It’s not always going to be straightforward or plain sailing getting this Life Design thing sorted, but if we can learn to master the habit of action, we can learn to master a happier more fulfilled life.

Living consciously, rather than by default is one of the greatest things we can do to start designing a life we love, or to re-design aspects which no longer serve us. By simply tweaking the way we do something or adding in positive actions/habits into our lives, anything can happen.  Often, we downgrade our dreams to match our reality, and the things that are going on in our world, but if we can master the action of making opportunities and expanding our possibilities, almost anything can happen. Our circumstances must never define us, instead, if we can take responsibility for the things in our lives we can unlock the power to be able design them. When things get particularly rough, breathing and ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’ can make an enormous difference. On some days, that may be all there is to do. And that’s ok. Go through the process, be nice to yourself, and know that these hard times will pass. If you allow them too. If, when the time is right, you allow yourself to let go, and begin designing.  Finally, remember that nothing comes by itself. Knowing how to design our life isn’t enough. Neither is being willing. It’s action alone that makes the magic happen. So let’s take action.  Let’s make things happen. Even the wrong action can have positives in it. But standing still will get us nowhere.

So, if you aren’t sure where to start, or how to begin designing (or re-designing) your life, here are 10 ideas to get you started. Remember, our goal is to start small. It’s better to master one small habit at a time, rather than aiming to overhaul our whole lifestyle in one hit. Taking on too many things at once will most likely cause burn out, frustration or falling off the wagon. In general, it is a good idea to master one new habit every 10 to 12 weeks, aiming to build on each goal. Remember the one degree concept from Chapter 14 - a small habit started today might not look like much, but a year from now that single habit can make a really great impact towards the life you want to design.

One of the best ways to start designing our life is to ‘Spiral Out’ (refer to Chapter 14). Doing one small thing each day that challenges us or makes us feel uncomfortable can totally expand our boundaries and increase the amount of life we can experience. Remember – as we practice expanding our comfort zone, we soon discover how comfortable that feeling can become!

Many of us have dreams or things we want to do, but often come up with the excuse of ‘But I don’t have time’, or ‘I don’t know where to start…’ Well getting up an hour earlier in the morning can help with both of these responses, and also help to upgrade our life. We all value that extra hour of sleep, so by giving it up to purposefully improve our life, we are more likely not going to waste it. Often, we will feel like we have won for the day, just by getting up and taking charge of our life. Spend an hour to exercise, create a healthy breakfast, start studying that course you’ve always wanted to do, start writing a book, meditate… Get the day started by focussing on that thing you keep putting off. Your future self will definitely thank you for it.

Whether it’s 1:1 or via a video, book or Facebook page, spend time each day connecting to inspiring people. We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with, so it’s a great idea to make sure that those people lift us and pull us in the right directions. Finding people with a message or way of life that we admire, then getting to know more around their bigger message or lifestyle can spur us on to do greater things with our lives. Like the saying goes…Birds of a feather flock together. When was the last time you saw an eagle flying with the pigeons?

Exercise boosts our mood. Ok, so possibly not always at the time, but afterwards we tend to feel much better for it. In fact, exercise is known to increase endorphins (our happy hormones), as well as serotonin, which can help to relieve depression. A short burst of exercise makes us feel like we have truly done something positive for our bodies and creating that feeling on a regular basis can make us feel like anything is possible. As we start to design a positive future for ourselves, mobility, good energy levels and a healthy mind/body are going to make all the difference. Over time, the length of exercise we do can increase.

(I hear the Let’s Talk Life Design podcast is pretty awesome!)

Similar to above, our future growth depends on the type of information we feed it today. Rather than flicking on the radio, or listening to something that simply entertains us, finding podcasts on topics that interest us can be a great way to learn more about or interests or to hear different opinions and perspectives on them. Podcasts are an excellent companion when commuting and can make even the most mundane activities interesting again.

