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Intentions · Reflection · Free

Something you mean to grow into, the smallest step that counts, and every small thing that added up.

Name something you mean to grow into, why it matters and the smallest step that counts, then watch the small things add up, even on low days.

  • No target, no deadlineAn intention is softer than a goal. It holds a why in your own words and a tiny step, and shows whether you keep showing up. Nothing resets when you miss a day.
  • A thread that fills itselfTiny steps, notes and wins sit beside the check-offs of linked habits and the focus time, Hours, highlights and gratitude of a linked goal, a day at a time.
  • The small things count on your goals tooLink a goal, and the intention’s tiny steps, notes and wins count in that goal’s “Little by little”, the four-week tally on its page and in Compass.
HourLife Intentions: Active intentions, newest first, from Write one line a day on day 20 with 18 small things over 18 days, to Play guitar again on day 42 with 24 over 24, each with its tiny step and its last 14 days.
Active intentions, newest first, from Write one line a day on day 20 with 18 small things over 18 days, to Play guitar again on day 42 with 24 over 24, each with its tiny step and its last 14 days.

Your first week with Intentions

  1. Name one thing

    Tap +, write what you are growing into, and under “WHY IT MATTERS” say why, for the days you forget.

  2. Make the step tiny

    Under “TINY STEP”, write the smallest thing that still counts. On a low day, it is the whole job.

  3. Show up, little by little

    Each day you do it, tap “I did it”, or “With a note” to say how it went. The squares under “LITTLE BY LITTLE” fill on the days you showed up.

Every step, in detail
  1. 1 Tap +. Under “INTENTION”, pick an emoji and write what you are growing into.
  2. 2 Under “WHY IT MATTERS”, say why in your own words, for the days you forget.
  3. 3 Under “TINY STEP”, write the smallest thing that still counts, such as “Open the case and play one chord”.
  4. 4 If it belongs to a goal or rests on a habit, link them under “LINK TO (OPTIONAL)”. Then tap “Save”.
  5. 5 Open it and tap “I did it” whenever you take the step. “With a note” adds a line on how it went.
HourLife Intentions: “Get stronger, little by little”, its why, the tiny step “Five push-ups, knees allowed”, started Aug 19, and linked to a goal and the Push-ups habit.
“Get stronger, little by little”, its why, the tiny step “Five push-ups, knees allowed”, started Aug 19, and linked to a goal and the Push-ups habit.

It only climbs

An intention’s page holds its why, its tiny step, and everything that happened toward it, newest day first. The app draws those days as squares, filled on the days you showed up. Stack the same days and the rule is plain: every day something lands on the thread is one step up, and a day with nothing is a landing, never a step down. There is no streak to break. Pick an intention and take tonight’s step.

Sample · three of the app’s five active intentions, with nothing linked · pick one, then log its tiny step, a note or a win

Intentions · Active

✍️ Write one line a day

18 days in all · 18 of the last 28

Today · Day 20 · not yet. Take tonight’s step and today climbs one.

  • Tiny step
  • Note
  • Win
  • Focus
  • Hours
  • Gratitude
  • Brain dump

Write one line a day

Day 20 · since Oct 2, 2026

Why

I used to fill notebooks. Somewhere along the way I stopped noticing things.

Tiny step

One true sentence before bed

Even on a low day, this is enough.

Little by little

18 small things

Showed up 18 of the last 28 days · 18 days in all

Yesterday

  • The neighbour’s cat sat on the bin like it was paying rent.

    Tiny step · One true sentence before bed

Mon, Oct 19

  • One true sentence before bed

    Tiny step

Sun, Oct 18

  • Rain all day. The kind that makes the kettle sound louder.

    Tiny step · One true sentence before bed

Sat, Oct 17

  • Short story — the lighthouse keeper

    Focus · 25 min

Fri, Oct 16

  • Dad laughed at his own joke before he finished it, same as always.

    Tiny step · One true sentence before bed

Thu, Oct 15

  • One true sentence before bed

    Tiny step

“Again” logs the tiny step once more: another small thing, but the same day, so the stair stays put. A note is saved to Journal and a win to Highlights, and both stay there if you take them off the thread. The focus sessions, Hours, brain dump and gratitude in this sample were attached by the app’s sample itself. On your own thread, focus time, Hours and gratitude arrive through a linked goal, and there is no button that attaches a brain dump.

HourLife Intentions: Play guitar again on day 42, with its why, today’s tiny step done, Note and Win, and “Showed up 19 of the last 28 days · 24 days in all” above today’s thread.
Play guitar again on day 42, with its why, today’s tiny step done, Note and Win, and “Showed up 19 of the last 28 days · 24 days in all” above today’s thread.
HourLife Intentions: Write one line a day before tonight’s line, “Even on a low day, this is enough.”, with “I did it” and “With a note”, and last night’s sentence at the top of the thread.
Write one line a day before tonight’s line, “Even on a low day, this is enough.”, with “I did it” and “With a note”, and last night’s sentence at the top of the thread.
HourLife Intentions: “With a note” opens “Tiny step” and asks “HOW DID IT GO?”. The line is logged as the day’s step.
“With a note” opens “Tiny step” and asks “HOW DID IT GO?”. The line is logged as the day’s step.
HourLife Intentions: Call Mum on Sundays shows up 4 of the last 28 days and 14 days in all, each call a tiny step with its own line.
Call Mum on Sundays shows up 4 of the last 28 days and 14 days in all, each call a tiny step with its own line.

