Being intentional, with Chris Bailey

I'm so excited to get out into the world.

behind what we're doing. But just because we set an intention to do something thing doesn't mean that we'll actually follow through with that thing. So is this idea of follow through and that idea of intentionality it really like, for the last ten years or so, I've really fundamentally believed that it's intentionality that lives at the core of productivity.

But then again, the idea of that is quite beautiful, But when the rubber meets the road on a daily basis, we have to actually be able to follow through with those things, and so it was almost the disconnect between why do we not always follow through with the intentions that we set observing that that really got me curious about the research and what strings we can pull on behind the scenes in order to overcome the mental resistance.

We have, the procrastination, we have the fact that some things feel meaningless, all that good stuff that's in the book.

in their lives to do so. So I'm curious how they what are the factors that lead to somebody finishing or not finishing on an intention.

and grace and things like that. But there's not really any research behind that when you actually dig into that kind of stuff, but there is. It turns out on human values and values. They're essentially the motivational core of who we are, and it's this whole, essentially gold mine of scientific research on what motivates us on a deep and fundamental level. So from a broad perspective, there's twelve main values. We all share them, but in different amounts.

So some of us value self direction, going our own way, with creativity, productivity. I'd imagine a lot of before Breakfast listeners are in that boat. Others values. Others of us value tradition. Some people value power and face and humility and universalism, which is loving and respecting the nature and other people there's benevolence. There's stimulation, which is you know, the excitement, the novelty that we can experience in the moment.

There's you know, the list goes up. There's twelve of them, and so we all have these in different amounts, and every task that we have to do is connected to

one or more of these values. So if you have to write some boring thing, some handbook project or something at work, this is an example I keep coming back to because this was I have vivid memories of having to write one when I worked at Alcatel lousen To telecom company here in Ottawa, and it was so aversive because I felt like it was something that I had to do. You know, it kind of mapped with the value of conformity almost because it was just something that

I needed to do and not really connect with. I didn't really connect with it. But I happen to value benevolence highly, which is helping and serving other people. And so when I reframed it to mentor new employees through the handbook project, for myself, it was the same task. It was just the way that I approached the thing was far far more motivating. So you're exactly right, that there are those multiple levels of motivation and follow through

that we need to focus on. That's kind of the broad level of how what does our relationship with the things that we have to get done look like? And then there's the day to day, which is of course fun to chat about too, But I've gone on for long enough. We'll talk about that thing about.

guilty about that, by the way, you know. So that's an important thing, just as if you value tradition and you want to live a traditional life or a conformity and you want to work in that fid whatever it is,

don't feel guilty your values. They're fundamental human things. And so there was a story that I shared in the book where I was training for a marathon way back when, over two decades ago, which really hurts to say it at this point in my life, Laura, but I essentially got to the point where I was running for hours on the treadmill in the basement because it was winter time at the time, and I just kind of thought, Okay, I could run the marathon now, and so I stopped

training entirely. And I know, like, it's so fascinating how the way that we look at the world and interpret the world is informed through the lens of what we value. Because somebody who values achievement, whose highest value is achievement, they might look at that story and think, what is wrong with this guy? Like he was so close. All he needed to do was wait until summertime and keep up like a just a basic maintenance schedule with his running.

But honestly, my highest value is self direction, going my own way. And so once I could see that I had been you know that it was a meaningful experience that I could do it. I went my own way and got to the point where I could have run the marathon, I was happy. I was filled. Achievement is kind of a middling value. It's not super low for me, it's not super high for me. It's kind of in

the middle. I'm not really driven to achieve things for the sake of having achieved them, And so when I looked at it, when I think back, I think, oh, like that was a really meaningful thing that I did training for that marathon, but it wouldn't be meaningful for somebody else who values something like achievement, which I find it just fascinating. So values there are motivational core, but they're also the broader, broader principles that we strive for

in our lives, and so it's fascinating. They motivate us, they create meaning for us, and there's that deep, deep research behind them, which is really what you want want to see when you apply tactics for a topic like that.

to go for a walk. It's kind of like what you say, Laura. I'm going to butcher this, by the way, but you say something along the lines of like, if you don't take a break yourself, your brain will take one for you. Is that close?

our attention to focus on something. We do have that upper limit of about four hours. And so if you're mapping out your day and defining your daily intentions, for an example, really think and reflect on how much focused work you have to do that day. You know, there's some meetings that we can kind of zone off in. Sometimes there's admin work that doesn't require our full attentional capacity. But when it comes to the real focus work, we

do have that natural limit. And so this is I think something else that's critical to keep in mind that we have a natural capacity for being able to follow through on the things that requires some mental energy and attention, and so really work within those limits or else you'll be fighting against them. And so there are these ways make your work more naturally motivating by a line it

with your values. When you don't have autonomy, there are you know, take on projects that fire you up because you'll be able to be productive on them for longer

when work. And this is you know, the pithy old saying find a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life is true though in the research, because you have to regulate your attention to focus on caring about it less often, and so you actually go further with the things that you love, and so there's a lot of tangential strategies in there too.

