Every worthwhile goal comes with obstacles.

The difference between men who succeed and those who don’t? Perseverance.

When the motivation fades and the challenges come, will you quit? Or will you keep pushing forward?

The Shift: Expect challenges. When they come, remind yourself why you started. Push through, even when it’s hard. That’s where true growth happens.

Living with good intentions is a great start—but it’s not enough.

Which of these five areas do you need to shift from intention to intentionality?

Decide today to take action. Don’t wait for the “perfect time”—there’s no such thing. Start now.

Let’s live with purpose. Let’s live with intention. 🔥

I know that if you are here with me right now, you are a man that wants to live intentionally. You are a man that desires to be a good man, a good husband, a good father. 

You have dreams. You have goals. You have things in your life that you want to accomplish.

I believe you have a sincere desire to make the most of your life and to make an impact on the world. 

If I were to ask you, would you rather accomplish your dreams or live with regrets, what would you say? Pretty obvious answer right.

If I were to ask you if you would rather be a decent father or a great father, what would you say? Of course you would say great! 

If I were to ask you if you would rather be in amazing physical shape with a ton of energy or to be in bad shape with little energy, what would you say?

Again, the answer is obvious, I’m sure you would prefer to be in great shape. 

Ask any guy these questions and you will most likely get all the same answers. 

But not everyone has these results in their life right? So what is the disconnect? 

What I have found is that there is a big difference between having good intentions for your life and actually living with intentionality.

There is a big difference between wanting good things, and actually having them.

There is a big difference between wanting and doing. A big difference between desires and actually taking action.

Having good intentions is a great start! It’s where you must begin! But you cannot just stop at good intentions…you cannot just stop at wanting and hoping. You must take the next step to actually living intentionally, taking action, and doing the things that you get you the results that you want.

Today I want to give you 5 areas in which you must move from good intentions to intentionality. These are 5 of the most common that I have seen in working with men.

It is really easy to find yourself in these 5 areas of you’re not be truly intentional and proactive with your life.

Here are the 5 most common areas where people get stuck in good intentions instead of intentionality. 

Number 1,

A man with only good intentions reacts to the day. A man who is truly intentional is proactive each day.

There is a big difference between a proactive day and a reactive day.

A reactive day means you go through the day and just react to your mood, circumstances, the requests of others, whatever responsibilities are thrown at you, or whatever situations you find yourself in. 

You don’t have a plan for the day. You coast through the day and hope that it goes well. You let how treat others be dictated by how you are feeling that day instead of intentionally taking time to think through how you want to treat others. 

You don’t know what tasks you need to do that day that will lead you closer to your long-term vision. You don’t know what actions you need to take that will keep you in alignment with your values. 

If you are having a good day, you feel happy. If things don’t go well, you let that effect every other part of your day.

On the other hand, when you are being proactive, you wake up each morning with purpose. You plan out your day. You know your priorities. You have clarity on the things you need to do that day that will have the most impact.

Most importantly, you make sure to give the proper time and attention to the things that are most important in your life. If God is a main priority, you carve out time to spend with him.

You plan time in your schedule for your most important relationships…and then you take it a step further and think about how you want to interact with them. You think through ways you can encourage them and build them up. You take a minute before going in your house to leave the stresses of work at the door and go in with intentionality.

Can you see the difference? When you react to the day, you will let you mood and circumstances dictate if it’s a good day or not. When you are proactive, you know how you want to treat others, how you want to spend your time, and what would make that day a win. 

Big difference. People with only good intentions react to their circumstances and hope things go well. People who live with intentionality make sure they are living in alignment with their mission, vision and values.

Number 2,

Good intentioned people only talk about their dreams and their goals - people who live with intentionality take consistent action.

You know the difference between people who accomplish their dreams and those who don’t - action. The people who accomplish their dreams took consistent action. 

Taking action is hard. It takes time and effort. It takes discipline. It takes focus and energy.

But it is the price that you must pay in order to get the results you want. 

It seems that everything in life that is worth having is on the other side of work. It’s on the other side of action.

If you want to have a strong, close marriage for your whole life, you can’t just talk about it. You must put in the work in order to have that. You must identify the actions that you need to take on a consistent basis that will help you build it.

