designing your life
When I think about bringing my authentic life to be, I love the word “design” more than any other word that could be used–“create,” “build,” “construct,” etc. These words are synonymous in the English language, but they carry different energy with them, and “design” aligns best with how to bring your authentic life out.
When I hear the word “design,” I think about creativity and using the resources, information, and “things” that already exist to change your life.
When I hear the word “design,” I think unique as it’s highly unlikely two people would ever design anything the exact same way.
When I hear the word “design,” I think authentic. If you are the designer of your authentic life and you are truly designing based on how you feel called to live, then what you will design will look like, not like any other life.
I also like to think about “designing” the plan to bring the life you’ve designed to reality. Putting together a plan to help you live your authentic life should be a fun process, not a daunting or intimidating one, and if I think about “building,” “constructing,” or “working on,” they feel more robotic, rigid, and lacking creativity—all of which hinder the life planning process.
You might think I’m silly for loving a word so much. I feel the same way about “Pursuit,” but words matter, and they matter more than most realize. It’s easy to understand how negative self-talk can impact your life, but the words you use in everything you say, write, and think carry energy with them, and a little hack I’ve discovered to maintain a higher level of personal frequency is to choose my words carefully, erring on the side of higher-energy words.
Your high-energy words will differ from mine, and that’s okay; I want you to find your own words that motivate and inspire you and use them—remember, you’re pursuing your authentic life, not mine.
Speaking of “design,” I brought back an episode from the archives this week with my friend Carl Paoli, which just happened to be titled “Designing Life.” It wasn’t until listening to the episode again that I wondered if Carl planted the combination of “ life” and “design” in my mind for what would eventually become LifeDesign+?!? I know Carl is the only person who talks about designing life or life design, but I have to believe our conversation lived in my subconscious, waiting to be used in my work.
This conversation is over two years old and still holds up today just as much as back then.