to them in terms of me. I think you have a quote that the less you want to do something, the shorter your process goals duration should be, so that you know, if you keep something to five minutes a day, it feels like nothing, but you do five minutes a day over and over again, it does add up.

matter how many feet you put after one another. And this is another thing that I find fascinating about, this idea of becoming more intentional, where like you're saying, you know, we have these these shorter term goals, we have these longer term goals. We have these values which are essentially our ultimate intentions in our life there or what we strive to get out of a life. And it's fascinating, you know. One of the things when you look at

the research, there's a lot of different disparate parts of intentionality. Right. We have our momentary intentions right right now listening to this podcast for us chatting on the podcast. We have the plans that this are a part of. We have the goals that are broader than that. We have the priorities that are broader than that. We have the values that are broader than that too, each taking place over

an increasingly long time span. And so in the book, I introduced this idea that I've come to really rely on in my own life in planning out my goals and planning out my plans and stuff called the intention stack, where it's essentially all those layers of intentionality stacked on top of one another right present moment, to the plans, to the goals, to the priorities, to the values that we all have. These are all just different words, different

containers for this idea of becoming intentional. The difference is the time frame and how these different layers of intentionality in our life can work together. It's quite beautiful in a way.

across talking points in other words. But looking at this book, I really just want to be present in the conversation. There's no notes in front of me, Laura, there's no notes in front of me. I don't even have the

list of values, but I probably should. I probably should have that one, so I don't drop like a big one, but really just being present in what I'm doing in the new year, especially when things get hectic, you know, when speaking picks up with the book, when the media picks up with the book, I really want to be there to enjoy it because I personally this one feels special to me in a way where you know, it's kind of been incubating these things for ten years or so,

and so it just feels like almost therapeutic to get this book out there into the world. So yeah, just being present in all that.

love the idea of being a morning person, Laura. I love the idea of waking up at five or whatever and getting the morning paper off the doorstep and getting a nice coffee or a cup of tea, going and meditating and going for a But when an next it comes time to implement a change like this into my life, I realize that I hate rituals like this. I'd much rather sleep in and you know, slumber out of bed

and then grab the paper off the doorstep. So it's this idea of CPA tone goals that I've really come to think of these as where often we love the idea of a change, but we really don't want the practical implications of that change. So this is there's a great quote I think it's from and Lamont where she wrote that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. I think I have the person right there and Lamont or Mary Oliver one of the two

flip a coin. But the idea is we have these ideas of a lot of these grand changes that we want to make to our life, but we don't think about the day to day. You know, we want to write a book, but what does that actually look like on a daily or a weekly basis? To write that? But we want to run a marathon? Well what does that actually look like on a daily and weekly basis?

And so it goes back to that idea of the intention stack, where a goal it should be connected with what we value because that'll be the motivational propellant that we need. And similarly, it should be connected with the broader priorities in our life that we can observe. But it also needs to connect with the plans that we have in the daily actions that we take, because if

it's not God help us in achieving the goal. We need to think through all of the different layers of intentionality so that something isn't just some idea fantasy, cp a tone bontage that we wish to have and make in our life. It becomes this tangible A goal should really be a tangible representation of a change, of a journey, of a story that we're going to go on with our life. And so I think that's so critical to keep in mind.

It's just sense pleasure. So one thing I've started to do, because I, you know, I wasn't enjoying the gym to the extent that I could have or should have, is I started to treat the gym like a spa. And so I go there and I make sure I have a bit more time. I'll, you know, make sure I have a time for the shower. After I switched gym, so they have like fancy, fancy or shampoo and stuff. It's more luxurious. It's only twenty dollars more a month, and I go more. I go more often because it's

so pleasurable. It's so luxurious. It's eighty dollars Canadian a month, which is probably like fifty five US. So it's not crazy either, but it's very nice. So treating the things that I'm struggling with kind of like a spa is a weird tactic, But that frame for me where it becomes more about the heaton is the heatonistic side of of the experience. It negates a lot of the aversion that I have around so the gym. Treating the gym like a spa, if you're struggling with a gym routine.

Treat it like a spa. By God, you're gonna love it.

ending this on a plug. I'm I'm I don't love plugging stuff actually, but as a as a Canadian, you know, But I'm so excited to share these ideas with the world and to see that people connect with these values, especially because they're they're like what motivate us at at Even if you don't buy the book, think about how the values that that we've been chatting about today, how they influence your goals, your level of motivation, your level

of meaning in your day. I'm so excited to to just shout from the mountaintop about these twelve values because I think they're they're going to help a lot of people out and see their motivations and the motivations of other people actually differently as well. So that's what I'm hoping for.