Author: Chris Bailey
_Chris Bailey_
Reading time: 20 minutes
Synopsis
Intentional (2025) shows you how to reach your goals. It teaches you to make your daily actions match what is truly important to you. The book uses ten years of research on how to be productive. It also uses ideas from Buddhist thinking. This guide gives useful ways to plan your goals. It helps you stop putting things off. It also teaches you when to stop doing things that are not good for you. Learn how to make being productive easy. It can come naturally from your most important beliefs.
What’s in it for me? Transform your abandoned goals into meaningful achievements.
You probably know this feeling. You feel very excited when you set a new goal. You make good progress for weeks or months. But then… nothing. The goal just disappears. Your running shoes collect dust. Your novel is half-finished. You didn’t keep your New Year’s promises past February.
The problem is that most of us haven’t learned to act with real purpose. This summary explains the interesting science of reaching goals. It shows why some goals feel easy to follow, while others feel like hard work all the time. After reading, you will learn useful ways to match your actions with what you truly believe in. You will also find out when to keep trying, and when to stop. Finally, you will learn methods that make finishing tasks feel natural. It won’t feel like you have to force yourself.
So, if you are ready to stop having plans that never happen, and start reaching goals that are truly important to you, these ideas, supported by research, will show you how. Let’s get started.
Blink 1 – Take control of your autopilot
Did you know that about 40 to 45 percent of what you do each day happens automatically? This means your brain makes decisions for you. For example, you reach for your phone, grab a snack, or check email. You do these things without choosing to do them. Habits can be useful. But they won’t help you reach important goals. To really change, you need to notice what you are doing as you do it.
So, what can you do about it? Here is a way to start. Try to notice the exact moment your brain decides to do something different. For example, try to notice when you reach for your phone while you are doing something else. When does it happen? What makes it happen? Is it boredom? Is it a thought that just came to mind? Is it something that interrupted you? Most people find this very hard. These small decisions are hidden. You can only see them if you practice.
Once you can see these automatic actions, you can start to change them. Pick any regular activity. For example, making coffee, walking downstairs, or washing dishes. Then, slow down on purpose. Notice each small action as it happens: your hand reaching for a cup, your feet hitting the floor, how you react to seeing an empty container. The author did this while getting a snack. He watched every automatic action. Then he purposely chose to wait. He waited until he was upstairs to eat. He did not eat while walking. A small change led to much better awareness.
Seeing your habits is one part of this. The other part is giving yourself time to think about what you really want. Plan regular times when your mind can think freely. Go for walks without listening to podcasts. Take showers without thinking about your to-do list. Cook without background noise. Studies show that during this quiet time for your mind, you will naturally think about your future and your goals for almost half the time. You will also think about goals much more often when your mind wanders. This is compared to when you are busy with a task.
All these ideas work together when you connect what you are doing now to your most important priorities. Imagine a stack of things. At the bottom is what you are doing right now. Above that are your plans for soon. Then your goals. And at the top are your main values. When you match what you are doing now with your main values at the top of the stack, you change. You stop just reacting without thinking. You start acting with a true purpose.
Blink 2 – Discover what truly motivates you
Knowing your values changes how you try to reach goals. Your values are your deepest reasons to do things. They are the main reasons for everything you do. When your goals match these values, you feel motivated easily. It doesn’t feel like a constant hard fight.
Start by finding out which values are most important to you. Twelve main values make all people act the way they do. Some values are about being independent and growing. For example, doing things your own way, excitement, and enjoyment. Some are about your position and being recognized. For example, success, power, and ‘face’. ‘Face’ means you want to protect how others see you.
Other values focus on feeling safe and steady. These are security, tradition, following rules, and being humble. And some values look outwards. Universalism means caring for all people and the planet. Benevolence means being kind and supportive to people you know well. You have all twelve values. But for each person, different ones are most important.
To find out which values are most important to you, try this simple exercise. List the twelve values with what they mean. Then put them in order from most important to least important. Your most important values should feel natural to you. These are things you would never give up. If you are not sure, look at how you spent your time last month. How you spend your time shows what you truly value. It shows this more than what you think you should value.
The author trained a lot for a marathon but never ran the race. Why? His most important values are doing things his own way and having fun, not winning. He enjoyed the process of learning and running on his own. This made him feel completely happy. Finishing a race would have met someone else’s idea of success, not his. Someone who values achievement most would feel like they failed without running the race. Neither person is wrong. They just have different values.
