4 Secrets to a More Purposeful Life – How to Live More Purposely This Month

A brand new month, longer days, more sunshine and sweet summer. The first Monday of the month means a brand new intentional to-do list. Therefore, bringing you your June intentional to-do list. And this focuses completely on purposeful living. Sharing FOUR ways for YOU to live a more purposeful life this month. Four specific things you can do to start living with more purpose every single day! 

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How to Live a More Purposeful Life This Month – Your June Intentional To-Do List

I hope your month of June is off to a wonderful start and you are feeling the pace of living life a little more slowly. The first of a month, is another opportunity to cultivate an intention to live a more intentional and purposeful life. Specifically, this most recent edition of the June intentional to-do list is designed to help you consider your priorities. So that you can live a life that you are proud of. A life that you can feel like you have a sense of accomplishment with. To live more closely as the best version of yourself.

This list isn’t to overwhelm you. Nor is it to maintain a perspective of perfection. But a list to help hold you accountable to live life more slowly and more intentionally so you can feel your best throughout every single season of life. 

The Importance of Reflection

My husband and I just got back from an anniversary trip. We celebrated an early 10 year anniversary in the Bahamas at a Sandals all-inclusive resort. It was so needed for the both of us. To be able to just close everything down and simply be on vacation. I cannot remember the last time that either of us have just rested and not worked. It was incredible. It was so good. So many good conversations.

Furthermore, it was really good to get away. It was really good to have that time together. Now, one of my favorite components of going on vacation is the ability to be on the outside, reflecting on your life. Being in a completely different environment, a completely different scenario and looking inward.

From the Outside Looking In

When you step from the outside and you move away from your norm and your day-to-day, you are given a whole new level of vision. Additionally, you gain greater capabilities to reflect on your life and to see what’s going on and to think things differently. One of my favorite parts of vacation is the ability to reflect, the ability to take a look at what’s going on in your life. To assess how are things going, what’s working, what’s not working. And come up with new intentions, new goals, and new thoughts as to what you want to focus on once back home.

And so, as much as I love vacation, as much as I love the ability to get away and enjoy and have fun. I also love the feeling of getting back to normal and getting back to the crazy and the chaos. Through all this reflection, it really had me thinking, how can I show up more purposely in my life?

In order to live a life that is full of incredible meaning, with a specific purpose. To take each moment as it is and be intentional with my thoughts, my posture, and my actions. That is what this June intentional to-do list is. A list of things to do in order to live a more purposeful life for the month of June.

What It Means to Live with Purpose

So what does that mean, to live a life with purpose? Well, to live a life with meaning, and to be super intentional about what you are doing and when you are doing it. Not because you are trying to be perfect, but because of you! Because you are trying to be your best self no matter what may come your way. I love words. I love the meaning of words. According to Oxford Languages, purpose is the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists.

Therefore, in order to live a more purposeful life, specifically in the month of June, we are to live more fully and freely as the person we were created to be. That our actions and our intentions, our goals, and our plans, would edify and support the person we are and who we want to be. That is exactly what this to-do list is and exactly how we are to live a more purposeful and intentional life!

Four Ways to Live a More Purposeful Life

This month we’re going to focus on four things. Four secrets to live a more purposeful life. Furthermore, four things to do that allow us to really cultivate a lifestyle that supports living with more purpose. In order to fully be who we were created to be. That we can be that version of ourself so we can also support everyone else in our life.

Four ways to do this. A list of four things and some ideas and suggestions along the way. Four secrets to live life with more purpose every single day!

How to Live a More Purposeful Life #1 – Start and end your day with YOU

The very first way to live a more purposeful life is to start and end your day with YOU. Make sure that when your day begins and when your day ends, that you are spending quality time with yourself. Pouring into the very you that you are created to be. Therefore, focus on being intentional with what you do the very first thing in the morning, the moment you wake up.