Rest it, keep it, or let it go

Nothing in Intentions ends on a missed day. An intention ends when you say so, from its ⋯ menu. “Rest for now” is for a season it does not fit. “Keep — it’s part of me” is for the day it simply happens, and “Release” is for one that has done its job, or was never yours. Each moves the intention to its own tab and changes the line under its title, and only an active one keeps its tiny step and its Note and Win.

Sample · “Play guitar again”, among the app’s nine intentions · open ⋯ and change its status

  • Active 5
  • Resting 2
  • Kept & released 2

Play guitar again

Day 42 · since Sep 10, 2026

Why

It was the thing that made evenings mine.

Tiny step

Open the case and play one chord

Done today. That counts.

Little by little

24 small things

Showed up 19 of the last 28 days · 24 days in all

In the list

Play guitar againDay 42 Open the case and play one chord 24 small things over 24 days

Active, on Day 42. Open ⋯ to rest it, keep it or release it.

The thread stays whatever the status, so a kept intention’s squares keep filling while a linked habit is checked off, as the water intention in the sample shows. Long-press an intention in the list for “Did the tiny step” and “Delete”. A deleted intention goes to the Trash, and the Journal entries and Highlights its notes and wins made stay where they are.

HourLife Intentions: Drink water before coffee, kept, its strip still filled by the Drink water habit, and Learn Italian before Rome, released.
Drink water before coffee, kept, its strip still filled by the Drink water habit, and Learn Italian before Rome, released.
HourLife Intentions: “Kept Sep 6, 2026 · 116 days”, with what changed in its own words, and the linked Drink water habit still adding to its thread.
“Kept Sep 6, 2026 · 116 days”, with what changed in its own words, and the linked Drink water habit still adding to its thread.

Tips

  • Make the tiny step small enough for your worst day. The form says it plainly — “On a low day, this is the whole job.”
  • Set “STARTED” to the day you really began. The page counts “Day N” from it, with the first day as Day 1.
  • Long-press an intention in the list and choose “Did the tiny step” to log it without opening the page.
  • Add the “Intentions” card to Today to tick off each tiny step from there. It is off until you turn it on.
  • When now is not its season, rest an intention rather than deleting it. It waits under “Resting”, thread and all.

Questions

About Intentions day to day.

  • How is an intention different from a goal?

    An intention has no target, deadline or progress percentage. It has a why, a tiny step, and a record of whether you keep showing up. If it serves a goal, link the two, and each counts the other’s small things.

  • What counts as showing up?

    Anything on the intention’s thread that day. That covers a tiny step, a note or a win, a check-off of a linked habit (even just its minimum), and a focus session, Hours block, highlight or gratitude entry tied to the linked goal.

  • Do I lose a streak if I miss a day?

    There is no streak. The page shows the last 28 days as squares, with “Showed up X of the last 28 days · Y days in all”, and a missed day only leaves one square empty.

  • Where do my notes and wins go?

    A note is saved as a Journal entry and a win as a Highlight, so they show in those modules too. Long-press one on the thread and choose “Remove from thread” to take it off; it stays in Journal or Highlights.

  • What happens when I rest, keep or release an intention?

    “Rest for now” moves it to “Resting” until you “Pick it back up”. “Keep — it’s part of me” and “Release” close it, each with an optional note, and move it to “Kept & released”. “Reopen” makes it active again, and a closed or resting intention hides its tiny step until then.

  • Does an intention count toward my goal?

    Yes, once you link the goal under “LINK TO (OPTIONAL)”. Its tiny steps, notes and wins from the last 28 days count in the goal’s “Little by little”, and in the goal’s row on Compass’s Landscape, which is part of HourLife Premium. A habit linked only to the intention does not count toward the goal.

  • Is Intentions part of Premium?

    No. Intentions is free, and so is a goal’s “Little by little”. Only the Compass view of it needs HourLife Premium.

Works with

Where Intentions hands off to the rest of HourLife.

  • Goals

    Link a goal, and its focus sessions, Hours, highlights and gratitude join the thread. In return, the intention’s tiny steps, notes and wins count in the goal’s “Little by little”.

  • Habits

    Link habits, and each day you check one off joins the thread, marked “Minimum” when you kept only the minimum.

  • Journal

    “Note” on an intention saves a Journal entry and puts it on the thread.

  • Highlights

    “Win” on an intention saves a Highlight, tied to the linked goal if there is one.

  • Compass

    The tiny steps, notes and wins of an intention linked to a goal count in that goal’s row of “LITTLE BY LITTLE”, on Compass’s Landscape.

  • Today

    The “Intentions” card on Today lists up to three active intentions, each with a circle for today’s tiny step.

Already have HourLife?

Intentions is under Reflection in the module list, and it is free. + starts a new one, and the chips under the title switch between “Active”, “Resting” and “Kept & released”. An intention’s ⋯ menu holds “Edit”, its status actions and “Delete”. Today can carry an “Intentions” card.

Intentions is in the Library, under Reflection. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules.

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Intentions is one of HourLife’s free modules.

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