So, look at your current goals. Ask yourself which values each goal really helps. Goals that connect to many values usually feel the most appealing. If you keep failing to finish something, it might not be a problem with your self-control. It might be a problem because your goal doesn’t match your values.
Think about taking the values test with someone close to you. Comparing your results shows why some activities give one person energy but make another person tired. One person wants trips on the weekend without planning. The other wants calm, planned evenings. That difference is not about someone being difficult. It’s about different needs for excitement. When you build goals around what truly matters to you, instead of what others think is success, the whole experience changes. You are finally working with yourself instead of fighting against yourself.
Blink 3 – Rethink how you set goals
Did you know that most people think about goals in the wrong way? They focus too much on results. For example, losing weight, writing a novel, or getting rich. They don’t understand one important thing. Every goal is just a good guess about what might happen if we try.
For example, you can control waking up early to exercise. You can also control tracking your daily spending. But you can’t directly control your weight or how much money is in your bank. Life often brings unexpected problems. You might have a sick child. You might have a broken water heater. Or you might get a new chance that changes what is important to you. Your goals need to be flexible ideas about the future. They should not be strict rules.
A better way is to link every result you want to a clear action plan. Let’s say you want to have enough money for the future. That is your result. Saving fifteen percent of each paycheck? That is your action plan. It is the real behavior you will do. This two-part plan gives you ideas and a guide for how to do it.
Don’t forget to check how fast you are going, too. Are you moving quickly or slowly? Do you need to change something? Make a simple list. Write down all your current goals. Include their results, action plans, and how fast you are moving. Keep it where you can see it. Look at it every week.
During these reviews, be very strict about changing things. Some goals sound exciting but do not work with your daily life. Maybe you like the idea of waking up at 5:30 AM for a perfect morning routine. But you naturally stay up late. Your goals should fit who you really are. Not who you wish you were.
And remember – you only have so much time and energy. As things change, some goals need less of your time, while others need more. Sometimes, a goal that seemed great is simply not worth doing anymore. Letting it go makes space for something better. This new thing will match what you truly value.
Goals are not fixed. They change as you learn what works. So, think of them as experiments. You will make them better over time. You will change what you want to achieve and how you will get there. This way of changing and improving keeps you moving forward. Even when life gets difficult.
Blink 4 – Tame your ugly goals
Now, let’s talk about a feeling everyone knows. You stare at something you need to do. But you find every possible reason to avoid it. Here is a truth that might surprise you. Putting things off has almost nothing to do with managing your time. It is actually a problem with managing your feelings.
When you put something off, your brain is fighting a war inside. It is a war between what you think and what you feel. Your feelings scream that the task feels terrible. But your logical side knows it must be done. Understanding this fight is your first step to winning it.
So, why do tasks feel so terrible? Studies show a few main reasons. For example, we often avoid tasks that are boring or unpleasant. We also avoid tasks that are far away in time or unclear. The good news is that you can do something about each reason.
Let’s start with boredom. The surprising solution is to make your goal harder, not easier. Washing dishes feels boring. But what if you raced against a timer? Suddenly it’s interesting. This works because our brains want excitement. Easy goals actually make us feel less motivated.
For tasks that feel unpleasant, try something called aversion journaling. When you feel yourself not wanting to do something, grab a notebook. Write about why you are not doing it. This simple act is less painful than the real task. So you will actually do it. But it makes you face why you don’t want to do it. This often shows you ways to make the task easier to handle.
When goals feel too far away, make them feel closer with a visual way to track them. Create a simple chart. It should show how fast you want to go, compared to how fast you are really going. Update it every week. This changes big, far-off dreams into real, small steps you can manage.
Finally, deal with unclear goals. Build systems that make it almost impossible to fail. One strong way is to link your goals to habits you already have. Or create rewards that you only get when you finish the task.
The main idea is simple. The more you dislike a goal, the more it needs a plan and order. Spend time planning how you will do it when you feel motivated. Then you will build a system that helps you keep going. This system will work when your motivation naturally goes down. A little planning now stops hours of putting things off later.
Blink 5 – Amplify your desire to achieve
Okay, so feeling less dislike helps you stop avoiding tasks. The other part is building desire. This means creating a real drive towards your goals. The secret is to understand what experts in human mind call the five things that cause desire. And the strongest one might surprise you.
