Living a Life of Intention

Published by Nissi Thapa on March 8, 2023

In conversation with mindset expert Marissa Levin

How can one reconnect with their deeper purpose? What does it take to live a life of intention and meaning?

These are some of the questions we recently asked Marissa Levin, a globally recognized spiritual strategist, entrepreneur, and best-selling author who will be the opening keynote speaker at The Women’s Center’s upcoming Leadership Conference.

In addition, we also asked her about her story, mission, and role models and given that it is International Women’s Day, we asked her to shed light on the theme #EmbraceEquity and why equity is not just a nice-to-have, it is a must-have. Read on to unpack important life lessons from Marissa:

How have your experiences shaped your perspective on equity, which is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day?

I look forward to the day when we do not need to have a day about embracing equity because it is natural. When I saw the #EmbraceEquity hashtag, I thought #EmbraceHumanity. We are all so much more alike than we are different. We all want to be seen, and heard and to know that we matter; we want to know that we are unconditionally loved and accepted just the way we are. When we reach a point in our society where we do not need to point out the differences to advocate for oneness, we will know that we have universal acceptance of everybody.

What does being a woman mean to you?

I want to put a disclaimer that my answer is not necessarily right or wrong; it is just what it means to me. A word that comes to my mind is ‘nurture.’ When I think of myself in my feminine energy, fully embracing my womanhood and my femininity, I immediately think of love, safety, protection, connection, and nurture.

The theme of the 2023 Leadership Conference is ‘Moving Forward with Intentionality’. How does this theme resonate with you and what is your keynote going to be about?

I was excited to hear about the theme and so grateful for the opportunity to kick it off as a voice of inspiration and insight for everyone attending. I work hard to be committed to a life of intention: with the words I use, the demonstration of my feelings and emotions with the people in my life to convey the love and gratitude I have for them. When I move through life, I focus on responsiveness and response-ability rather than reactiveness. Think about the word response-ability; it is made up of two words: ‘response’ and ‘ability,’ meaning that in every moment we have the power to decide how we will respond to a situation. Given what it means to me, I am immensely grateful to be able to convey the idea of intentionality and its meaning and power.

For the keynote, I came up with the ‘five pillars of intentionality’ that I will talk about, which are:

Presence: Deciding to be present in your life and the people around you
Perspective: Understanding the power of our perspective because it drives our reality
Possibility: Remembering that our possibilities are limitless
Priority: Reengaging with our priorities and core values
Self-perception: Focusing on how we view ourselves as that drives how we show up with intention in this world

Why should people participate in this conference?

Because they deserve it. They deserve to be connected with others who are passionate about living an intentional life and living their best lives. This will help move them forward in various areas of their life and in unimaginable ways. They will be transformed at the end of this day. They are worthy of this, and that is why they should come.

You have an admirable Lifetime Legacy Mission which is ‘To empower 1 billion people to live their most intentional and joyful lives.’ Your mission also aligns with our conference theme. Could you elaborate on this and share how the idea came about?

The idea is something I came up with years ago. I have heard the words ‘You have cancer’ twice; I am a melanoma survivor and had a breast cancer scare. When you hear those words, you utterly understand that tomorrow is not promised. So many people go through needless suffering because of the self-limiting beliefs and stories that they have told themselves – that they are not enough, that they have made the wrong choices. Life does not have to be that hard. So, through the work that I do, with speaking and coaching, writing, and all the communication gifts that I bring to the world, my hope is that my messages continue to cascade through people.

I am aware that I will never be able to measure whether I have touched 1 billion people, but I know that if I can stick to my commitment and intention to elevate consciousness and joy in the world, then I will make a difference in at least some of the people that receive my message.

Who do you consider to be your role model? Why?

I have two people I look up to and cannot choose between them. The first person who has hugely influenced me is Ram Dass. He is a spiritual leader and his philosophies about life and living with an open heart have guided my spiritual path. I strive to live a life balancing what he calls ‘humanity’ and ‘divinity.’ Another thing that he talks about, which I consider my superpower is being able to be a safe space for others where they can take a breath and come up for air. I love doing this for other people because I am very empathic and can connect on a feelings level. I can feel their suffering and have the strength of being able to create that safe container for them. I love his philosophies for life.

My second role model is my father. He is 93 and watching him live a life of service, unconditional love, and humility has deeply influenced me. He is such a brilliant man yet so humble. He has made a difference in so many lives through his career as a public servant at NASA, as someone who is committed to the entrepreneurial world, as a leader in our religious communities growing up, as a father, a husband, and just as a person of grace, humility, compassion.

What is your advice to individuals just starting their careers?

I would like to summarize my advice in the following four points:

Regardless of where you are starting, you have experiences from the past that have generated wisdom within you. It is important not to diminish the value of your experiences and wisdom. You are not starting on a completely blank slate, so look back at your experiences and think about what valuable lessons you can extrapolate from them.
Listen to your spirit. Your spirit is the inner voice that tells you what brings you joy. You have the answers within you. It is not usually attached to what you should or should not do. It is more about what makes your heart sing. If you had no time or financial constraints, what would you do to live a joyful life? So, as you move into your career, stay connected and try to align yourself with that inner voice because that voice knows what is best for you.
Embrace the position of humility that allows you to be fully open to help. When we become a part of the universe, the universe becomes part of us. We are not meant to go through this journey of life on our own; we are meant to be connected to others. The more we can be in a place of humility, the more open we are to letting in people who can and should be on this journey.
Embrace opportunities for service because it keeps us connected to the world and others. We can always be of service to others in some shape or form: our time, our talent, and our network. Each of us has gifts and the capacity to lift others. Creating that life of intention to serve early on is especially important.

Visit the event page on our website to learn more about the conference. Join us to hear more from Marissa and other guest speakers.