Taking 15-20 minutes on a Sunday (or Monday morning) to plan out different aspects of our week can help major change take place very easily. It’s amazing how much more headspace we can have once we reduce the amount of noise and distraction in our lives, and these 15-20 minutes connect us to living consciously, one of the key ingredients to successful life design.  Using this time to identify key things we want/need to get done over the following week, people we would like to connect with, meals we want to eat, and things we want to do for fun, means our week can start off fresh with objectives already decided, rather than ‘seeing what happens’.

Generally leaving our time and tasks to fate, leads to a life very much ‘un-designed’.

“A Sunday well spent brings a week of Content”
– Proverb

We are never finished learning. There is always more to know and to find out. Taking up a 30 day challenge to learn one new thing each day can do so much for our brain and ability to life design. Whether its learning something about science or nature or the name of a type of cloud, as we learn, we expand our ability to know new things, and might even find some areas in life that we never thought to explore before. Learning brings satisfaction, and a healthy dose of self esteem we feel good for expanding our minds borders.

“The most successful people in life are the ones who ask questions. They’re always learning. They’re always growing. They’re always pushing.”
– Robert Kiyosaki

As mentioned already, giving our body routine, and sufficient sleep helps us to function better - physically and mentally. Putting in place specific tasks and times to do them can help us to feel our best and ensure that we finish our day right. Start off by considering what time you eat dinner, what you might do to relax (read, TV show, chat with a friend, have a bath or shower, meditating…), and whether there are any things left over from the day that are likely to keep you awake or stress levels elevated. Is there a time you could take each evening to address these things, so you can focus on sleeping when that time of night comes.  It’s a great idea to switch off all devices (especially anything with blue light which keeps us awake longer).

Being happy is one of our most basic needs, and yet so many of us fail to nurture this area of our lives. When we experience happiness, everything seems brighter. We seem to have more energy, a more positive outlook, and the ability to look forward to things in a positive manner.

Finding things we enjoy doing, and setting aside regular time to do these things can change our entire outlook on life. Whether it’s a sport, connecting with a friend, going for a walk, taking part in a group activity, or doing a hobby, getting into a positive frame of mind helps us to set a more positive path to the future. 

For our bodies to run well, they need to be fed well. Rather than focusing on reducing or ‘taking out’ of our diets, let start by ‘adding in’. Increasing our fresh veggie intake is the best place to start. All those extra nutrients are going to be amazing for our bodies, helping to boost the immune system, fight chronic illness, and to increase our energy levels.

Even just a small amount of meditation each day can change our thought patterns and the way that we perceive what is possible for ourselves. It can develop our thoughts, boost our happiness and help us to become more aware of the way that we do things. Meditation can be helpful to connect with ourselves and to direct our thoughts in positive ways starting those life design habits to a greater future.

Not only are many of us in a state of ongoing dehydration (without even knowing it), starting our day with a health glass of warm lemon juice can do wonders. As we sleep, our liver works hard to process unwanted toxins from our bodies, and a warm lemon water can help to boost the body into gear at the beginning of the day. Not only will we get the benefits of increased hydration and more energy, but a natural dose of Vitamin C can do wonders for our immune system too. Test it out and see if you feel better after a few days of doing this.

When we read inspiring books, we fill our lives and minds with possabilities. Ways that we can upscale our lives. They can help us to see where we can improve our lives, and how we can think differently, without any kind of judgement. Reading how other people have helped themselves and the successes they have gained can help us to realise that we also have that same kind of power. Soon enough, we find ourselves mapping out new plans and actions aligned with the directions we want to go. Even just a few pages of a self development book each day can totally transform our future.

Gratitude affects our attitude. When we focus on positive things in our lives, it can start to become easier to see the positives around us. Our attitude becomes more positive, and as this happens, our happiness levels can also increase, improving our outlook and relationships. It’s also believed that Gratitude can help us to recover faster from Trauma or life disruptions, making a daily gratitude list an obvious thing to do when we are looking to design our best future.

