How to design an intentional life
The 5 pillars of intentional living
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You can start designing an intentional life and steadily working towards it today.
But the reality is—most people won’t.
Between working a soul-sucking job, letting distractions eat up your time, and constantly feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day… I get it.
Creating an intentional life can feel like exactly that—a pipe dream. Reserved for people more fortunate, more blessed, and more put together than little old you.
That’s what I used to believe too.
So for the past few years, I’ve been borderline obsessed with ONE question:
How do you step off the daily hamster wheel and start designing a life that actually feels like yours?
I’ve read the books. I’ve tried the planners and the productivity hacks. I’ve failed, regrouped, and tried again. And through all of that, I’ve got a much better grip on what actually works (and what doesn’t).
We live in a world built on distraction, overconsumption, and instant gratification.
Everything around us is designed to keep us passive, overstimulated, and disconnected—from ourselves, our purpose, and our potential.
So while intentional living might sound simple, I actually see it as pretty radical—even countercultural.
It means slowing down in a world that tells you to speed up.
It means looking inward when everything around you pulls you outward.
It means choosing intention in a culture that quite literally profits from your distraction.
And here’s the thing: intentional living isn’t about chasing some picture-perfect life. It’s about getting really honest with yourself—and stepping into a life you’ve consciously designed. Not one you’ve inherited, fallen into, or been told you should want.
Intentional living means taking your life—and your growth—seriously.
You only get one precious life.
So don’t drift through it on autopilot.
Don’t keep waiting for “someday” to come around and give you permission.
Start designing your life now—with meaning, purpose, and clarity.
If you’re not sure where to start, that’s okay. What follows is a breakdown of the five core pillars I’ve identified in building an intentional life—and how you can begin putting them into practice today.
PILLAR 1: Know Your Why
One of the biggest mistakes I see when people try to start living more intentionally is this:
They do it backwards.
They dive straight into goal-setting. Or they start building new habits from scratch. And those things aren’t bad—not at all—but on their own, they usually don’t lead to the kind of lasting change we’re actually craving.
Why? Because it’s like building a house on sand.
There’s no solid foundation.
Underneath the goals, the habits, and the colour-coded planners, there’s a deeper layer. And if that foundation isn’t in place, the rest just doesn’t stick.
True intentional living starts by getting underneath the hood of your life.
It starts with your why.
And this might sound a bit fluffy, but very specifically, I’m talking about two key things:
Your core values — the principles that matter most to you
Your vision for the kind of life you want to build
Without those, it’s easy to get stuck in motion without direction. You’re busy, you’re doing things, but you’re not necessarily moving toward anything meaningful.
I like to think of it like planning a flight.
Your vision is the destination: it tells you where you’re headed and gives you a sense of direction and purpose.
Your values are the compass: they guide your choices, keep you on track when life gets messy, and help you navigate decisions from a place of alignment.
Now imagine trying to fly a plane without a destination—or worse, without any kind of navigation system. You might be going fast. But you could be heading to completely the wrong destination, or drifting way off course without even realising it.
“Speed is nothing without direction.”
Mel Robbins
I always come back to this quote.
Because you can be the most motivated, most organised person in the room—but if you haven’t taken the time to get clear on where you’re headed and why it matters to you, it’s always going to feel like something’s missing.
So before you start setting goals or building new habits, take the time to pause and ask yourself:
What kind of life do I actually want to build?
What values do I want to live by along the way?
And here’s something I really want to stress:
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Or even complete. This is where so many people get stuck—the pressure to figure it all out before they begin.
You don’t need all the answers right now. You just need to start.
Your vision and values will evolve as you evolve. This is a working document—not something you need to lock in forever. When you know your why, everything else begins to make more sense—and the rest of the pillars start to fall into place with a lot more ease.
Further reading
PILLAR 2: Break It Down
Once you’ve clarified your vision and values, it’s easy to feel both inspired and overwhelmed.
You know what kind of life you want to build—but how do you actually begin moving toward it?
That’s where this step comes in: turning the big picture into focused, achievable goals and projects.
Research shows people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them.
Writing your goals trains your brain to prioritise and focus, cutting through distractions and helping you zero in on what truly moves the needle.
The key is to keep your goals manageable and aligned with your vision and values.
Your goals should stretch you, but still feel realistic enough that you can imagine taking action now—not just “someday.”
One way I stay on track is by setting smaller milestones inside a bigger goal.
For example, if my goal was to reach 24% body fat, I’d make sure to have check points at 27%, then 26%, then 25%, and so on—and celebrating progress along the way. It keeps momentum going and is a reminder that small wins add up.
And here’s the practical bit: don’t overload yourself (I’ve definitely learned this the hard way!). Trying to do everything often means finishing nothing. I usually set 1–3 big goals a year across different areas of life (e.g. health and fitness, finances, personal growth) and that’s it.
Focusing on a few meaningful goals lets you build real momentum and creates a clearer path forward.
Further reading
PILLAR 3: Build Daily Systems
I once heard someone say: take a look at your daily routine, and that’s a pretty good indicator of where you’ll be in ten years’ time. That idea has really stuck with me.
We often overlook the small, everyday choices we make—the tiny actions that seem insignificant in the moment.
But those 24 hours you have each day? They add up.
How you spend them, day after day, shapes your entire life.
Intentional living isn’t about making huge, sudden changes or completely overhauling your life overnight. Instead, it’s about small, consistent actions. Actions that, when repeated daily, slowly but surely change the trajectory of your life.
James Clear put it perfectly when he said:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
And that’s exactly what this pillar is all about—building systems that naturally support the life you want to live.
Think about it like building a muscle. No one gets stronger instantly. You show up, put in the work regularly, and over time, you grow into the person you want to be.
