Live By Design

There is a street called “barely get by.” It is a neighbourhood of people with much sadness and suffering. People who live on this street have one thing in common which is a mindset of deep-seated limiting beliefs. Living in this street, is an old arthritic lonely man of 55 years, he believes that only the rich live happy, healthy lives and that he is doomed to die in his sickness, loneliness and poverty. There is a 27 years old lady in this street that believes she cannot have a stable-happy relationship, and can only reach the peak of her career if she sleeps with the boss. I was told of a violent teenage boy of 17 years living in this street who was made to believe that he won’t amount to anything good because of his abusive family background.  I am well informed that there are many others with pathetic beliefs as the ones I mentioned, living in this street.

We all have one friend; let’s call her Brenda. Brenda is bubbly and full of life, and we secretly wish we have what she has. I got to know that Brenda is not necessarily different from all of us; she just has a different way of thinking. Brenda believes that life should be lived intentionally. And she approaches every facet of her life this way. Brenda has a well arranged shoe rack and wardrobe free of clutters, her room walls are nicely painted with tasteful colours. She has living flowers in the flower pot. The careful arrangement of cutleries in her kitchen is a clear indication that Brenda loves to maintain an aesthetic ambience all the time. Brenda approaches her relationship with her family with the same intentionality. You would see her writing down goals and for the month that include having a family evening at the theatre.

I observed that like Brenda, we love to enjoy the best things of life. We buy ourselves good smart phones, have the fashion designer make us beautiful clothes that fit, and would dream (and build) a house based on a beautiful designed blueprint. But unlike Brenda, we don’t live every aspect of our lives with such intentionality or better put, ‘design.’

Imagine the possibilities if we could be deliberate about health, our relationships, our businesses and careers, about just any aspect of our lives. Do you know you can live your life by design? That just like Brenda, you can be intentional about what you permit into your life such that you are living your most authentic self, enjoying life to the fullest by making better choices.

How would you feel if you had all the good things you desire? Awesome right?  It can only be possible when you choose to live your life by design. When you choose to design every aspect of your life like Brenda, you draw positive energy from the universe to set in motion your desires. I am guessing that you may be saying to yourself that you are not a superhero to make your desires come true, but you forget that you a god with the ability to create your own realities. You are vested with the responsibility to create your life as you want it. You have full control of your life and are only limited by your beliefs just like the guys on “barely-get-by street.”

You probably are living in the “barely-get-by” neighbourhood, and I think it’s time to make a move uptown called “we-live-by-design” where the neighbours are living healthier, happier, richer and more fulfilling lives. It’s a game changer darling! And it will cost you nothing to make that switch, but a choice to change your beliefs and assumptions about your life for new and progressive ones.

So, take the first step by taking control of your life and designing it the way you want it to be. Every great design has an attractive quality, but you can’t design your life to be beautiful when you are using the blunt scissors of limiting beliefs to cut the patterns of your life and to sew the pieces with the broken needle of negativity.

A fashion designer methodically undergoes the process to design a dress that fits perfectly and beautifully, so is it with designing your life. By designing your life, you pull positive energies towards you that keep you in good health, create the right atmosphere for healthy relationships to foster, increase your efficiency at work and generally make you a more optimistic person.

To get the best out of life, you have to change your thinking from negativity to not just positive thinking, but superlative thinking. End the self pity, affirm what is good and true about your life, take bold steps towards your dreams and have the strong belief that everything around you is working for your good and you are in charge of your feelings, thoughts, lifestyle, career and every aspect of your life.

My partner and I founded @welivebydesign page on Instagram to help people manifest the realities they desire through the process of design thinking. You can live a designed life every day for the rest of your life in your health, career, relationships, and so on. The world will be a better place as the “barely-get-by” neighbourhood gets empty, as people become skilled designers, building their lives with beliefs of courage, trust and that they deserve all the good things life has to offer.