
There are many ways to lead a more fulfilling life. You can turn to natural living or sustainable living or even intentional living.
But what is intentional living, exactly?
Intentional living is a conscious process whereby you seek to understand the basic values and beliefs in your life and then seek to live in accordance with them.
There are many people out there that espouse this principle as though it were something aesthetic or trendy but in reality, this is a very challenging way to live though it is also immensely rewarding.
How To Determine What Your Values Are
Your values are your compass to an intentionally lived life.
They provide direction when you feel lost but we’re not all consciously aware of our values until we try to be.
That’s OK. To determine your values you just need a little time for self-reflection.

Look at the moments in your day-to-day life that have the most meaning for you, what fulfils you and what does not?
Ask yourself lots of “why?” questions too such as “why am I doing the job I do?” or “why are my friends my friends?”
Eventually, you will start to know what it is that truly motivates you and what you’re doing for the sake of being seen to do it.
The things that motivate you? They’re your values and beliefs.
How Do You Integrate Those Values In Your Life?
The next bit is easy – you start to examine each of the activities you carry out and ask yourself “do these things match my values”?
And if they don’t then it’s time to try and remove those activities from your life.

This can be challenging, particularly when you first get started.
It can help to communicate your values and beliefs to others so they can help support you.
We’d also recommend that you journal for a few minutes a day when you start to help you stay grounded and measure the results.
How To Maintain A Connection With Your Values For Intentional Living
Finally, you need to find time to reflect on your efforts and also to evaluate how you perform when your values meet obstacles, and they will.
It is this final practice that allows you to constantly evaluate both your intentional living practice but also your values.
Our values can change over time and it’s important to change course as this happens if we want to continue to live in harmony.
Final Thoughts
Intentional living can be practiced by anyone. Living in harmony with your values and beliefs is spiritually and mentally rewarding but it’s not easy.
You can combine intentional living with other practices to further boost your happiness or inner peace. If you found this useful, you may also find these TED talks on minimalism valuable to improving your lifestyle.