There are two key parts to this:
First, the habits you build.
This is where you start making autopilot work for you, not against you.
Good systems reduce decision fatigue—they free up mental energy by making healthy, productive choices easier.
It’s a good idea to start by focusing on your inputs: foundational things like the 3 pillars of health (eating well, moving your body, and getting quality sleep).
These might seem basic, but they’re often the first things to get pushed aside when life gets busy. Without a solid base of health and wellbeing, it’s much harder to live intentionally.
Good habits are like compound interest—they grow over time and pay off in ways you can’t always see day to day.
Further reading
Second is about the daily actions you take.
This is your to-do list—the concrete steps you take every day to move closer to your goals, projects, and overall vision.
Every big goal, no matter how ambitious, is achieved by prioritising the most impactful actions—the 20% of effort that drives 80% of the results.
It’s about learning to focus on what truly matters, rather than just staying busy, and consistently making progress toward your priorities. I’ve written more on the principles that changed the game when helping me to organise my to-do list here.
So here’s the bottom line: take a close look at your daily systems.
Ask yourself—what small changes could you make that help you live more intentionally, not just once in a while, but every single day?
Because that’s the real power of intentional living: the daily choices that quietly shape the life you want.
PILLAR 4: Reflect & Review
By now, we’ve moved from the big picture—your vision and values—all the way down to the nitty-gritty of daily habits and actions.
Now comes one of the most overlooked parts of intentional living: setting up a system to regularly reflect on and review your life and where you’re headed.
This step is crucial.
Reflection helps you course-correct, adjust your path, and make sure you’re actually moving in the direction you want to go.
For me, this looks like a short daily reflection practice. It only takes a few minutes each morning but it’s powerful.
I set my intention for how I want to show up that day, list three things I’m grateful for, identify what I want to be the highlight of my day, and choose the one priority I’m focusing on.
In the evening, I take a couple of minutes to log what went well, what didn’t go so great (and what I can learn from that), and anything I can let go of before I sleep.
Alongside that, I track my habits and daily stats—things like my mood out of 5, how well I ate, how many steps I took, and the hours of sleep I got.
This practice has been SO eye-opening.
It helps me analyse my behaviour, spot patterns I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, and get to know myself on a much deeper level.
On top of daily check-ins, I also do short weekly reviews (check out my full Sunday reset routine here), plus monthly and yearly reflection and planning sessions. That might sound like a lot, but it really isn’t once it becomes a habit. We all have time for it—we just need to choose to carve out that time.
Taking a few minutes each day to reflect ties everything together—helping you stay connected to your vision, adjust your course when needed, and make sure the life you’re building actually feels like your own.
PILLAR 5: Second Brain
“Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them.”
—David Allen
When we think about living intentionally, we don’t always connect it with learning—but it’s absolutely essential. Because to grow into the person you want to become and reach the goals you’ve set for yourself, you need to keep expanding your mind.
That means taking ownership of your learning and staying curious over the long term.
Most of us grow up thinking learning begins and ends with school.
But intentional growth means building your own ongoing education—feeding your mind with new ideas, skills, and perspectives that align with your values and vision.
This doesn’t have to be in any way formal.
It could mean reading books, watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, or following creators and thinkers who inspire you. Whatever format clicks with you, the important thing is to stay open and keep learning.
And here’s the key part: you need somewhere to store all that knowledge.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across something genuinely insightful—and then completely forgotten it days later, simply because I had nowhere to put it.
That’s why I recommend setting up your own ‘second brain‘—a place to capture the ideas, resources, and insights that resonate with you.
Think of it like a personal learning archive.
You’re building a library of useful thinking: tools you can come back to, reflect on, apply, and build from over time.
When you treat learning this way—as something active and intentional—it becomes one of the most valuable investments you can make in yourself. It fuels your growth across every other pillar we’ve talked about: clarifying your vision, taking focused action, refining your habits, and staying aligned through reflection.
It’s not just about knowing more. It’s about thinking better, deciding better, and showing up more fully for the life you’re creating.
The Flywheel Effect
Intentional living isn’t about flipping a switch—it’s about building a system.
One way I like to think about that system is like a flywheel.
At first, it takes a lot of effort to get it moving. The first few pushes can feel slow and frustrating, and you might wonder if it’s even worth it. But if you keep going, the wheel starts to pick up speed. Each push gets easier, momentum builds, and before long, it’s spinning almost on its own.
That’s exactly what this framework is designed to help you do.
Each of the five pillars—knowing your why, breaking things down, building daily systems, reflecting regularly, and lifelong learning—are like the spokes of the flywheel.
On their own, they help, but together, they keep everything balanced and moving smoothly.
As the flywheel starts to turn, you’ll notice:
Compound growth — small actions add up over time, even when progress isn’t immediately visible.
Feedback loops — regular reflection helps you course-correct and improve along the way.
Momentum — the more consistently you show up, the easier it becomes to keep going.
Self-reinforcement — following through builds trust in yourself and in the system you’re creating.
Non-linear payoff — progress might feel invisible for a while, then suddenly becomes clear and rewarding.
The point isn’t to push harder every day, but to keep turning the wheel steadily—little by little.
Over time, the effort feels less like work and more like part of who you are. That’s when intentional living truly takes shape.
Intentional Life OS
If you’re ready to put this whole intentional living framework into action but aren’t sure where to start, my Intentional Life OS is built around these five pillars and it’s what I use every day to keep my life organised and on track.
It helps me clarify my vision, break down goals, build habits, reflect regularly, and capture new learning—all in one place.
I designed it to solve real pain points I faced in my own life, and I’m super excited to share it with you.
If you’d like, I can also do a full tour so you can see exactly how it works in practice. Just let me know in the comments if that’s something you’d like to see!