Life By Design

It's a sad truth, but most people will put more thought into planning a vacation than they will their lives.  They don't take the time to identify what's truly important to them, where they want to go and how to start moving in that direction.

Instead, they seem willing to let life largely pass them by, unwilling, or perhaps scared to step into a life of their own design and destiny.  If you're reading this, you are likely one of the rare few who are ready to step into the drivers seat of your own life and decide where it's going.

Here's a scary truth:

If you're not driving your life, somebody else is.  Whether it's old family patterns, your boss, your culture or Madison Ave., if you aren't in the drivers seat, somebody else is, and they don't have your best interests at heart!

I have a friend who says:

"Most people are sheeple - half person, half sheep, unwilling to step up and lead an exceptional life, they live their life numbed out with a vague, unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomach that something is missing but fearful that they may discover what that thing is"

I think my friend has something there.  My big question is

"Why do so many people fall into the "Sheeple" zone?"

Was it the way they were brought up? Have they been knocked down one too many times?  Have they accepted the status quo?  Did they decide that "This is as good as it gets."?  In their day-to-day chaos, did they lose their larger vision? or did they buy into another person's version of what an ideal life is only to be disappointed by the empty feeling of getting there and not feeling satisfied?

Perhaps the answer is simpler - they never realised that they had a choice...

Whatever the case may be, the truth is that:

You do have choice.

Your life is yours to create.

You are ultimately responsible and in charge of your life.

95% of what holds you back is within yourself, masquerading as external obstacles.  The other 5% can be figured out, worked around and made irrelevant.

"So How Do I Design My Ideal Life?"

The first step is to simply decide...

Decide to step up and take charge of your life

Decide that you're in charge

Decide that excuses are in the past, that it all begins and ends with you

Decide to do whatever it takes to create your ideal life, even if it's uncomfortable, realising that discomfort is simply another way of knowing that you're growing.

The second step involves taking some time to really look at what's important to you - your key values and how in line you are with them.  You need to answer the question:

"Am I living in accordance with what is most important to me?"

A simple and effective way to do that is to identify your core values, define how you know when those values are being met and then grade yourself from 1-10 on how well you're doing. 

When you do this, you'll likely find that you're well aligned with some of your values and way out of whack with others.  As yourself:

"What actions do I need to take to make these closer to 10/10?"

Once you've done that, commit to these actions, write them down on your calendar and do them!

To help you with this process, go to the downloads section and download the Value Hierarchy Sheets.

After you've done this, you need to take some time to create a visions of what you want your life to look like as if you were looking back on it from 40 years from now.

Then based on that vision, what do you want your life to look like 5 years from now, paying attention to all the areas of your life:

• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Relationships
• Material
• Experiential

Then take it to 1 year and then 90 days.  Once you've done that, you'll have a clear vision of things that you want to do and in what time line.

For a handout and video that will help you do this, please go to our downloads section and download the Strategic Planner.

From here, you need to go to the Strategic Organisation section to see how to make your big picture a daily reality.

Remember, the only person responsible for the quality of your life is YOU - the quality of effort you put into this exercise will determine the quality of life you create for yourself!  Set time aside, get creative, playful and dream BIG!