Setting Intentional Goals for a Fulfilling Life
The day you decide who you want to be, your to‑do list changes. Your calendar stops bossing you around. You stop chasing what looks good and start building what feels true.
That’s the heart of Alina Shahnazari’s book, Who Do You Want to Be? It’s a loving, no‑nonsense guide for anyone ready to design a life that feels joyful and original. Shahnazari writes with warmth and clarity, drawing from research, personal lessons, and years of watching what actually works in real lives. Her promise is simple: when your daily choices line up with your deepest desires, you feel lighter, calmer, and more alive—and that’s when lasting success begins to grow .
The Life-Changing Question Behind Every Goal
The question that powers the entire book is quiet but brave: “So what do you want?” Shahnazari urges us to remember what lit us up at ages seven and fourteen—before grades, likes, and job titles crowded our hearts. Those memories are clues to your real desires. Until you bring them back into your days, you’ll struggle to feel truly fulfilled .
This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about alignment. According to Shahnazari, true happiness isn’t tied to one role or achievement. It comes from inner peace—an alignment between who you are, what you value, and how you live across all areas of your life .
What “Intentional” Really Means
Being intentional means living on purpose. You decide who you want to be and let that decision guide your choices—how you speak, what you focus on, and where you spend your time. Shahnazari pairs that decision with a powerful tool: imagination. “Decide what kind of life you truly want, use the power of your imagination and start becoming the person that matches your vision… beginning today!”
This is more than feel‑good advice. Neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire at any age—means your thoughts and habits can change, and that change can change your results. You decide with your conscious mind, then your subconscious quietly works to find pathways that match your intention. In Shahnazari’s words, your subconscious is a “goal‑seeking device” that keeps looking for ways to help you reach what you’ve clearly set before it .
From Drifting to Designing
- Drifting: You let others’ ideas define your success. You collect tasks and distractions. You get busy, not better.
- Designing: You slow down, ask what you truly want, and align your daily steps with that answer. You grow the life you want, one clear choice at a time.
Shahnazari frames this shift with a whole‑life lens. Build an inspiring 3–5 year vision for all areas of life—health, work, relationships, learning, creativity—and keep your eyes on that bigger picture. Celebrate small wins along the way, even the tiny ones. They count. They keep you moving with purpose .
The Golden Habit: Morning Intention
Shahnazari recommends connecting to your vision every morning—before messages and chores pull you away. Look at your vision board, feel the joy of the life you’re building, then set a simple daily intention that matches your long‑term aim. Keep it light. “Easy does it.” Save hard pushes for short sprints when you’re close to finishing something meaningful .
Why it works: mornings are a “sacred space” when your analytical mind is quiet and your subconscious is ready to absorb what you feed it. Use those minutes, she says, to “create the life you want” with clear mental pictures and calm focus .
How to Set Intentional Goals That Actually Fit You
1) Begin with a Whole‑Life Vision
Write a one‑paragraph snapshot of your life in 3–5 years. Include work, health, relationships, finances, play, and service. Ask: Who am I in this vision? Calm? Bold? Kind? This long‑term picture creates energy and direction; it’s healthy for the mind and body and keeps you engaged through ups and downs. Celebrate each small win to stay on the path .
2) Decide and Imagine, Daily
Each morning, revisit your vision for two minutes. Set one intention that fits it: “Today I will listen before I speak,” or “Today I will move my body for 20 minutes.” You are practicing the person you’re becoming, and your brain learns from repetition and emotion. This is the quiet work that changes results over time .
3) Choose Goals Rooted in True Desire
If your goal isn’t connected to your real desire, you’ll fight yourself—and probably stall. Use Shahnazari’s memory prompt: What made you lose track of time at seven or fourteen? Bring at least one of those activities back into your week. It sounds simple, but it reconnects you to what genuinely fuels you .
4) Design Your Attitude
Attitude isn’t a mood you hope for. It’s something you design—how you think, feel, and act in the world. Write an “I choose” statement that supports your vision: “I choose curiosity over control,” or “I choose gratitude in hard moments.” People with this kind of attitude become magnets for healthy opportunities because they respond to life with steadiness and clear boundaries .
5) Shape an Environment Where Your Goals Can Grow
Treat your goal like a seed. It needs the right soil: supportive people, helpful routines, and a space free from constant negativity. Protect new ideas from quick criticism; let them take root in you first by connecting emotionally to them. Water the seed with hopeful, steady feelings so your body “remembers” and follows through .
