Intentions

Short guided pieces of writing, each with narrated audio and a transcript. One small thing to do, and the words to go with it.

• I begin again, and it counts Do the smallest version of it today. Five minutes, badly, is a start.
• The first morning in a place that is mine Name one thing you can do this month toward it, and put it in the calendar.
• I finish the thing I started Open the file. Set a timer for twenty minutes. That is the whole assignment.
• I say the thing I have been carrying Send the message. Two sentences. You do not have to solve it in the first one.
• I say it in the room, in my own voice Write your one sentence down before the next meeting. Say that one.
• My body carries me through the day Walk for ten minutes today. Same time tomorrow.
• I am learning something hard, on purpose Fifteen minutes on the hard part. Being bad at it is the assignment.
• I make room to rest without earning it Pick one evening this week. Put it in the calendar with nothing in it.
• I build something that is mine Tell one person what you are making. Out loud, today.
• I am steady for the people who count on me Put the phone in another room for the first ten minutes you are together.
• I take back one quiet hour Block one hour this week and tell one person it is taken.
• I make the call I keep avoiding Write the first sentence down, then dial before you reread it.
• I get outside before the day starts Put your shoes by the door tonight. Ten minutes tomorrow.
• I clear the space I work in Set a timer for ten minutes and clear one surface.
• I say no without a paragraph Reply with one sentence. No explanation is owed.
• I ask for the help I need Name the one specific thing, to the one specific person.
• I start before I feel ready Do the first two minutes. Ready arrives after, not before.
• I put down what is not mine to carry Name one thing that belongs to someone else. Set it down.
• I look at the number I have avoided Open the account. Look once. Write the figure down.
• I finish the thing I keep restarting Fifteen pages tonight. Leave the marker where you stop.
• I feed myself properly tonight Cook one real thing. It does not have to be impressive.
• I put the phone in another room One hour, another room. Set it down before you sit down.
• I go back to the water Find water this week. Sit near it for ten minutes.
• I let one song move me Play the song you love loudly. Move for three minutes.
• I tell someone what they did for me Send the message naming the exact thing they did.
• I go to bed while it is still tonight Set one alarm for bedtime, not just for morning.
• I ask the question I am scared of Write it down. Ask it in the next conversation.
• I reach the friend I lost track of Send two sentences. You do not need an excuse.
• I make something with my hands Twenty minutes on something physical. No screen.
• I look up more than I look down Once today, stop and look at the sky for one full minute.
• You can do it while you are still afraid Do the frightening thing for ten minutes today, while still frightened.
• You are not behind, you are on your own clock Write down one thing you can measure that is yours, and check it weekly.
• You put the hard thing first today Do the task you are dreading before you open anything else.
• You do not need to be chosen Begin the thing today without telling anyone you have begun it.
• You finish it rough rather than never Ship the imperfect version today, before you are comfortable with it.
• You are in the middle, and the middle is the work Do today's ordinary rep and log it, with no assessment of progress.
• You stop running the room in your head Send the message you have been drafting, without a softening preamble.
• You get up, and the count does not matter Restart at half the size you were at before it stopped.
• You give your best hours to your own work Spend your first clear hour on your own work before anyone else's.
• You have the conversation you keep postponing Open the conversation today with one plain sentence and no rehearsal.
• You choose where your attention goes today Remove one thing from your phone that takes attention without returning any.
• You ask for the thing you actually want Make the request today at the size you actually want, with no discount.
• You stop preparing and start doing Do one real attempt today instead of any further preparation.
• You stay in it slightly past comfortable Stay five minutes past the point where you would normally stop.
• You end the thing that has been draining you End one commitment today that you would not start again knowing what you know.
• You only have to carry the first one Write the thing down in one plain sentence, then close the notebook.
• You already passed the line you drew Name one thing you have now that you once described as the goal.
• You would never say that to a friend Say the thing to yourself in the words you would use for a friend.
• You can start without the good version of yourself Do a smaller version of it today at whatever energy you actually have.
• You decide it once, not every morning Turn one recurring choice into a standing rule and say it out loud.
• You stop managing what was never yours Let one person make their own choice today without steering it.
• You are good company when nobody is coming Spend one hour today doing something you would enjoy with company, alone.
• You keep throwing out your own evidence Write down three hard things you have already done, and read them once.
• You already know what the next step is Do the thing you would name if somebody asked you right now.
• You are carrying a day that has not arrived Name what is actually true today, and put tomorrow down until tomorrow.
• You give it your whole self or you let it go Pick one hedged thing and either commit to it fully or end it today.
• You are going to get through this one Do the one thing today that future you would thank you for.
• You are the one who was always going to do this Take the first step on the thing you have been hoping somebody else would handle.
• You do it whether or not you feel like it Do the thing today at the scheduled time regardless of how you feel about it.
• You keep the ones you make to yourself Make one small promise today and keep it before the day ends.
• You count what stopping actually buys Name what quitting would actually give you, then decide honestly.
• You are allowed to enjoy what you built Stop for twenty minutes today and look at something you made.
• You stay yourself when it goes well Keep the ordinary routine today, exactly as it was before the good news.
• You pick the useful one today When the easy option and the useful one appear today, take the useful one once.
• You put it down properly when the work is done Finish at a set time today and do something with no purpose at all.
• You become the room you spend time in Message the person who makes you want to be better, and make a plan.
• You walk toward the thing you flinch from Name the thing you flinched from this week and do the smallest piece of it.
• You are what you keep doing Do one thing today that the person you want to be would obviously do.
• You already know it is the dull one that works Do the boring obvious thing today instead of researching a better one.
• You look after your worst day, not your best Set up one thing today that makes a bad day easier next week.
• You have more of it than you have been saying Track where four hours actually went today, without judging any of it.