I’m a list person. If you ask me, I will tell you that I have a LIST of all my lists. (Don’t laugh…that might be true but, I can neither confirm nor deny that.)

I jot down lists for grocery shopping, errands, work-related tasks, gifts, books I want to read, music I want to buy, places I want to vist, and an assortment of tasks “To Do”. Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming.

We create this huge lists of things “To Do” and find ourselves overwhelmed by the sheer number and the feeling that we must complete them all – NOW – or else.

Years ago, I started to do things a little bit differently. I still have a running “To Do” list but I also started giving myself a “To BE” list for the day. Before I get out of bed, I lay there clearing my mind, envisioning the kind of day I want to have. Envisioning how I want to show up that day, how I want to move through the day. Once I have that intention in my mind, I let my mind wander to the specifics, the details of the day – the “To Do” list.

Normally, I think of a word or a few words to brace my intention. For example, today my intention is to be Loving, Productive, Healthy and Grateful. (It should be noted that Loving and Grateful are ALWAYS on my list. Yes. ALWAYS)

I’m going to challenge myself right now to come up with an alphabetical list of how I want “To BE” today. Let’s see…

A – Aware
B – Blessed
C – conscientious
D – Determined
E – Empowered
F – Fearless
G – Grateful
H – Helpful
I – Intuitive
J – Joyful
K – Kind
L – Loving
M – Mindful
N – Nice
O – Open
P – Purposeful
Q – Quiet
R – Respectful
S – Serene
T – Thoughtful
U – Unwavering
V – Victorious
W – Willing
X – eXcited (ok, I cheated with this one LOL)
Y – Youthful
Z -Zen

I encourage you to create your own “To BE” list each day. Pick 2-4 intentions for how you want to show up that day. Let those items be the foundation for how you move through the day.

I find that when I concentrate on those “To BE” items, all else falls into place with ease. When I feel the events of the day jarring me out of that place of calm, I simply slow down, breathe deep, clear my mind and use one of my “To BE” words as a mantra to help restore my sense of balance, calm and focus.

Try it. You just might like it.

**Note: I’ve blogged about this a few times in the past but…the post I’m looking for must be on my old blog so, here’s a quick link to a previous post: