The Power of Intentionality with Mansi Kwatra

The writer of 'Unwind' shares her path from comparison to contentment

Mansi Kwatra

Hi friends,

Our world tends to glorify hustle and activity, though it doesn’t have to be this way. Intentional living can rescue us.

It centers on making conscious choices, rather than always striving, reacting, and rushing. It means creating a life that reflects who we truly are and who we want to be, rather than a life dictated by external pressure. Intentional living is really about engaging more deeply with our senses and experiences, savoring more richness out of each moment, including seemingly mundane practices like how we make our bed, pour a cup of coffee, or look at the sky before beginning a day of work.

Intentionality brings clarity and focus. Living mindfully and slowing down to cherish precious moments is equally transformative. As

Austin Kleon

and Alan Jacobs have pointed out, we jump from task to task, but then what?

My question about all this is: And then? You rush through the writing, the researching, the watching, the listening, you’re done with it, you get it behind you — and what is in front of you? Well, death, for one thing. For the main thing.

But in the more immediate future: you’re zipping through all these experiences in order to do what, exactly? Listen to another song at double-speed? Produce a bullet-point outline of another post that AI can finish for you?

The whole attitude seems to be: Let me get through this thing I don’t especially enjoy so I can do another thing just like it, which I won’t enjoy either….

I say: If you’re trying to get through your work as quickly as you can, then maybe you should see if you can find a different line of work.

By slowing down to live with intention, we give ourselves a chance to reflect, recharge, and connect more deeply with ourselves and others. Mansi Kwatra, who writes the Unwind newsletter, would know. She explores how we can break “the shackles of a life on autopilot through intentionality. Plus, occasional anecdotes about my experiences, observations and everyday life.” Her posts include how to disconnect in a connected world, choose wellbeing over exhaustion, honor kindness, maintain a journaling practice, and simple things that are transformational, among other pieces.

At just 21, Mansi embarked on a journey of self-discovery, which led to the creation of a space dedicated to finding peace amid life's noise. She started Unwind during a four-month break from her first corporate job, and she’s been writing essays and reflections regularly for three years since. Her pieces are reminders to wake up and experience the profoundness of each moment together on this planet.

In this Q&A, Mansi shares the personal struggles that shaped Unwind while offering insights into balancing ambition with mindfulness, the power of pausing, and the value of living intentionally. Join us as we delve into Mansi’s inspiring story and learn how to embrace stillness and purpose in our own lives.

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How did 'Unwind' come to be? Tell us a little about your journey of how you "felt constant pressure to stand out in the crowd" and struggled with comparison, then launched the newsletter.

Until the age of 20, I believed that the only way to succeed in life was by landing a well-paying job. So, I did everything I could to reach that goal as soon as possible. I graduated from one of the top three arts colleges in my country, where most people were better than me at doing things I was best at doing in my school. I, too, chose to put my blindfolds on and run as fast as I could in a race I soon realised had no end. This chaos led me to Unwind.

I started Unwind at age 21 (3 years ago now – time flies!), nine months after losing a sense of belongingness in life that I previously associated with my university. It was a blessing in disguise though, because, for the first time in my life, I had to figure out who I was beyond my grades. That is exactly what my newsletter is all about – it is a space where I allow the simple human inside me who seeks peace and comfort in the little things in life to show up. 

I still live a busy life from 9 am-9 pm every day – balancing a full-time job, a professional degree course and building a life outside this chaos. But the time I spend in my head (and in the present) thinking about little things that get delivered as weekly newsletters in people’s inboxes allows me to choose intentionality and calm in a busy schedule. I hope to encourage my readers to choose the same.

What do you like to read, and where? (Books, authors, places to read, etc.)

I developed a habit of reading three years ago when I took a break from the chaos of the corporate world to focus on my well-being. The thing with reading is that you need to find your way to your preferred genre else it will feel like a chore. I read two fiction books at the age of 15 and decided that I wasn’t a reader until one day, I picked up ‘The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down’ by Haemin Sunim and it completely changed my perception about reading. For some people, it may be the opposite, and it’s totally okay.

I am a huge fan of Morgan Harper Nichols’ words. I was lucky enough to stumble upon her work at a stage in my life where I needed to remind myself to occasionally slow down, no matter how fast people my age were running. Morgan wrote a book titled ‘Peace Is A Practice’, and I have absorbed that ideology to my core. Some other writers I enjoy reading are Mari Andrew, Oprah Winfrey and Brené Brown. 

