The Art of Being Intentional

As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking less about resolutions and more about intention.

Design your career, design your life, and design with intention.

Not the kind that lives on vision boards or in perfectly worded goals, but the quieter kind. The everyday choices that shape our careers, our energy, and ultimately, our lives. The decisions no one sees and that compound slowly over time.

In architecture, nothing meaningful is created by accident. Every line, every material, every decision is deliberate. And yet, so often, we allow our lives and careers to unfold reactively by responding to deadlines, expectations, and pressure without ever pausing to ask whether we’re designing the right thing.

Why Intention Matters More Than Motivation

Motivation is fleeting. It comes and goes with energy levels, seasons, and circumstances. Intention, on the other hand, is steady and is what remains when motivation fades.

Being intentional means deciding ahead of time what matters to you and then honoring that decision, even when it’s inconvenient. It’s the difference between reacting to your career and actively shaping it.

In a profession that rewards endurance, it’s easy to confuse busyness with progress. Long hours become a badge of honor, exhaustion becomes normalized, and somewhere along the way, we forget to ask whether the effort we’re putting in is aligned with where we actually want to go.

Intentionality asks better questions:

• What am I building toward?

• What season am I in and what does this season make me sacrifice?

• Am I making choices based on fear, or based on alignment?

The Myth of Perfect Balance

Balance is often talked about as if it’s a destination or something we’ll arrive at once we finish school, pass our exams, land the right role, or finally feel “settled.”

But balance isn’t found. It’s designed.

Just like architecture, it requires iteration. Some seasons demand more from us. Others require rest, recalibration, and restraint. Balance doesn’t mean everything gets equal time, but that the right things get prioritized at the right moments.

There will be seasons where licensure takes precedence, where career growth requires more of your energy, and where protecting your health, relationships, or creativity matters most.

Being intentional means recognizing these shifts and giving yourself permission to honor them without guilt.

Licensure as an Intentional Commitment

Pursuing licensure is one of the most intentional choices you can make in architecture.

It’s expensive, mentally taxing, and it asks for discipline when life already feels full. For many, it comes after years of school, long hours, and significant sacrifice.

That’s why licensure shouldn’t be approached as a checkbox but as a conscious commitment.

For me, licensure represents something deeper than a credential. It’s a promise to myself that the work I’ve already done matters. That the late nights, the early mornings, the missed weekends, and the personal sacrifices weren’t just survival, they were building toward something meaningful.

Studying for exams while working full-time isn’t easy. There are days when progress feels slow, when confidence wavers, and when it would be easier to pause. But intention bridges the gap between where you are and where you’re going.

It reminds you why you started.

The Power of Small, Consistent Choices

We often underestimate the impact of small decisions.

Studying for thirty minutes instead of scrolling, saying no to something that doesn’t align, choosing rest instead of burnout, or asking for opportunities that move you forward.

These choices don’t feel dramatic or come with immediate payoff, but over time, they shape your trajectory in ways that big, occasional efforts never will.

Intentionality lives in consistency. You have to show up even when progress feels invisible and trust that momentum builds quietly before it becomes obvious.

Designing a Career and a Life

Architecture teaches us to think long-term, to understand that good design takes time, that refinement matters, and that the process is just as important as the outcome.

The same is true for our lives.

A fulfilling career shouldn’t require sacrificing your well-being. Ambition doesn’t have to come at the expense of balance. And success doesn’t have to look like constant exhaustion.

When we design our lives with intention, we create space for growth that feels sustainable, not just impressive from the outside.

As the New Year Approaches

As a new year approaches, I’m not asking myself what I want to accomplish. I’m asking who I want to become.

What habits support that version of me?
What choices move me closer to my goals?
What deserves my energy? What doesn’t?

Intentional living isn’t about perfection, but about awareness. It’s about choosing progress over pressure, alignment over approval, and purpose over noise.

Because when intention leads, momentum follows.

And when we approach our careers and our lives with the same care we bring to our design work, we build lives we’re proud of.