Cultivate Quality Time with Yourself in the Morning

Focus in on what those first few items are, what those first steps of the day look like. Focus on what you know you need for yourself to be successful. Additionally, focus on what you know you need, based on who you are as a person, and listen to that voice. Morning routines are awesome. I love everything about optimizing your day and your routines to live the best life you can live.

However, everybody is so uniquely different. That’s what makes all of us so incredibly important and valuable and special. Therefore, it’s really important that you focus on what works for you. If you know that waking up at five in the morning is not going to work for you, then don’t do it and don’t feel bad about it.

Focus on What Works for You!

Don’t value who you are and your successes based on the fact that you might not be a morning person. That’s absolutely okay. However, if that DOES work for you and you know you need to wake up early in the day to start your day off the way you need. Then go for it. Especially, if you have young ones at home. Like little ones that depend on you for pretty much everything, and they wake up around a consistent time each day. Then make a goal to wake up 30 minutes earlier than they do. Now, if that’s too much of a stretch, then try even 15 minutes earlier. Carve out time to do what you need to do within that small window!

Start Your Day By Pouring Into You

Therefore, start your day by pouring into YOU and doing the things that YOU need. This makes such an incredible difference in your day. Additionally, if this is done frequently and day after day, it can make a pretty big impact on your life and how you feel about yourself. As well as what and how you are able to accomplish certain things throughout the day.

Of course, do whatever you need for you. Think to yourself, what works for you? You know this, you know this deep down so well. Is it simply waking up with enough time to wash your face, get dressed, put makeup on and do your hair before anyone else needs you? If that’s what you need, then do it. Or does this look like having a cup of coffee and sitting there and drinking it while it’s still hot, then do it.

Ask Yourself – What Is It That You Really Need?

If you know you as a person that needs exercise and movement, find time for that. Or if you are wanting to spend time with a quiet devotional, reading or prayer or meditation, focus on what you need. Don’t try to do it all. Don’t try to fill a half a day’s worth within a morning routine, but just focus on what you know you need to start your day off right.

For me, I know that I feel significantly better, more confident, more secure and more solid, if I can wake up early and work out. Now, this is something that I had spent most of my life doing, but the motherhood newborn turned toddler lifestyle, it teaches you a lot about yourself and in the last four weeks, I’ve made a priority to wake up significantly earlier three days a week to attend a 5:00 am workout class.

And I know that sounds extreme, but the reason I am able to still find the motivation to go at 5:00 AM is because I know how much better I feel as a person afterwards compared to the days when I don’t go. It’s such an extreme difference that I think of that feeling when my alarm goes off at 4:30, and that’s what gets me out of bed, out the door. Therefore, focus on what you need! What’s that voice inside that says, this is what I need, and focus on that.

Spend Quality Time with Yourself in the Evening

Do the same for when your day ends, as your day is winding down. As the responsibilities are closing in on you. Or as you realize, holy cow, I got nothing done today. As that time comes to a close each and every day, make sure you are also spending time focusing in and pouring into yourself. Pouring into your heart and doing the things that you need. Minimize the noise, minimize the distraction, and truly find a moment to take care of yourself.

And if you can start each day and end each day with yourself, even if it’s just a super small moment, you will notice a change in how you feel each day. Now, if this is extreme for you and you are feeling with the craziness and chaos of life, focus on simply five minutes. Focus on five minutes at the beginning of your day, at the end of your day where you can just be quiet and connect with yourself. Then go from there. Maybe, the next week you add a couple more minutes.

This is definitely something that can allow you to live more purposely and you deserve that. You deserve that so much. When we live more closely connected to our purpose then we are more closely walking in the path of who we are supposed to be.

How to Live a More Purposeful Life #2 – Spend quality time outside

The second thing to do this month in order to live a more purposeful life is to spend quality time outside. If the intention is to walk in our purpose and live an intentional and purposeful life, then we absolutely must consider going back to our roots and spending time outside.

Spending time in the sun and spending time in the fresh air. As well as, spending time where you can feel the difference it makes to not just your physical body, but your mental and emotional self. Furthermore, the connection between all of your senses that takes place when you spend that time outdoors. Now, of course, we have to make sure we are mindful, especially in the summer months of the hotter temperatures of the day.

