Setting An Intention

Overcome Limiting Beliefs with Self-investment

“We either live with intention or exist by default.” – Kristin Armstrong.

***Updated July 2024***

Evaluate Your Life

Take a second to evaluate your life; are you happy? Content and filled with purpose? Or are you on autopilot?
If your life, your character, your mindset, and your mental and physical states didn’t change in the next 5 years, would you be at peace?

Taking regular self-evaluations of your life is important to ensure you are living your life on purpose, and not just going through the motions, not taking joy in anything. Setting an intention and following it through to a dream fulfilled creates milestones in life you can refer back to for strength when things take a sour turn. Take In-nested for example.

I started this blog for two reasons: 

1. To share my enthusiasm for self-investment.

2. To support women as they learn to (especially my fellow female entrepreneurs) to invest in themselves, prioritizing wellness and balance as a cornerstone to sustainable productivity and growth.

I intend to do this through:

1. Informational and personal blog content (and future offerings) on a variety of topics all with an underlying theme of self-investment and wellness.
2. Continued learning and growth to develop my own understanding to pass on and share.
3. My bi-monthly newsletter “from The Nest” provides updates, notes, and tips on self-investment and wellness.

I go into this with the understanding that I may just be talking to myself, or you may not find what I have to say interesting or that my jokes aren’t funny (the horror!). The unease that follows starting something new is normal, to expect perfection the first time you put yourself into a new space is unrealistic. 

Perfection is where good intentions go to die.  

 Instead of allowing the negative self-talk persuade me out of fulfilling a dream of mine, I choose to believe that while I am starting something new (and intimidating), I believe my words have positive impact give value to those who find resonance with them.

  It would be my educated guess that most of us are not where we aspire to be mentally, physically, emotionally (all the “-llys”). There are many things that can derail the achievement of our intentions; lack of self-awareness to know what you’re striving for, a negative mindset, low of motivation. I believe vulnerability must be a part of the journey. To not know yourself enough to be able to self-direct your actions is one thing, but hiding from your own feelings, intuitions, and desires is another.  

Was it a girl at school that told you you didn’t have enough money to be cool? Or a teacher who told you you were stupid? Did your parents not show you an example of healthy love, or did you never see someone who looked like you become successful? Our limiting beliefs and negative self-talk starts from somewhere, we all have our own origin story.  

Use self-investment to build the belief that you can do what you set your mind. Investing in yourself takes back your power back from those past experiences that told you you were not enough. Those experiences should not, and cannot define how you choose to live your life now. When you set an intention, dream big!

Boldly and unapologetically seek that which makes you feel alive and valuable.

No matter where you come from or what your intentions are, everyone deserves to live a life they can be proud of and be at peace with. We get a chance each day to set a new intention that will guide our steps with great and lasting effect.

Roadblocks, hiccups, and old habits will arise and try to derail your plans, take those moments to find the lesson within the obstruction. As annoying and painful as it is to admit, adversity tends to be our greatest teacher. The very hiccup that throws you off balance, is the very thing that gives you the courage, knowledge, or perspective that in the end pushes you forward faster.

There is a learning curve when rewiring your thoughts to find the hidden lesson. It is difficult to find the silver lining in tragedy and pain, and it may take time to feel strong enough to even face that pain and allow yourself to fully feel it, but once that switch has flipped, you are better equipped to face the next daunting task ahead. Which, if even in a small way, makes life a bit more bearable when you get to see how resilient you are.

In-nested is a dream in the making, an intention I set to share my enthusiasm for the many ways we can learn, heal, and grow into our favorite versions of ourselves, an evolving process. When you feel down about yourself and your life, know that you have at least one person (me!) who thinks you deserve better and is rooting you on!  

Self-belief comes with practice, starting a new intention be it a new career, new habit, or new lifestyle, and living that with confidence takes heart. When you are unfamiliar with feeling strong belief in yourself, don’t lose hope, make micro movements forward that will continually prove to yourself you can achieve what you set your mind to. That you are a person who keeps their promises to yourself and does deserve to actualize your intended dreams and goals.

Every day I choose to invest in myself, it is a choice. I have faith in you, and in an individual’s ability to change their world for the better.  

Hope is not some dainty dream, hope has blood on their knuckles, sweat on their brow, and a fire in their heart urging them forward to fight for a new and better day. Hope is strength and it takes courage to have hope through all the chaos around us.  

Even small hope in big dreams makes all the difference.

Now that we all feel ready and motivated for battle you have the steps to learn how to set an intention. While you have been reading the heartfelt passage above I have been sneakily showing you how to set an intention. Here are the main steps:

1. Identify the desire/what you want.
2. Get clear on who you want to be/ what you want to pursue.
3. Specify action steps.
4. Shift any limiting beliefs.
5. Set motivation daily.
6. Surrender and have faith.
7. Jump in with something practical in the moment (start momentum).

There is no time like the present; what do you want your intention to be today? I’ve found building a connection with yourself through self-investment a great place to start.

Here are some journal prompts I found helpful when intention setting:

• What inspires me?
• What challenges my view of how I live my life?
• What do I need to do today that can change my life tomorrow?
• What are my top 3 priorities and how do they relate to the fulfillment of my goals?
• Make a wish list – imagine what you’d love to experience in a year, five years, 10 years from now.
• What thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or beliefs do I hold that get in the way of creating what I truly desire and deserve?
• What inner strength do I rarely utilize?

Remember to believe in yourself and set your sights high! Self-investment is the understanding that YOU are the asset, and with the input of time, energy, and resources, you will reap the benefits of the life you deserve to live. A life of meaning, purpose, and self-understanding.

It all starts with you and your intention.

Until nest time,