Listening with designed intention

Listen

Since launching Be You and Thrive two years ago, I promised myself I would allow it to grow ‘organically’. To me, this meant, without specific ‘Dannielle-made fertilizers’ (to stick with the plant growth metaphor!), or specified plan of action to create an envisioned outcome. I want to listen to the need of women and respond according to what I have to give.

Of course I desire Be You and thrive—this platform, sewn from threads leading to my heart—to be a valuable instrument in the lives of others. Yet it’s also so tender and heart-driven, that unlike my past careers and templated planning for life goals, I have a continued desire to treat this differently. I desire to allow this to grow not only as I intend, but in the abundance I know it can, with God’s direction!

I raise my hand high over here to share that it’s been hard to not hustle and propel my vision and message forward with the entrepreneur mentality that I have! But I desire this platform to be based on pure authenticity—and grow according to the need.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t take great steps and leaps forward!

“Doing” is at the forefront of my belief-system. The emphasis is on taking designed intentional steps forward.

My dedication to this philosophy of ‘taking designed intentional steps forward’, has caused me to recognize that making intentional decisions has a direct connection to having a keen awareness to listen.

It’s laying down self-satisfaction, which can easily become an autopilot-style way of living, and not only hearing what you want to hear, but hearing what you don’t want to hear.

I imagine most will agree that we each know what we want or desire out of life?

But have we become too complacent? Too self-satisfied? Have we only been listening to what we desire to hear and basing our decisions and actions accordingly?

These questions aren’t provided to scare us into living a static life—but instead to get us moving into the direction that we were uniquely intended. (this is the execute part of making designed and intentional decisions).

To better equip us to listen and do with what is aligned with our hearts, let’s break-down three tactics when making decisions—listen, designed, intentional—or ‘listening with designed intention’:

1. Listen: to hear, pay attention to, welcome, receive

2. Designed: to create, accomplish, execute

3. Intentional: to do with purpose, unforced, examined, well-chosen, well-advised

If I were to create a definition from these above synonyms about making a decision it might look like this:

To pay attention to and welcome, what I am to create, with purpose!

If you find yourself spinning in circles in regards to where your life is moving (or not moving), quiet the chaos and take ample time to ask yourself what/whom you’re listening to. Perhaps the feedback from people or experiences happening around you, have caused a deviation from the truth within your heart.

It’s never too late to realign your thinking with your heart.

(remember the God-source of your heart!)

So here’s the challenge for us all: Do some heart-work, and take internal inventory. Accept where you are and redefine how intentionally listening can direct/re-direct your next steps—in various areas of your life!

For more, listen to this video riff below:

Your relationship with someone, your current lifestyle, business, family, upcoming project or a personal decision that you are in the midst of making—can all be filtered through in confidence, knowing each decision, leads you to steps of growth,

Be you, and thrive!

xo~ ‘D’ (dannielle)

Learn more about me and my heart’s message

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