Allow Yourself to Thrive Outside

But in our household, we thrive on sunshine. We thrive on fresh air. All of us, my son included can tell there’s a huge difference in our emotions, our personalities, our mood, our patience, and energy level when we spend time outside. Therefore, make it a priority this month to find little pockets of time, little windows throughout your day. And live outside more often throughout those moments.

As a result, you are gonna notice a couple of changes in how you feel and how you think. Truly there is MORE room to think when you’re outside. There’s more movement. The energy is just different, and it is something that truly is electric and can do so many good things for you. Whether, that’s just drinking your coffee on the front porch or going for a walk, or even just sitting and reflecting and letting the kids play.

Perhaps you want to enjoy your evening beverage of choice outdoors after the kids go to bed. Whatever it is, just find time to be intentional with spending more moments outside. It can absolutely change things for you when you take time to live within the natural world and the natural elements, and it helps connect you with the real you that you’re supposed to be.

How to Live a More Purposeful Life #3 – Establish a goal for yourself & take small steps towards it.

The third component to living your most purposeful life this month, establish a goal for yourself and take small steps towards it. I know summer is awesome. If you find yourself with a slower schedule during the summer months, it can be so tempting to just want to fully relax and let the tempo of summer dictate everything.

However, it can be WAY MORE fulfilling to dream big and believe that it is possible to achieve what it is that you are after. And you can do this through the month of June. Therefore, I challenge you this month, make a goal. Think of something that you want to achieve, something you want to work towards. Think of something that you would feel really proud of yourself if you could accomplish.

Maybe it’s a project that needs to get done, maybe it’s a health goal, whatever the goal is. Focus on something that you know deep down you would love to accomplish. Make sure it is a goal that is doable and achievable, and take small steps towards that goal. Take a look at the month and establish an end date where you want this goal to be achieved. Then work backwards from that goal determining what the very small baby steps are that need to take place in order for it to happen.

How to Live a More Purposeful Life #4 – Prioritize a Healthier Relationship with Screens & Be Incredibly Mindful of the Content You Are Consuming.

The fourth way to live with more purpose this month incorporates a healthier relationship with the content we consume. Therefore, in order to live a more purposeful life this month, prioritize a healthier relationship with screens and be incredibly mindful of the content you are consuming.

We can instantly consume so much content on our phones, between every social media app, as well as all the different streaming devices that exist. There is a plethora of entertainment and media for us to easily consume every hour of the day. However, that is so much consumption and it can absolutely affect our head space, our hearts and our emotions.

The Problem with Overconsumption of Content

When we consume things constantly, whatever it is, it impacts how we think. Furthermore, it impacts our motivations of our heart. As a result, we start to see an impact from where we pour out every single day. Therefore, to live a more purposeful life this month, be so mindful with what you are consuming. Be mindful of what you are watching. Be mindful of what you are paying attention to.

Additionally, as you consume content, ask yourself, how is this making me feel? How am I feeling as I am scrolling through Instagram or TikTok? How am I feeling when I’m looking through Pinterest? Furthermore, how do I feel when I’m scrolling through my inbox? Or consider how you may feel when binge watching the latest show?

Stop Doing the Things that Steal Your Joy

If there’s any feeling that you have that is negative. Anyway. Anything that is taking away and stealing your joy, stop doing it! Set limits, restrict the consumption. Find other ways to spend the day. Swap scrolling for listening to your favorite artist. Instead of binge watching another show, read a book. Sit quietly, have a conversation. Talk to somebody. Reach out to a friend. Why as a culture are we so obsessed with finding the latest and greatest show to binge watch? Why do we as a culture always feel the need to have to find something new to binge watch?

I feel like it’s the most frequently asked thing on Instagram stories. People always asking for the latest and greatest new show to watch. Why do we have to do that? Why do we have to spend all of this time connected to a TV screen and miss out on all the connections of our real life?