Affirmations are positive statements we speak out to attract, and increase things in our lives.  They keep us focussed on what we want for our lives and speak clearly to our subconscious minds. The daily act of speaking out affirmations helps us to have more gratitude, and to keep our eye on the bigger picture. By becoming aware of our daily thoughts and words, we can take control of our focus. As we focus on more positive things, we remain in a state of gratitude, a happier mindset and the ability to dream bigger for ourselves.

Mindfulness is known to help manage stress as well as our ability to manage difficult situations.  When crisis or life disruption occurs, mindfulness is an ideal tool to help navigate the path forward and to help us to identify what is really going on. It can directly help our health and well being, as we opt for more positive choices in life, which puts us in the life designer drivers seat.

For most of us, breathing is an action that happens automatically, but during times of stress or high emotions, our breaths generally become short and shallow, and our breathing rate increases. If we can slow our breathing down, and to make a regular point to focus on our breath, we can help to calm our body, our mind, and let go of many of the things in our lives that cause stress or anxiety. Deep breathing can help to clear the mind, bring more oxygen into the body and to help us focus on the right kinds of emotions. The perfect environment for designing our future.

Laughter is medicine (although if you are actually sick, it’s a good idea to go see a doctor…), and laughter can transform our lives in so many ways. First up, it’s great for our health (hence the saying about laughter being medicine), secondly, it boosts our mood, and helps us to see more positives in life, and thirdly, it helps us to get more oxygen to our brains, reduce our stress levels, and enable us to live more productive lives. All of which are great elements to a life well designed. As we get older, we can find the amount of laughter in our lives reduce, so either joining a laughter yoga class, or spending time with people who get us ‘belly laughing’ can greatly improve our quality of life.

For our bodies to run well, they need to be fed well. Rather than focusing on reducing or ‘taking out’ of our diets, let start by ‘adding in’. Increasing our fresh veggie intake is the best place to start. All those extra nutrients are going to be amazing for our bodies, helping to boost the immune system, fight chronic illness, and to increase our energy levels.

The more dreams we can write down, the more dreams we are likely to see come to pass.  Each year, aim to write down 100 things you want to do over the year, and tick them off as you  complete them. They can be anything - big or small. This list also works as a great way to plan out how to spend weekends, or to understand what it is you want for your life. Don’t worry if you don’t get to them all. Simply writing them down expands our mind, and stats the design work in our subconscious.

When life throws us a curveball, or we feel like things just aren’t how we want them to be, our nutrition is most often the one thing that we can take charge over. If nothing else, we can ensure our body is getting some healthy nutrients to keep functioning well. Rather than focusing on cutting foods out of our lifestyle, or focussing on dieting (aka depriving), adding in healthy foods can do amazing things. Over time, as we realise how good we are feeling, we will automatically start to choose healthier options.

Adopting healthy sleep habits can change so much more than our tiredness levels. Regular sleep routines generally equals falling asleep faster, and helping us to sleep better. And when we have slept well, our thoughts function better, along with our judgement and ability to stay positive in trying situations. And when we feel more positive or energised, our ability to identify how we can improve our future is greatly increased.

Not only are many of us in a state of ongoing dehydration (without even knowing it), starting our day with a health glass of warm lemon juice can do wonders. As we sleep, our liver works hard to process unwanted toxins from our bodies, and a warm lemon water can help to boost the body into gear at the beginning of the day. Not only will we get the benefits of increased hydration and more energy, but a natural dose of Vitamin C can do wonders for our immune system too. Test it out and see if you feel better after a few days of doing this.

Being aware of how much and the type of information we consume is super important these days, because there is so much of it! But watching TED Talks can be amazing for our personal growth because they can expand our world and the types of things we think about. Often these talks give us nuggets of information without us having to do the research first hand. Rather than feeding ourselves negative or low quality information, let’s consume something that expands our mind, and inspires different ways of thinking.

Yoga can improve so much in our lives. From increasing flexibility, to reducing stress right through to reducing anxiety and lowering our blood pressure. If we want to have clarity of mind and be able to identify key ways in which we can design a brighter better future, Yoga may just be a doorway to doing this.