It’s other people. The habits of people around you can spread easily. Studies show that if a friend gains weight, your chance of gaining weight also goes up by 45 percent. If they start smoking, you are 61 percent more likely to start too. This influence spreads to people who are three steps away from you. Even your friends’ friends can affect what you do.
But here is something good you can do. You can use this social spread for good. Don’t stop being friends with people who have different habits. Just be more purposeful about the people you spend time with. Want to run more? Join a running club. Trying to meditate regularly? Find a meditation buddy. You will pick up good habits very easily.
Apart from influence from others, desire also comes from feeling that you control your goals. Every way of setting goals increases your feeling of control. This includes making clear plans and checking your progress. What is important is not just real control. It is how much control you feel you have.
Here is where things get interesting. Underneath all your logical planning, there is a layer of gut feelings and emotions. These deeply shape what you want. Many thoughts you have about goals are just automatic reactions. They are not your true feelings. It is important to learn the difference between random thoughts and real gut feelings.
Two activities can help here. The first is meditation. It is not to stop thinking. Instead, notice when your mind goes off-topic. Then gently bring your focus back to your breathing. Over time, you will learn to see which thoughts are just random noise. You will also see which thoughts have real meaning.
The second is journaling. Write about how you truly feel about your goals. What would success actually mean? What would failure mean? Are you chasing something because you want it? Or because it matches what someone else thinks is success?
The beautiful truth is that desire (what you want) and aversion (what you dislike) work together in your goal system. What you dislike comes from tasks. It stops your progress. What you want comes from your values. It helps you take action. Learn to control both. Then you will create a strong push towards what truly matters.
Blink 6 – Stay on track
So, we have talked about values, dislike, and desire. The last part is a plan for really sticking with your goals once you have made them. Here is what often happens. You wake up wanting to work on something important. But by lunch, you are lost in emails. You have no idea where the morning went. Your plans disappear as soon as real life starts.
Building regular pauses into your day helps you stay on track. These are short times when you stop. You look at what you are doing. You check if it still makes sense. These pauses can be as quick as five minutes. Or they can be as long as a weekly planning meeting.
One good daily way to work is called sequential productivity. Write down your current task. Then write the next three or four tasks you will do. Put them in order. Keep this list where you can see it. Do them one after another. Don’t do many things at once. When other things try to get your attention, write them on a different list. Deal with them later. This helps you stay focused. It is not too strict.
For bigger plans, the famous rule of three is simple and smart. At the start of each day, week, or month, decide on three things you want to finish by the end of that time. Only choosing three things makes you really think about what is most important. The real strength comes when you link these plans. Your three daily goals support your three weekly goals. These weekly goals then connect to your monthly goals.
Time blocking is another choice. It is especially good with a flexible change. Instead of planning your whole day at the start, list the periods of time you want to work, and how long they will be. Then choose which one to do next as you go through your day. You get a plan without feeling stuck.
Another great tip is to keep your focused work times to 90 minutes at most. That is how long our brains can naturally stay focused. It may seem strange, but the people who get most done take breaks for about 20 to 25 percent of their workday. Your brain keeps working on problems in the background during these breaks.
The main idea is the same for all these methods. Stopping regularly helps make sure your daily actions serve your bigger goals. Without these planned pauses, even people with a lot of motivation will start doing urgent things. They will forget what truly matters.
Final summary
This summary of Intentional by Chris Bailey gave you a guide to connect your goals to your important values.
We started with a question: why do some goals stay, while others disappear? The answer is about doing things automatically. Most people set goals without ever looking at the habits they do without thinking. And that is why goals don’t last. The change happens when you make goals based on what you truly value. Not on what looks good or what others call success. Treat goals like experiments. Match your desired results with actions you can control. Change things as you continue.
Of course, knowing what you want does not make tasks feel easier. When something feels too hard to start, you are not lazy. You are just having a strong feeling about it. Build ways to handle that. Create systems for when you are bored. For when goals are far away. For when plans are unclear. Spend time with people who are working on similar things. Learn to tell the difference between a sudden urge and what you truly want.
And through all of it, keep thinking about what you are doing. Without regular pauses, your days will go towards whatever feels most urgent. With pauses, your daily actions stay connected to what is truly important. That is intentionality. It is a strong push that does not need constant effort.
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Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/intentional-en