This article originally appeared in Shape.
"Everyone has busy, stress-filled, hectic lives; you barely have time to grab a cup of coffee in the morning, so you think there's no way you have time to set a daily intention each morning, and that's precisely why you need to," says Melissa Maxx, a certified mindfulness coach. "If you don't set an intention, you let the day determine your mood, rather than taking control and determining how you want the day to be."
Put simply, an intention is an aim or purpose, something you plan to do or achieve — and paying more attention to your intentions can do truly incredible things for your life.
"Intention setting is empowering," says Maxx. "Instead of feeling like a victim of circumstance, you become the conscious creators of your days and your life."