Intentional

How to Finish What You Start

By: Chris Bailey

Narrated by: Chris Bailey

"A powerful guide to turning ambition into action—by focusing not on willpower but on what matters most."—Charles Duhigg, author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit

Setting goals is easy. Following through on them? A whole lot harder.

It turns out, the secret to finishing what you start isn’t sheer willpower or the latest productivity hack. It’s becoming more intentional.

With Intentional, bestselling author Chris Bailey distills a decade of deep research on productivity to deliver a profound, practical, and counterintuitive road map to getting things done. Forget extensive to-do lists and a never-ending workload. To reach your goals, you must structure your daily actions around what’s most important to you—and let go of the rest. This way, getting things done becomes second nature.

Integrating the science of desire, values, and procrastination with the wisdom of Buddhist monks, Bailey lays out step-by-step strategies for intentional accomplishment, covering how to:

• Structure short-term goals to increase the likelihood of completion
• Make unappealing, boring, or frustrating tasks more attractive
• Lower the chance of procrastinating on long-term goals
• Create a system for tracking progres
• Know when a goal isn’t for you—and when it’s time to let it go

What matters most to you? Intentional shows that the answer has the power to unlock not just greater productivity but a deeper and more satisfying sense of accomplishment.


* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of charts and illustrations.

Clarity over chaos

Intentional is one of those rare books that actually changes how you move through your day. Chris reframes productivity around doing what actually matters. The combination of research, practical strategies, and personal experiments makes everything feel both credible and deeply relatable.

What stood out most was the focus on aligning attention with intention: it’s about choosing your minutes wisely! The insights on time tracking and auditing how you actually spend your days were especially eye-opening and immediately actionable.

The narration is thoughtful and engaging, and the pacing makes it easy to absorb even the more research-heavy sections. If you care about living and working with more clarity, focus, and purpose, this is absolutely worth your time.

One of the most actionable books on productivity

I have read and been a fan of Chris Bailey since his first book came out. Having read all 4, this is truly the most actionable. Science-based and with a system you can implement. Can’t recommend it enough!

Longer listen ever

Sleepy voice. I understand the authors reputation, but this was not very informative and was a struggle to listen to.

boring

This book was a waste of my money and time. I really want my money back.