Note: This series and words of opinion are also aimed at the Student Planet.

OK, I’ve changed my mind.

Before, I talk tactics, let me tell you something about intention.

All intention means to me is, “I, Decide!”

I decide how to feel. I decide how to invest my money. I decide if I want to be fit or not. I decide whether to pursue that career or that degree. Or not. I decide whether I want to jump on the bed, every morning or not.

Also, not making a choice, not deciding, is a decision.

And then, be willing to face the consequences of your decisions.

Leo Babauta has a wonderful quote at the start of his post, Wake Up.

A life lived of choice is a life of conscious action.
A life lived of chance is a life of unconscious creation.
– Neale Donald Walsch

In fact, that post, cuts the length of mine by half. Go read, Wake Up, right now.
I’ll wait.

Back? Good! So why do this? Because, time. Time is the most precious resource you have. And while you’re young and you feel like there’s lots of it left, fact is you don’t quite have as much as you think you do.

If I gave you a bottle of fine vintage port, and told you that was all you got for the rest of your life, wouldn’t you be really intentional with how you drank it and on what occasions? No matter what folks and friends said?

How much more so then should you be intentional with your time? And your life?

Yes, you cannot make all the decisions on your own.
Your spouse, your parents, your family do have a say in the big decisions that involve them all.

But mostly, that is not the case. We’re lazy or unwilling to do the work. Daddy handles the money.
My wife / mother takes care of the house.
God will take care of us, if someone falls sick.

As Seth Godin says,

Sometimes, we willingly sacrifice our freedom because it creates an other, someone to blame. It gives us hard boundaries and eliminates potential choices. And mostly, it lets us off the hook, because someone else is driving the bus.

Intention puts your life in perspective.

I chose not to pursue career opportunities abroad (forgoing income), because I choose to stay near my parents. Family is more important to me.

But, I also chose not to learn about money, burying my head in the sand. That led not just to lost income, but crazy amounts of foolish debt. That set my career back by years. I couldn’t risk taking chances with my career, because I had dumb loans to pay.

You’re young. But you don’t have to be foolish. Take the time out to decide and be intentional about your life.

Here’s Seth again,

Trying to drive from the back of the bus might feel less risky, but it rarely leads to much agency, influence or control as to where the bus actually goes.

Careful what you do with the keys.


P.S. This post is part of the Life Outside Code series