We have entered the season of Lent, a time in the Western Christian tradition marked by forty days of preparation for Easter. This season is often characterized by self-reflection, self-awareness, and sometimes self-denial. Last week on the podcast, I talked about this, and today, I want to explore a specific practice that has helped me focus my heart and mind more intentionally during Lent: setting a daily intention.
What Does It Mean to Set an Intention?
You might ask, what does it mean to set an intention? And honestly, I’ve wrestled with that myself. If you’re anything like me, you might have grown up hearing the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” That sentiment can make us skeptical about whether intentions matter. But I’ve found that setting an intention at the beginning of the day helps me bring focus to what I hope to carry through the day—not as a way to measure success or failure, but as a way to cultivate awareness.
Intentions aren’t about productivity or achieving some grand transformation overnight. They are about presence. They help us tune into our choices, our habits, and our reactions in a way that gently reshapes how we move through the world.
My Own Experience
Recently, I realized I was spending too much time on my phone—scrolling through social media, reading the news, or just picking it up out of habit. Often, I walked away from these moments feeling frustrated, distracted, or even anxious. So on Saturday, I set a simple intention: look at my phone less. Not avoid it entirely, not measure how many times I checked it—just be mindful of using it less.
By the end of the day, I noticed something surprising. I hadn’t thought much about my phone at all. I had been more present in my surroundings, more engaged in my moments. In fact, I was so detached from my usual phone habits that I almost missed the time change that night! And yet, I didn’t feel like I had deprived myself of anything important. Instead, I felt freed.
Intentions Without Judgment
The beauty of setting an intention is that it’s not about success or failure. It’s not a rule to follow rigidly. If you set an intention and find yourself drifting away from it, that’s okay. The point is not to add another layer of self-judgment. Instead, it’s about awareness.
For example, on another day, my intention was to take myself less seriously. It’s something I struggle with. Throughout that day, I caught myself slipping into old patterns—overanalyzing, stressing, getting caught up in my own seriousness. But because I had set an intention, I noticed these moments more clearly. I didn’t stop them all, but I was able to laugh at myself a little. And that, in itself, was a step forward.
Intentions can be about letting go of something, like my phone habit, or embracing something, like kindness or lightness of heart. The key is to approach them with grace.
It’s Never Too Late to Start
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, Well, we’re already a week into Lent. Is it too late to start? The answer is simple: it’s never too late. If something is worth practicing, then beginning today is just as valuable as having begun last week.
Likewise, if you try setting intentions and find that the practice doesn’t work for you, that’s okay too. If it becomes another reason to judge yourself, let it go. But if it helps—even in small ways—it can be a gentle, meaningful way to approach your days with greater presence and care.
So today, I invite you to try it. Pick something small. Something that has been blocking your full engagement with life. Set an intention—not as a way to prove yourself, but as a way to step into greater awareness and freedom.
And as always, remember this:
You are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.
Infinitely Precious 