One place I enjoy reading is in my little ‘Zen’ corner that I have created in my room.

I can spend hours here, soaking in some vitamin D while I enjoy a good book.

What's a common misconception about mindfulness or intentional living that you try to address through your newsletter?

A huge aspect of my newsletter is to remind my readers that choosing to live intentionally does not make you less ambitious. A life without ‘ambition’ would mean that you probably don’t take any action to grow, but a life without ‘intention’ would mean that you will feel unfulfilled despite achieving most things because you will always want more. When you choose to lead with intention, you will:

• Frequently stop and enjoy the view from where you are on your path to achieve your goals.

• Learn to say NO.

• Express gratitude for what you have instead of worrying about the things you could have.

You write about breaking the shackles of a life on autopilot through intentionality. Can you elaborate on what this means to you and how you practice it?

For me, intentionality is all about the pauses I take during the day to re-centre back into the present moment. Little things like shifting my gaze from the laptop screen to the sky through my balcony for a minute, washing my face and feet every night before going to bed, journaling, making my bed first thing in the morning, taking a shower in the middle of the day to start over and exercising 30 minutes every day detach me from living an autopilot lifestyle. Intentionality neither costs a fortune nor costs you much time.

What is your most treasured possession? 

I believe that all of us should reflect on how we can leave a mark on this world that will last long after we are gone. When I started reflecting on this thought, I was led to three of my most treasured possessions: Unwind (my newsletter), my journal and my personal library. 

None of these things correlate with how successful I am in my career, so there is no race to achieve everything this instant. I am taking my time to slowly build these things with as much love and thought as I possibly can.

What role does journaling play in your life?

I started journaling on my 21st birthday. It has been the best gift I have given to myself ever. I turn to my journal when I feel sad, happy, grateful, angry, exhausted. Journaling is not an easy habit to develop, but it can be the friend you always wished you had in your life, a friend who would never judge you for being you.

We live in a world where things change quickly. It’s easy for our inner voice to fade away in this chaos. That is why I started journaling: to bring my inner voice to the centre stage of my life, and it has been extremely rewarding so far. 

How do you balance sharing personal anecdotes with providing valuable insights?

I always wanted to connect with my readers via personal experiences that have allowed me to make sense of this world. In the beginning, I did not know how to. But that is the beauty of evolving as an artist. When you continue to show up, one day you are finally able to bridge the gap between creating what you love and what others love reading. Most of my newsletters are parts of my journal entries from the week before. They are almost like real-time reflections and thoughts of just a simple human trying to untangle the knots of productivity, ambition and even rest that all of us seem to be chasing right now. As I figure out what works for me in terms of productivity, ambition and rest in my life, I try to encourage my readers to stop and think about why they are doing what they are doing and slow down every once in a while to soak in the stillness and peace of the moments they have in the present.

What are some of your greatest fears?

I have many, but the biggest one I have battled yet is probably the ‘fear of succeeding’. It might sound absurd, but it’s real! 

I remember when opportunities popped up, and I stepped back because I didn’t want to be ‘seen’. I would say that I have gotten over it now (by training myself not to bother about people’s judgement and by learning to embrace recognition when I had worked hard for it), but it still creeps up sometimes. 

The world can be an intimidating place, but it has taught me that nobody thinks about you the way you think they do. Focusing on growing as the main character in your life is more rewarding than striving to be a popular side character in someone else’s life.

How do you see 'Unwind' evolving in the future? Are there any new directions or topics you're excited to explore? And do you want to keep writing forever? 

A little secret: If things go my way, I would love to earn a side income from my newsletter and potentially even replace it with my full-time job one day because nothing in life has given me more happiness than starting this newsletter. Some things in life wouldn't exist if you didn’t take the initiative to start them. For me, Unwind is one of those things. 

There’s so much more that I want to do with my newsletter, I feel like it’s just the beginning! 

I don’t think I have fully explored topics like rest and building a balanced and wholesome life in depth, so I would love to explore them further. I would also love to be consistent with my monthly lesson posts and the ‘Things I did this week instead of scrolling on my phone’ series. Writing these posts brings me so much joy and they also happen to be some of my most well-received posts so far. 

As far as new topics are concerned, it purely depends on how life unfolds for me in the near future. I prefer to write about topics that I connect with, not things I simply read on the internet or know nothing about. I look forward to expanding my horizons and writing about money, travel or maybe even book reviews.

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Celebrate your gifts,

Matthew