I recently spent some time with the co-founder of Intention Inspired, Matt Prindle, who is actively co-creating the future with all of us. We dove into who he is, how Intention Inspired was formed, and what he’s looking forward to in the future.

The Origins of Intention Inspired

“I remember having the opportunity to take action on one of my fundamental beliefs that I can do anything that I want, so, what should I do?”

Letting go of his fears of money, time, and resources, he entered into a place of spaciousness and openness. He connected to his love of creation, and his desire to have the locational freedom to create from anywhere in the world. So the question was, where did he start?  

“The notion of intention kept coming back. What’s my intention? Why am I doing the things I do? I wanted to get serious about why and how I spend my energy and where it comes from.”

Intention Inspired was created from this desire to understand his intentions and their roots, and subsequently became his foundation of wanting to live an intentional life.

Thus it was that Intention Inspired was started with his brother Ebin Barnett. It began with physical products, evolved into an email series based on what resonated with the audience, and has now shifted into the newly-launched community space. “Tracking what people liked was a test for me as my original intention was pretty selfish. I just wanted to create a project that fit with my lifestyle and what inspired me to create the things that I want to create. BUT, when other people get involved, it shifts things.” Being mindful of those people became very important to him.

“The first intention we distilled it down to was Bravery, as we felt that to start to focus on any intention and shift your life in any way requires a level of bravery.”

So what did this mean to Matt?

“It was about waking up and spending precious time with myself, to process, to just be, and feel inspired. It was about discipline and commitment to myself every morning.”

He created a ritual around that which resulted in 30 Days of Bravery. 

“I define 30 days of Bravery as distilled inspirations that I thought would be helpful for other people to be bravely intentional with shifting things around in their life or being open to flow which naturally creates that shift and change.”

Matt was spending time each morning focusing and documenting that process in a consistent way that was shareable. He put his heart into it, which then, of course, resonated deeply with others.

“I describe it as a glorified journal. When there is a prompt it starts to stimulate thought. To offer prompts around healthy intentions can be helpful to prime the mind towards whatever the intention is. That in its essence is what intention inspired has turned into.”

That was also where Matt and Ebin decided the energy should be spent.

And Now?

“There are a lot of potentials. There is a lot for anyone to start getting involved with and there is so much that can happen with it. So there's this ongoing  – where does the energy go? Where am I inspired to put my time and focus while not losing sight of my own process outside of Intention Inspired.”

Which brings us to a discussion of Matt outside of the context of Intention Inspired?

Matt talks about how blessed he is in his current situation. He’s been focused on lifestyle design for a while and not accepting societal norms. It creates resistance but also inspires him to want to do things his way.

“Again, it goes back to knowing what your way is and what resonates with you and being serious about it.” 

He currently has a house where he is building a community with 7 other people, a couple spaces for short-term guests, and with his tiny home in the back. “There is a beautiful hybrid where everyone is so beautiful, thoughtful and talented.” They all have similar values and participate in all types of activities together.

“I see similarities between Intention Inspired and my local community.”

It’s also very grounding for him as he manages the house and makes sure everyone's needs are met.

What’s the Tiny Home? 

Matt was traveling and came back incredibly inspired, and wanting to do it all again. Not wanting to have to go through the complete purging process again, he caught wind of the tiny house movement. He realized that “it would allow me to keep my life pretty minimal and simple, give me the flexibility to travel around and have this home to come back to.” It’s almost done now and his primary focus is to complete it before the PCT.

And what’s the PCT?

The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650-mile hike acrross America from Mexico to Canada. It travels through scorching deserts, tunnels of forests, glaciated mountain passes, and conical volcanic peaks. In April, Matt, his partner Mary, and her two-year-old Rayden, are starting out in Mexico and shooting to finish in Canada.

“It’s a big surrender experiment. We're taking it step by step, day by day. We’re going to embrace the flow of what comes up. Every step along this 2650-mile hike is a step outside of social conditioning to understand more deeply what it means to be a healthy, happy human. It's an opportunity to reconnect with self, others and the pace of nature.“

He has done a few sections of the PCT with his uncle which inspired him to do the whole thing.

“Being on the trail, being immersed in nature, experiencing the community of the trail. Really it’s what Intention Inspired is, in terms of that morning practice, but all-day, in-nature.”

Which is why he is so excited to do it, he also has intentions to document a bit to distill some new intention inspired material to offer to the community.

What does Matt hope for the  Intention Inspired community and space itself?

“My intention is for others to feel empowered. I want to allow others to experience what we have through sharing our own unique experiences. Sharing what’s real for you in the sense of here is my experience, use it as a mirror for your own experience and pull from it as you like.” 

I wanted to conclude with his words:

“If someone only took away one thing, my hope is that they experience and feel a little bit of the potential that comes from taking time for themselves. If they spent 5 minutes with themselves and got rid of all the clutter and just feel what they’re feeling, there is so much that can be explored.” He gets excited, smiles and says: “I mean even just taking a minute to just breathe will shift your entire day, and that’s been our intention from the start. Disrupt the habitual, robotic movement and remember who you are, or more importantly, I am realizing, who you are not. Your job and the hats that you wear are not who you are. To tap back into the pure essence of you is so beautiful and will start to shift all of those other things.”  

That has always been his intention, to let go of all of the external labels and expectations that surround him and remember who he is. He wants us all to get a taste of that.

Thanks, Matt, for being you. Intention Inspired wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been willing to make a daily commitment to yourself, your creativity, and your inspirations. Your desire to create a more intentional life has had an amazing rippling effect that really does have infinite potential. 

Click here to learn more about Intention Inspired.