Intentions and Actions

Why-->How-->What?

There was a presentation at my work this week by an amazing young man where he talked about how our conversation at work about work usually follows a sequence which goes from what —> how —> why? Most of the people just want to know what you are doing; some might ask you how you are doing it and very rarely people go to why we are doing something. And as per the presentation, “why” should have more weightage in the conversations than “what” and “how”.

I really enjoyed the presentation because of two reasons. Firstly, it was something different than usually what people present in those meetings (usually it’s a demo of the work they are doing) and secondly, I found this topic deeper than just the work or work conversations. It reminded me of the importance of “why” and the intentions behind everything we do in our lives. It reminded me of the intentional life I am trying to build and sometimes I get lost. It reminded me that sometimes intentions are above actions in our lives. It reminded me of how a combination of intention and action can be empowering than just an action. It reminded me how the after feeling of an action depends on with what intention you did it.

Photo by Felipe Simo on Unsplash

I am a recovering people pleaser and an elder daughter. I have a habit of taking things on my shoulders without nobody asking me to do that. Because of this habit of mine, I have chosen to do few things in life because I should be doing it. But now I believe, “should be” is not enough reason to do anything in life. There should be more than just a “should be” behind an action. “Should be” can put pressure on you and intention can empower you. For example, I should go to gym regularly or I should go to gym or yoga class or whatever I love to do because that helps in maintaining my physical and mental health. Taking care of your physical and mental health is the intention here. Even the same action can have different intentions behind it. I can do something to please someone, and I can do the same thing to help them.

Once I met a woman in a flight and she had a year-old daughter with her. We started talking as I offered help to hold her daughter while she was having her dinner. We talked about almost everything in our lives. Her story reminded me to reflect on my “whys”. The reflections were scary and uncomfortable. At the end of the flight, I had the realization that there is something I understand about my life/myself and I am denying that to live my current life. I didn’t ask for her number or address as my subconscious mind believed that she gave me those uncomfortable feelings. But now when I look back, I wish I had asked for her number and it was not her, she just triggered something which was already brewing inside me from some time.

People who are living intentional life might be triggering to people who are not and that’s alright. We unknowingly trigger things in people when we are living our truths. There are many things in our lives which are not in our control but there are certain things in life which we can be intentional about. Your intentions are reflection of your core beliefs and values in life. Building an intentional life starts with being curious about your beliefs and taking actions to live those beliefs regularly. I hope you all are doing well and seeking your “why” in your life.

Lots of love and healing,

Harneek!!

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This week’s recommendations:

• I Don't Know What My Purpose Is by

  Ava.May
  . Very beautiful piece on how we sometimes over complicate our purpose and what it could be actually

• Substack compilation: Reimagining success by

  Mika
  . If you wanna be the part of a supporting and loving community, subscribe her. This one has a list of beautiful essays by beautiful people on reimagining success in life.

• Who are you when the toast burns? by

  Mohika Mudgal
  . This one talks about transformation and building resilience in the midst of a storm