b’vive.

Three simple steps to help you feel more grounded this week

The plane almost didn’t land on the tropical island of our spring break dreams.

When it finally did, it wasn’t the sunny paradise we had imagined. Gray skies. Sheets of rain. A flash flood warning across the island. Locals said they hadn’t seen weather like this in decades.

And then when the power went out, my daughter laughed out loud.

“This is going to be so funny in two days.”

She was right. I just wasn’t there yet.

We often think of travel and vacation as times that might throw off our healthy habits like meal planning, exercise routines and good sleep hygiene. And that’s true. But what about when it throws off something even more fundamental?

My typical high energy and positive attitude were on very muddy ground.

On the first morning of our far-from-perfect vacation, I was writing what felt like a list of pathetic gratitudes.

Grateful for the birds, I wrote.

Birds?

I’m on a tropical island surrounded by ocean and I’m writing about the same birds I see at home? I actually laughed at myself. I was emotionally drained and trying desperately to stop the unraveling.

And then I saw it.

I had never named how I wanted to feel.

I had never actually set an intention for this trip.

Where intention begins

But you didn’t come here to hear about my vacation woes. Here’s the thing:

So many of us are incredibly good at managing our lives and the emotions around us. Juggling all of the things like work responsibilities, family dynamics and overlapping logistics.

We choose to be the keeper of all of those things. And also, we can choose how we want to feel while living it.

Once I did, everything shifted.

What my heart truly wanted wasn’t perfect weather. Or the Instagram-worthy sunset on the beach.

I wanted to feel the luxury of spaciousness and the sparkle of connection.
I wanted to feel the abundance of joy inside the moments we were given.

And suddenly, the birds made sense.

I could see my choices more clearly.

This is why intention matters. Intention is a lighthouse, guiding our thoughts, shaping what we notice and driving our behaviors.

And it’s those small behaviors that help us build a better-than-perfect life.

A practice for everyday life

Intention isn’t just for vacations and special occasions. It’s for everyday life. So for you, maybe it’s not spring break gone wrong, maybe it looks like:

A demanding work week.
A stretch where everything feels just slightly harder than expected.
An event you are preparing with equal parts optimism and dread.

Whatever it is, intention helps us make choices that serve our better selves.

A simple way to start living with intention

If you’re curious, start with three simple steps:

Feel the feels.
Close your eyes and imagine how you want to feel this week, this event, this season. Not what you want to accomplish. Not what you want to fix. How you actually want to feel living inside it.

Name what matters.
Our values are always part of us. But what we prioritize is what actually guides our decisions. What matters most in this season? What gets your best energy instead of your leftover energy?

Claim the win.
We all have a tendency to run on impulse or habit. Instead, ask yourself: What are 2–3 choices I could make that support how I want to feel and what matters most in this season?

What intention changes

Intention doesn’t make everything go smoothly.

It just makes your next choice more clear. More intuitive. Not in an effort to control the outcome, but in an effort to lead your experience.

A flash flood didn’t ruin our vacation. But moving through it without intention might have.

We can’t control the weather. We can’t always control the schedule or what shows up at the potluck party.

But we can decide how we want to show up inside it.

By the way, it rained everyday on our vacation. And everyday, I joined my daughter in laughing about it.

That’s the practice. That’s the difference between surviving a season and actually living it.

If you want support with this

If this resonates and you want to go deeper, naming your intention and building a rhythm that helps you actually live it (not just write it down once and forget it), you can sign up for the b’vive love letter and I’ll send you the Glow Guide.

It walks you through the full process I use with my coaching clients to move from intention into real life change. This is the same work I do with women who want to feel like themselves again instead of just managing everything.

This is the work. Not perfection. Not discipline. And certainly not someone else’s rules. It starts with your intention.

Because living a better-than-perfect life doesn’t come from trying harder. It starts with choosing on purpose.

If this is a season where you’re wanting to feel more grounded, supported and intentional, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

Be well, my lovelies.