by being intentional with what they choose. When we choose to look at life as a story, we begin making choices to write our lives instead of accepting them. We cease to be a character in someone else’s story and become the hero of our own.
Learning Objectives:
· Discuss the 4 steps to start writing your Significance Story.
· Discover the 4 benefits of taking action to live intentionally.
· Inspire participants to want a better story for their lives.
· Prompt participants to begin outlining the better story they want.
2. Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough
Most people desire to do good and help others, and they give themselves credit for having good thoughts. Most of us judge ourselves according to our intentions. But, there is a gap that people face between having good intentions and actually making a difference with their lives. How can people bridge that gap? By committing to intentional living.
People who embrace intentional living move from a life of observation and wishing into a life of action and doing. This can be uncomfortable for some people because deep down they don’t believe their life can make a difference. We maintain that every life has a purpose and every life can make a difference — if we embrace the lessons of living intentionally.
Learning Objectives:
· Discuss words of good intention vs. words of intentional living.
· Discover the 7 benefits of intentional living.
· Invite participants to examine some of the barriers to intentional living.
· Encourage participants to commit to living with intentionality, not just good intentions.
3. Start Small but Believe Big
People often believe that making a difference requires them to be someone they’re not or possess something they don’t have. Everyone starts small. The truth is that whatever you have — your unique skills, abilities, perspective and talents — is more than enough to begin making a difference in your world. All you need is the belief that fuels action, and the willingness to start small.
Learning Objectives:
· Discover the 4 steps that will help you start small but believe big.
· Ask participants to identify their level of belief in themselves.
· Invite participants to identify resources at their disposal for making a difference.
· Challenge participants to begin taking small actions that demonstrate the belief that they can make a difference.
4. Search Until You Find Your Why
In the beginning of this course, we encourage participants to take ownership of their lives and turn intentions into action. This lesson introduces a significant shift on the road to intentional living: it challenges people to discover their why.
The why of our lives gives us direction and focus, but many people never discover their why. Some think it’s beyond them or isn’t something they can know, while others never really believe their life has a purpose greater than just living as best as they know how or achieving career or financial success.
The revelation here is that everyone has a why. Knowing our why gives our daily lives greater focus — and the ability to live a life that matters.
Learning Objectives:
· Discover 5 benefits to finding your WHY.
· Discuss the 3 clues to finding your WHY.
· Encourage the participants to understand that everyone has a WHY.
· Help participants understand how a person’s WHY shapes their life.
5. Put Other People First
We live in a “me first” world where our culture lifts up the individual and sings the benefits of personal success. That compounds the inherent selfishness that all of us possess.
Many of the people that we have worked with have become successful only to find that it brings little fulfillment. That’s why we try to help others shift from success to significance in this course. People can begin to experience significance when they put other people first and use their success for the benefit of others.
You don’t have to be rich or powerful to live a life of significance. You just need to appreciate others and put them ahead of yourself.
Learning Objectives:
· Help participants discover the differences between success and significance.
· Encourage participants to make the shift to putting other people first in their lives.
· Equip participants with tools to help them value other people.
· Challenge participants to find ways to use their personal stories to add value to others.
6. Add Value to Others from Your Sweet Spot
Selfishness and significance don’t go together. Only significance can satisfy people on a deep level, and the key to living a life of significance is adding value to others.
To be willing and able to add value to others, we must value ourselves, value others, value what others have done for us, know what others value, and make ourselves more valuable. How each of us adds value is as unique as we are.
Each of us has the capacity to add value to people. We will make the greatest difference when we discover our sweet spot — doing what we do best — and add value from there.
Learning Objectives:
· Reinforce the rewards of intentionally adding value to others.
· Discuss the 5 core values of adding value to others.
· Lead participants to identify their unique skills and abilities.
· Challenge participants to begin intentionally adding value to others from their sweet spot.
7. Connect with Like–Minded People
It’s impossible to be significant on your own — you have to have other people join you on the journey. The key is finding your people.
Few things derail a person in pursuit of significance like being surrounded by people who don’t consider significance something worth pursuing. Or being with people whose goals are totally different from theirs.
To make a difference, you must work together with like-minded people. You will know them because they will want the same things you do and have the same outlook on life. Your job is to find them and connect with them.
Learning Objectives:
· Help participants acknowledge the importance of like-minded people.
· Lead participants to identify like-minded people around them.
· Encourage participants to develop connections with like-minded people.
· Challenge participants to begin teaming up with others to make a difference.
8. Partner with Like-Valued People
Are you not accomplishing all that you have the potential to? The solution is to begin partnering with like-valued people.
One person alone can accomplish a lot. One person working with like- minded people can accomplish even more. But a group of people who share the same dream and the same values can change the world! Sharing values with other people goes beyond having a common goal. It’s having a common conviction about the best way to achieve that goal.
Exact value matches are rare, so we must strive to partner with people who match as closely to our values as possible. Just commit yourself to focusing more on what you have in common than on what you see differently and work together where you align.
Learning Objectives:
· Highlight the importance of the right kind of partners.
· Help participants think through and identify their personal values.
· Encourage participants to see common values as a key piece of developing a team.
· Challenge participants to use their values to begin finding key partners.
9. Live with a Sense of Anticipation
Living intentionally means living with a sense of anticipation. It isn’t just learning to look for opportunities to make a difference. It’s also about believing those opportunities actually exist and that you can do something with them. It’s approaching the world with an abundance mindset, seeing the world as a place full of hope and, well, opportunity!
When we believe good things will come along, we’ll inevitably find good things do come along. There are always opportunities to help others every day. The ability to see these opportunities can become one of your greatest strengths!
Learning Objectives:
· Lead participants to identify their current mindset.
· Help participants understand how having anticipation changes their opportunities.
· Challenge participants to see opportunity as a process, not a single event.
· Encourage participants to adopt an abundance mindset.
10. Be Urgent about Seizing Significance Opportunities
It may be a cliché to say that the only moment we truly have is now, but it doesn’t diminish the statement’s truth. We live in a time of unprecedented connectivity and opportunities, yet many people simply watch life go by instead of seizing moment to make a difference.
In this lesson, we invite people to develop an action bias and help start a movement of intentionality, to live with a bias toward action. Intentionality means taking action each day to make a difference. Every person can do this. Every person can tell their story — and share their story to inspire others.
Learning Objectives:
· Help participants recognize their personal bent toward action or thinking.
· Challenge participants to develop a sense of urgency for taking significant actions.
· Encourage participants to take action by seizing a specific significance opportunity.
· Ask participants to share their significance story with others.
11. Nurture Other People
Leaders pay attention to the needs of those around them, and then pour themselves out to meet those needs. The average person goes through life looking for validation. They want to know they’re respected and valued. Leaders nurture others by extending genuine care, offering a sense of belonging, and being generous with encouragement.
Learning Objectives:
· Discuss high achievers vs. low achievers.
· Discover the primary characteristics of nurturing people.
· Invite participants to share growth strategies that empower others.
· Challenge participants to make the choice to be positive regardless of the circumstances.
12. Reproduce More Leaders
Leaders who reproduce their influence lead themselves exceptionally well. Not only do reproducers model leadership through their actions, they also mentor and equip others through intentional coaching and conversation. Leaders who enjoy feeling relied upon seldom reproduce influence through others. Rather, influencers who achieve multiplication do so by raising others up and then stepping aside.
Learning Objectives:
· Inspire participants to make the choice to focus on and follow through with reproducing more leaders.
· Discuss the 10 questions to ask before you empower others.
· Discover the 5 steps to reproduce more leaders.
· Challenge participants to get out of their comfort zone with developing their influence.