Intentional living begins by questioning assumptions before accepting them as hard facts.

When our attention narrows, creating more options can reveal new paths we had failed to consider.

Consider not only what a choice gives you now but which new possibilities it opens or closes for your future.

I start every business ethics class with students repeating the same thing, which I call my three lessons for life, well lived:

Don’t take anything for granted.

You always have more options than you think.

To get the most out of something, be as intentional as possible.

The constant repetition is my way of trying to make it stick, both as a business and an ethics mantra. Whether they end up in corporate America, the nonprofit space, or doing something else, I want them to take an entrepreneurial approach to life, where they pursue opportunities that speak to what they care about and that add value to their life and the world around them. The mantra also allows them to live ethically in the way I understand ethics, which is not simply knowing how to talk about moral problems but also knowing how to approach those problems with greater agency and deliberateness.

Don’t take anything for granted.

When people first hear this lesson, they quickly take it to be about gratitude—that we should appreciate what we have. This is good advice, since if we take our life for granted, we may end up living on autopilot, allowing other people and circumstances to determine our direction. Yet,........

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