At Cole’s, it’s important to us to be able to support our teams in living happy and balanced lives. That’s just one reason we offer regular wellness workshops—from habits of highly effective people to intentional living. Here’s a recap of why we pay so much attention to living intentionally—by Heather Ehresman from our corporate team.
Do you have the best of intentions but continually fail to follow through with them?
Big or small, we all have good intentions when it comes to our relationships, our careers, even self-care. To be more mindful of our conversations, to become more proactive in our approach to parenting, or one of my favorites—not using the snooze button as part of our morning routine.
Over two years ago that was one of my best intentions—not rely on the snooze button each morning! I wanted to wake up before my three kiddos, have a great morning before the day began, and for my kiddos to be ushered out the door by a patient and kind, loving mom. Our reality was stressful, rushed and chaotic mornings that often ended with one (or all of us, let’s be honest) in tears. The good intention I had did not stop this sleepy mom from hitting the snooze button and then moving into survival mode each morning.
In John Maxwell’s book, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life that Matters, he reminds us all that good intentions are simply not enough to lead an intentional life; we must put into action the good we want to see. We must put into action the life we want to lead.
Good intentions will always be our goal; however, they will never be enough to spark change. I wanted each morning to look different but until I changed my habits, my routine, and my story—the outcome remained the same. We all want good in our lives, and Maxwell reminds us that actions are needed behind the goals we set and that in each day we are in control of the choices we make.
What is the life you want to lead? Who is it that you want to impact, to inspire? The challenge John Maxwell gives all of us is that we get to choose how we live out each day, big and small we have the power to create the life we want and with that life we can add value every day to the people around us.
So how do we start, and what action can we take to begin living a more intentional life? Maxwell gives us the simple tool of storytelling to give to others. When we allow people to live in our stories, to hear the success and failures of our life experiences we can begin to add value to their lives and give them a bigger perspective on the next step in their journey.
Stories connect us, they inspire us and within all of us our stories can help us create change, not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us.
Heather Ehresman is on the corporate team at Cole’s Salon.
