Mindfulness is often associated with finding personal well-being and operating from a place of inner calm. While that is certainly true, mindfulness may also focus us intently on the purposes of our lives.

Consider yoga and its very physical expression of mindfulness. Mindfulness can also prepare us for such intense moments as an important business presentation, a competition, or confronting a fear. We can generate within ourselves incredible stores of energy and harness them mindfully.

To create this focus, the lighting of a candle may seem so minor, so insignificant, yet this act can bind us with our purpose.

Visualize a flame at the center of your heart, an infinite source of power and light. Within that flame see your determination, an intense glow that dances and bends yet sustains its fire.

We may not be able to light a candle immediately prior to life’s pinnacle moments, but that’s not the occasion we’re seeking to create. When we take a moment, we can reflect in our minds upon the ritual of having lit our candles–what they stood for, what they mean to us, and how that intention will carry us through to success.

Lighting candles on an altar, by your bedside, in your bathroom, or even perhaps outdoors—creates a point of focus on which to center and connect with your intentions.

By paying attention in this way, we prepare our minds for all that is required of them. Once prepared, a mind is open to knowing what it does not yet know, guiding you by intuition, stands ready to question assumptions, and is naturally drawn to its curiosities—seeking a deeper learning and greater appreciation of things.

Light a candle for what you are intent on accomplishing.