Career week was one of the most exciting parts of the third grade. Parents, friends, and neighbors came to school and talked to us about their jobs to offer the children hope and inspiration for their futures. After learning about the many possibilities, the capstone event was to create a poster that represented the career we wanted to have. At that time, I played piano (and was pretty good at it) and I also liked to sing. In addition, I liked to help people and was known to be pretty talkative, so it made perfect sense to create a career that blended all these favorite things of mine. I decided that the perfect career would to be: A singing lawyer!

Somewhere in the depths of my home, in a box filled with old school papers lays a poster representing me in a courtroom, in front of a judge, with notes coming out of my mouth, and defending my client. Gratefully, my teacher had enough wisdom to not tell me “nobody does that for a career” and let me hang my poster in the hallway along with the other aspirational artwork.

It’s no surprise that I never went to law school, but I did have a music career which took me down some winding (and exciting) roads. While the younger version of myself had a specific career vision which didn’t manifest, that grade school exercise showed me something important: I can always find what is true within me and do something magical with it and to create something of real meaning.

As we grow up, people ask less often, “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” I recommend that we don’t let that stop us from inquiring within in different ways. The question can be changed into, “What is my intention for my future, for this year, for today?”

Intention is the key that opens the dreams and hopes of our hearts into movement towards actions that will benefit us emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Intentions can shape our habits and relationships, our careers and hobbies, even our thoughts and mood. Building a regular habit of asking yourself, “What is my intention?” can fuel the hours, days, and weeks with deliberate action towards becoming your best self.

Living Your Life on Purpose

Here are some ideas to get your mind whirring about forming intentions and beginning to explore how to live your life on purpose.

• Decide how often you want to be clear with your intentions. Daily, weekly, quarterly?

• Set aside a specific time in a dedicated space to ponder the question what is my intention for… (fill in the blank)?

Questions to ask for clarity about intention may be:

• What do I want the outcome to be for myself/this relationship/this goal?

• What value of mine do I want to demonstrate at this time?

• What would I like to feel about this experience/interaction?

• If I did nothing about [this] what could occur?

• If someone told me to do [fill in the blank] how would I feel about it?

As you explore the responses to these types of questions, you’ll come to understand yourself better and begin to richly fulfill the parts of your that are waiting for expression.

May you meet yourself with curiosity, compassion, and clarity on your journey towards intention.