Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace, and Joy

by Mallika Chopra, Deepak Chopra M.D. Narrated by Mallika Chopra

Overview

“I'm trying to meditate one day but urgent thoughts keep intruding. Don't forget to take cupcakes to school! I have to prepare for my presentation for the wellness conference! Is that lunch with the other moms tomorrow or next week? My to-do list is stampeding through my mind, trampling any chance of tranquility. I feel overwhelmed, yes, but there's more: I feel...guilty. Guilty that I'm taking on too much, guilty that I'm not doing anything well, guilty that I'm giving short shrift to my kids, my husband, my job. And what about you, Mallika? a quiet voice asks. How are you shortchanging yourself?”
*
Living with Intent is a chronicle of Mallika Chopra's search to find more meaning, joy, and balance in life. She hopes that by telling her story, she can inspire others with her own successes (and failures) as well as share some of the wisdom she has gathered from friends, experts, and family along the way-people like her dad, Deepak, as well as Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, Arianna Huffington, Andrew Weil, and Dan Siegel. She also provides a practical road map for how we can all move from thought to action to outcome. Each chapter is devoted to one step on her journey and another piece of her INTENT action plan: Incubate, Notice, Trust, Express, Nurture, and Take Action. Chopra's insights and advice will help us all come closer to fully living the lives we truly intend.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/16/2015
In this self-help memoir, Chopra (100 Promises To My Baby) chronicles her year-long exploration of intent—namely, the intention to live a more meaningful life. Intent here also refers to her website (intent.com) and blog (intentblog.com), and as an acronym for “incubate, notice, trust, express, nurture, and take action,” the stages of her journey. She devotes a chapter with reflections and practices to the lessons of each step, along with a “cheat sheet,” journal pages, and graphic organizers. She also includes words of wisdom from famous healers including Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and Deepak Chopra (her father). Despite Chopra’s family fame, she comes across as a relatable working mom, forever pulled in several directions at once and feeling “guilty about giving something short shrift.” Readers will probably welcome the news that even she struggles to integrate meditation, healthy eating, and regular exercise into her routines. The underlying question plaguing her is also familiar: how to balance personal desires against family and cultural pressure to “fulfill larger-than-life intents.” There’s nothing groundbreaking in Chopra’s memoir, but it’s enjoyable all the same. Agent: Linda Loewenthal, David Black Agency. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

More and more, people realize the value of approaching life with a mindful, purposeful spirit. With this insightful and often funny memoir, Mallika Chopra gives ideas and encouragement to anyone who wants to live with intent.” 
   — Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before
 
"Clearly, Deepak is not the only lifestyle sage in the Chopra family.  Mallika is warm, wise, and witty and LIVING WITH INTENT is a wonderful and helpful read."
   —Don Miguel Ruiz, bestselling author of The Four Agreements

“Mallika Chopra is a refreshingly honest writer who shares her transformative journey from stress, fear, doubt, overwhelm, procrastination and guilt into a life of true happiness and self-acceptance.  This brilliant book provides a template of gentle, doable, baby-steps that will take you by the hand and lead you to living a joyful life.  Reading this book is like having the world’s best friend on speed dial.”
   —Arielle Ford, author of The Soulmate Secret

"Whether we know it or not, we matter; today matters.  Mallika Chopra shows us all how to live quiet lives of inspiration.  Her book and journey are not to be missed."
   —Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love

“Mallika's unfettered account of her own path to intention gave me the comfort of knowing we all have our starts and stumbles in this arena, even a Chopra. She is an everywoman - an everymom - who openly struggles with life balance, spirituality, and insecurities like the rest of us. It's a windy road, but her steps of INTENT help to gently bring things back into focus. I'm happy to be on my journey with my friend and fellow chocoholic Mallika.”
   —Jennifer Garner

“How to live with intent?!  To desire it is far from living it.  Mallika Chopra leads the reader through her own path with bare honesty….Parents who feel too busy with the minutiae of daily life will relate intimately to her experience…Could start a global conversation about living with intent that we should all embrace.”   
  —Elissa Epel, PhD, Professor, UCSF Department of Psychiatry


"When's the last time you slowed down, reflected deeply, and were satisfied with what you saw? In this warm, inspiring, and practical memoir, Mallika Chopra reconnects with her passions and daily purpose. For anyone interested in a journey of self-reflection and joyful discovery, Chopra makes a delightful companion and guide."
   —Jack Canfield, co-author Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Success Principles

 “Living with Intent offers us a gentle reminder that happiness and peace are a choice we make. This book awakens the presence of our inner wisdom and power so that we can enhance our capacity to serve the world.” 
   —Gabrielle Bernstein, New York Times bestselling author of Miracles Now

“If you’re spinning through your days wondering when you’ll stop churning and instead start thriving, then you have to read Mallika’s book.  With humor, courage, and great insight she shares the keys to a purpose-filled life.”
   —Chade-Meng Tan, Jolly Good Fellow of Google and New York Times bestselling author of Search Inside Yourself

“Mallika Chopra has taught me through her powerful example of the importance of daily intentions. Through her personal story, Mallika sweetly reminds us of our own power to affect positive, lasting change in our lives, and consequently in the lives of everyone around us. Read this and prepare to have a big shift in perspective that changes everything for the positive.” 
   —Tara Stiles, founder of Strala Yoga and author of Make Your Own Rules Diet

“Mallika Chopra's Living with Intent is a profoundly relatable roadmap for those of us struggling to stay afloat in our chaotic lives.”
   —Lisa Ling,  journalist

Kirkus Review

2015-01-14
A lightweight self-help book about living the life you want."Intents," writes Chopra, daughter of Deepak, are expressions of who we aspire to be…[and] are a way of defining what we want and asking the universe or God for help." Her book, written mainly in the present tense, focuses on her own recent period of resolve to live "with intent." Finding an acronym in the word "intent," Chopra divides her work into six sections: Incubate, Notice, Trust, Express, Nurture and Take Action. She presents herself as a stereotypically harried, suburban soccer mom, prone to guilt, stress and self-image issues. The story she shares is her own attempt to redefine her priorities, and she herself becomes one of those priorities. Indeed, the author is the center of this book, and her presence often overshadows the advice given. Chopra takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of intent-related concepts, beginning with meditation, a practice which, in many ways, is foundational to intentional living. She also discusses the importance of putting intents into words, expressing them and sharing them with others. She espouses the practice of nurture, but it's less the nurturing of others than the nurturing of self. Indeed, though Chopra pays lip service to asking, "How can I serve?" she comes off as self-absorbed. In one instance, a family friend is diagnosed with cancer. The author's common reaction is, "If this happened to one of us, how would we handle it?" On a trip to India to visit aging relatives, she wallowed in their fawning nurture. Upon arriving home, she was overwhelmed with stress by her first conversation with her family: "Later, while lying in bed, I try to figure out why I felt so instantly tense, and I realize their stories triggered that all-too familiar toxic cocktail of guilt and worry." Chopra is the main character in her own minimelodrama.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171963507
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	04/07/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos