If you could be one thing this year, I wish you’d be…

As life passes us by, we can either be bystanders or take the wheel and chart out our path.

We could either get lost in the busyness and go with the flow…or we could be mindful of where we’re headed.

We could evaluate whether our actions are taking us closer to our goals, whether we are spending time on the right things and with the right people.

According to a study conducted by PsychTests.com, people who go with the flow in life are less optimistic and less happy than people who plan ahead and are less likely to succeed too!

It is not surprising, is it?

There is a certain confidence and optimism that comes from being in charge of your life or your career, in knowing that you have a plan and that even if things do not go as per plan, you have the ability to change course.

Here are 10 ways to be intentional:

1) Be intentional about your goals — life goals and career goals, short-term and long-term goals

2) Be intentional about the growth and exposure you want to attain and go after it with a plan

3) Be intentional about your learning — assess industry trends, assess your own development areas and invest in yourself

4) Be intentional about your visibility and your personal brand — the onus is on you to make yourself and your work visible

5) Be intentional about how you spend your time — prioritise what is important to you and ensure that you spend time on the right things and right people

6) Be intentional about building and nurturing your network — it takes time to build a strong network and it is worth every minute you spend on it

7) Be intentional about your happiness — discover what makes you happy and make time for things that bring joy

8) Be intentional about your relationships — make time for those who are important to you, you need to invest time and energy in your relationships and not relegate them to the background

9) Be intentional about your health — make time to exercise, eat right and monitor your physical and emotional health and wellbeing

10) Be intentional about ‘Me-time’ — make time for yourself, to de-stress, to rejuvenate, to pursue interests which nurture your creative side

Whether it is career or life, you can either let it run in autopilot mode and go with the flow, or you can take charge and steer it towards your goals. Choose wisely.