How to be Efficiently Intentional

How many of our daily activities do we truly engage in intentionally? Our interactions, choices, and messages—do we think about the recipient or the outcome? We reflect on these things in some settings—career, attracting a love interest, in scenarios our minds deem of vital importance. In these situations we use our full attention and mental faculties, but not always. Why?

I was editing a video by an elite running coach recently, and he explained that the way we naturally move represents our body’s most efficient option, based on its current abilities and limitations. This made me think that the same is true of our other abilities. Our minds are as intentional as they can efficiently be, given their current state.

It’s not enough for a runner to follow the “correct” form if it doesn’t come naturally to their body. The correct way, if not aligned with the natural way, will be more challenging, harder to maintain, and therefore less efficient. So the real task becomes making the natural state more effective, and for that, we need to work at the root.

For runners, there are stretches and practices that can release muscles, allowing the body to move more naturally and effectively. The same is true for the mind. There are exercises (like meditation) and stretches (like yoga) that can calm and focus the mind, enabling its natural state of activity to become more effective and intentional.

It's less about how you're moving and more about why you're moving that way. Perhaps if we thought about more of our challenges in that way, we'd come up with better solutions. Also fascinating how insights from specific fields often transfer into universal truths. I hope you found this as interesting as I did. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Be well,

Naser