The other day I was at a social function and was fossicking through the non alcoholic beverages looking for something that was sugar free. At first I didn’t see anything and was about to settle for the full sugar version, thinking I would offset the calories later, when a friend of mine, who had helped to organise the event called out “There’s a diet soda in there somewhere!” It was quickly located down the bottom of the pile as my friend explained to our other friend handing out the drinks that I was intentionally not drinking sugary drinks, even though I’d never said anything or even looked disappointed at what I thought was the absence of diet soda. I knew that having to settle for a sugary drink, or water wasn’t going to be a big bump on my road to an intentional life so I wasn’t stressing out.

It was really cool that even though my friend was laughing as she talked about my intentional life, she had understood the fundamental principles behind my health goals and knew that I would go for a sugar free drink if I could and wanted to help.

It’s both encouraging and motivating when the people around us support our vision and goals and want us to succeed on our path, even if it differs from their own. It reinforces our own commitment and can actually help in solidifying our determination to succeed.  

While I’m not advocating standing in the middle of the room shouting, “I am living an intentional life, I must not be exposed to sugar!” I think that telling a few good friends what you are trying to achieve and accepting their support and encouragement is a great way to further make intentional living a part of your whole lifestyle, not just a private set of goals.

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist