Set an Intention

Lately, I've been waking up somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning.

And almost immediately, the Rolodex starts turning.

Work. Home. Things I need to do. Things I can't forget. Something happening later today. Something I need to deal with tomorrow.

My body is lying in bed at 2:30 in the morning, but my mind has already lived half the day.

We've had a lot going on at home and with work lately, and I've noticed how quickly looking at everything in front of me can turn into feeling overwhelmed by all of it.

So I've been returning to a simple intention:

Stay present.

Not because staying present makes the list shorter.

It reminds me that I don't have to live the entire list at once.

An Intention Is Different From a Goal

We spend a lot of time thinking about what we need to accomplish.

That's where goals come in.

A goal says:

"This is what I want to accomplish."

An intention says:

"This is how I want to show up while I'm living today."

Right now, I have plenty of goals. Plenty of things that need to get done.

But stay present isn't another item on that list.

It's how I'm trying to move through it.

For someone else, the intention might be gratitude, patience, listening more than speaking or simply being 1% better today than yesterday.

It doesn't need to be profound.

It needs to mean something to you.

Task by Task

What I've noticed lately is that setting the intention is only the beginning.

I've been returning to it throughout the day.

I get to the shop.

Stay present.

I'm here now. Do what's in front of me.

Later, I get to the grocery store.

My mind can easily start jumping ahead again—to what needs to happen when I leave, what's waiting at home or what tomorrow looks like.

Stay present.

I'm at the grocery store.

Do what's in front of me.

Task by task.

The list hasn't gotten any shorter.

I've just stopped trying to live the whole list at once.

And I'm not walking around all day repeating stay present to myself.

Sometimes I forget completely.

Then I notice that my mind has gotten three or four steps ahead of where I actually am, and I return to the intention.

Not perfectly.

Just when I notice.

Intention Is Preparation

That's what I'm beginning to appreciate again about setting a daily intention.

It doesn't control what happens.

It doesn't guarantee that I'm going to feel calm.

It doesn't make a busy day less busy or remove the things that need my attention.

Intention isn't control.

Intention is preparation.

Before I know exactly what the day is going to bring, I've decided something about how I want to meet it.

And lately, when my mind starts trying to carry everything at once, I have something simple to come back to.

Stay present.

What's happening right now?

What's actually in front of me?

What needs my attention in this moment?

That's enough.

Tomorrow will have its own list.

Later today will have its own tasks.

Right now, I only have to be here.

How Do You Want to Show Up Today?

Setting a daily intention doesn't need to become another thing you have to get right.

It can take ten seconds.

Before the day gets too far ahead of you, ask yourself:

How do I want to show up today?

Whatever the answer is, set it.

Then go live.

For me, right now, it's pretty simple.

Stay present.

Task by task.