If you want to have a strong, healthy body, you need to consistently eat healthy and exercise. 

If you want a close relationship with the Lord, you need to consistently spend time with him. 

I know that you know this, but let me ask you, are you taking consistent action on the things that you say matter the most to you?

It’s too easy to talk about our dreams or talk about our desires, but then not actually put in the work to make them happen.

Make sure you are a man who takes action…who does what’s necessary to live the life that you desire. 

Number 3,

People with good intentions say “I will start tomorrow” - but people are intentional say “I must start today.”

Tomorrow is the killer of so many dreams. How many times have you put something off thinking that you will get around to it and then you never do?

It’s easy to think that there will be a better time in the future to do things, but the reality is, your life will be just as busy or more busy in the future.

The best time to get started is now. If you know you want to make a change or you know you want to pursue a dream, do it today! Just get started. 

So many dreams die because they were never even started. 

The Law of Diminishing Intent states - the longer that you wait to do something, the less likely you are to actually doing it. 

You might think the chances are better if you put it off, but it usually is the opposite, chances are it will never get done. 

What is that thing you know you should be doing that you are putting off? 

Right now is the best time to do it. Don’t wait until the future. Get started now or you might never actually get started. 

You have good intentions for wanting to do it, but take it a step further and move from good intentions to intentionality - get started now! 

Number 4, 

Good intentioned people hope to have good relationships - people who live with intentionally proactively invest in their relationships. They have a plan in place. They take time to initiate. They don’t wait and hope things are good, they make things happen.

When I was married, I always said that we had a God-centered marriage. That was truly my desire. It was my intention. 

I thought that because we were both believers and spent our own time with God, that we had a God-centered relationship.

But I didn’t have a plan of how we would actually make sure our relationship was God-centered. I didn’t give it intentional thought. I didn’t come up with specific ways where we could really connect and grow together in our relationship with the Lord.

I should have put way more thought and effort into this and knew what things we would need to do together to make sure this was a priority in our lives…whether that was praying together each night, going to a small group together, reading a Bible study together, or just asking more intentional questions…

Husbands, do you have a plan in place to make sure you have a God-centered marriage?

Fathers, do you have a plan in place to intentionally disciple your children

If you aren’t married or have kids, do you know who your closest friends are and how you want to truly invest in their lives? Are you taking the initiative to organize time to spend with your friends? Are you the one to make the call to check up on a friend?

It is too easy to go through each day and hope that you have deep relationships but never actually take the initiative to purposefully and intentionally form those relationships. 

And the last one, number 5

People with Good intentions quit when things get hard - people who live with intentionality persevere and keep going when they face obstacles.

When you set a goal or you start pursuing a dream, it typically follows a similar process.

Something happens in your life where you get the motivation to make a change. 

So you start off with a lot of motivation and excitement. You are pumped to get going and so you start taking action. 

Your first couple of weeks usually go pretty well because this is new and you are still feeling motivated. 

But then you start to encounter some obstacles - either the change is harder than you thought it would be, or maybe you aren’t seeing progress as fast as you wanted to, or maybe some external factors are making things difficult.

You now aren’t feeling that huge sense of motivation. You are realizing this might be more work than you thought.

This is the pivotal moment in each goal journey. 

At this point, will you quit and retreat back to comfort and the way things were? Or will you persevere and push through?

This is what will truly determine if things just stay as good intentions, or if you actually get results?

Are you someone who is willing to truly keep going when the unexpected happens or when the results don’t come quick enough or when you lose motivation?

This is the price that has to be paid to get that meaningful result. It always follows this pattern. There is always a time where you are met with challenges and you must decide if you are going to keep going or not. 

What you do in these moments is what will truly define you. 

One of my favorite quotes is from Martin Luther King Jr and he says “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” 

The ultimate measure of a man is how he handles challenge…will you quit? Or will you persevere?

I believe that you are a man that is going to persevere! I believe you are a man that is going to do what’s necessary to move from good intentions to true intentional living. 

I hope today was truly inspiring, encouraging, and helpful for you! I’m proud of you for being a man that invests in your growth! 

Please share this with someone you know. Leave any thoughts, questions, or comments that you might have as well.

Thank you for joining me today! Go live a life you’re proud of by living intentionally!