6) Use the 80/20 Lens and Drop Busy Work
Most of your results come from a few key actions. Find those actions. Let go of the rest. Shahnazari has watched many people work themselves into exhaustion for no real gain. Calm, focused moves often beat frantic effort. Keep big pushes for the final stretch of important projects. The rest of the time, simplify and rest well .
7) Learn Quickly from Detours
Shahnazari breaks down “failure” into four clear checks:
- Was this goal your true desire? If not, realign.
- If yes, did your approach work? Reflect, adjust, and try again.
- Is your environment supportive? Change the soil.
- Are limiting beliefs blocking you? Name them and do the inner work to remove them. This is what opens “magical doors” to your next level .
8) Celebrate Small Wins, Daily
Even “I got out of bed” counts on hard days. These small wins are proof that you stayed on your path. They feed your motivation and help you keep going with patience and purpose .
9) Take Wise Risks
If a step is safe to recover from and helps you learn—take it. If you repeat the same safe moves, you repeat the same life. Shahnazari’s advice: be bold, kind, and grateful; try new doors and trust your ability to learn from what happens next .
10) Keep Your Mind and Body in the Same Conversation
Thoughts trigger feelings, which shape your actions. Notice how a thought changes your breath, shoulders, and stomach. Build the skill of choosing thoughts that steady your body; steady bodies make better choices. This inner chain—thoughts to feelings to actions to results—is where lasting change begins .
A Short Story You Can See Yourself In
A friend wanted to “get healthy,” but nothing stuck. After reading Who Do You Want to Be?, she stopped tracking 20 things and chose two: a 20‑minute walk and one colorful meal a day. She made it simple, then protected her “seed”—she told one supportive friend, put her shoes by the door, and kept her vision in sight. When progress slowed, she used Shahnazari’s four checks: true desire (yes), approach (mornings worked better), environment (snacks moved out of sight), and belief (“I’m not athletic” became “I care for my future”). Three months later, she wasn’t racing a finish line. She was living a different kind of day.
This is what Shahnazari means by becoming a person of intention: “From the moment you wake up until you go to sleep, you are living and breathing the person of your vision” .
What to Do When You Feel Stuck or Tired
Shahnazari’s gentle reminder: stop trying to control everything. When you release the urge to force outcomes, your mind opens and you see new paths you couldn’t see before. Most days don’t need a hard push. They need calm, clear action—and rest. That’s not laziness; it’s wisdom. It’s how you keep your joy alive while you grow .
And when it’s time to push, you’ll know. She compares it to building a boat: daily cuts and fits, day after day, with the joy of the finished ride in your mind. When the boat is nearly ready, that last push feels natural—and deeply satisfying. You can almost feel the water under you already .
Why These Practices Will Still Work Years From Now
- They’re grounded in alignment, not trends. When your goals match your true desires and values, you stop fighting yourself, and your progress lasts .
- They respect how your brain changes. Clear decisions and repeated imagination rewire habits at any age, making the next right choice easier to make and keep .
- They’re simple enough to repeat for life. Morning intentions, small wins, 80/20 focus, supportive environments, wise risks—these tools are timeless and practical .
A Few Timeless, Do‑Today Practices
- Two‑Minute Morning: Read your vision. Set one intention. Picture yourself living it for 60 seconds. Then take the next small step .
- The “Seven or Fourteen” Test: List three things you loved at 7 and 14. Schedule one for this week. Even 20 minutes counts .
- Attitude Script: Write one “I choose” line that fits your vision. Read it before hard moments today .
- Seed Protection: Share new goals with one supportive person. Reduce one negative input. Keep your reminders visible .
- 80/20 List: Write down all your tasks. Circle the two that truly move your goal. Do those first. Delay the rest .
- Four Checks for Stuck Days: True desire? Right approach? Supportive environment? Limiting beliefs? Adjust and keep going .
The Heart Behind the Book
Shahnazari wrote Who Do You Want to Be? as a gift to her daughters and to anyone who longs for a clearer, kinder way to live. She left a dream job, studied people from many walks of life, and pieced together a map for creating a joyful, meaningful life—one built on intention, imagination, and steady action. “Life is short, precious and a gift,” she writes. The book is direct and warm, meant to be used, not just admired on a shelf .
If you carry one sentence in your pocket, let it be hers: “Decide what kind of life you truly want, use the power of your imagination and start becoming the person that matches your vision… beginning today!”
Who do you choose to be—today, in one small action you can take before the day ends?