Now, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with having a guilty pleasure, the ability to shut your mind off, find laughter, find some way to connect. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, why do we have to do it to an obsessive amount?

There is More in Store

That’s so much time that we are wasting. If we truly did a deep dive on how much time we scroll our phones or do mindless things that aren’t truly fulfilling us in a deep, powerful way. There’s so much more purpose to those moments of how we can live our life. We can do way more with those little cracks of the day. And that’s my challenge to you this month. Think more carefully about what it is you’re consuming. Make small, teeny, tiny baby steps towards having a healthier relationship with the consumption of media and how you consume it.

The Importance of Your Voice

While doing this, give yourself more room to think as YOU. To think as your mind, from your heart, based on what you believe to be true. Not what everyone else says. Not what so-and-so says, but what you think. There are so many voices out there between social media, videos, voices, and commentaries.

People love to share their opinion. However, if you become so focused on listening to everybody else, you are going to forget that you have an incredibly powerful voice. That your voice is so important, and that your thoughts and your values, and your beliefs are so important. They are yours for a reason.

If we focus on listening to everybody else, we forget the impact that our voice and our values and our beliefs can have. So find freedom, find excitement and find joy in unplugging. Find joy in not being so consumed with scrolling, with binge watching the latest show. Connect in a way that you know your heart needs to connect with the people and the environment that you live in and be more purposefully, intentionally present in each of those moments.

My Intentions To Live More Purposefully This Summer: 

In an effort of complete transparency to help model a more purpose-filled life, I wanted to share the intentions that I have established for myself within the next few weeks. These intentions are things that I am focusing on within my day in order to live with more purpose! The things that I am prioritizing for myself to live each day more confidently.

Purposeful Intention #1 – Intentional Morning Time

My first intention to live a more purposeful life is to spend intentional time each morning. Specifically, I am waking up earlier three days a week to go to a 5:00 AM workout class. My plan is to continue to do that over the next three weeks. I’m going to go Monday, Wednesday, Friday and start my day off with that workout.

Now, the other two mornings, Tuesdays and Thursdays, an intention of mine is to still wake up early, not as early as before the workout class. However, still wake up earlier and spend some time reading and working through a devotional. I just started a new devotional and I’m excited to kind of work through that. By making an effort to cultivate this intentional morning time, I know I can unlock the confidence to live life full of more purpose!

Purposeful Intention #2 – Intentional movement

Another intention I would really like to cultivate this summer, is to focus on intentional movement throughout the day. Especially not having to go into the classroom and having more time at home, I would love to go on more walks. Morning, evening, not when it’s super hot outside, but find little windows of the day to move more. To be more intentional with what I’m doing with my body. That’s a goal of my, for the next couple weeks.

Purposeful Intention #3 – Swap my phone for a book & tea at night

Another intention of mine in order to live a more purposeful life is to not scroll my phone at night. I have a really bad habit of just laying there and scrolling. I don’t know what it is I’m trying to accomplish, but that’s what I do. Instead, I really am going to attempt to put my phone away after a certain time and read. I love reading. I love it so much. I wish I made more of a priority within my day-to-day life to read more. Make a nice, relaxing cup of tea and get lost in a book.

Habit Tracking

In order to assess these intentions, and to see how well I am doing, I’m actually going to track these intentions, or you could call them habits, within my planner. Every week I will write down within my planner my intentions for the week in a list format with little checkboxes. That way each time I make that intention happen throughout the week, I can mark it off. This allows me to reassess the following week in order to work closer to my goals of living a life full of more purpose.

You Can Live with More Purpose This Month

And a quick little recap for you in order to live with more purpose each and everyday! Number one, start and end your day with you. Number two, spend quality time outside. Followed by, number three, establish a goal for yourself and take small steps towards it. And number four, prioritize a healthier relationship with screens and be incredibly mindful of the content that you are consuming.

I hope you feel encouraged. Furthermore, I hope you feel eager and ready to take on a few of these challenges as you live with more purpose this month. Cheering you on and believing in you every single step of the way! Have the best day!