“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” — Seth Godin
The above quote from Seth Godin was the quote that inspired me to create my dream life and lead to me where I am today.
Most of us are living our lives unconsciously. We let things happen to us rather than design and create a life that we intend to live.
Just imagine how your perfect lifestyle is going to be like if you can have everything you want in the next 5 to 10 years.
The problem is that most people don’t dare to dream. Hence, they have been conditioned to think and act like everybody else, which is living in mediocrity.
They wake up each morning feeling reluctant to go to work. They don’t feel energetic, and they lack the zest for what they do. They go to work for the sake of making a monthly salary and are always looking forward to a change.
They go through weekdays like a zombie and wait for the weekends to arrive. And they then repeat the cycle every day, every week, and every month with the hope that things will change, or they will make a fortune ‘accidentally’.
Let me tell you this, you don’t have to feel powerless or directionless. You can design and create the amazing life you want right now.
But first, you must make the conscious decisions that you are destined for bigger success. You must have the intention and believe that you can have your ideal lifestyle.
And once you do, follow this 5-step framework to design and create the successful life you have always desire…
1. Set Your Vision and Goals
First thing first, do you know what kind of life you want to live?
The truth is most people have no idea what kind of life they want to live. And that is why they are living in mediocrity because they don’t even know what they want out of their lives.
Never let this happen to you. If you want to design an amazing life, you must first define how success looks like to you.
You can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t know your destination.
The same happens to your mind. When you have no idea what you want, you are giving blurry instruction to your mind and it can’t help you manifest and attract it.
This is why it is so important to identify what you want in the first place.
Think of your mind as a 3-year-old. When you talk to a 3-year-old, you need to be specific and detail. You have to tell her exactly what you want her to do so that she can follow through and do exactly as you told her to.
The same goes for your mind. Be specific and give as much detail as possible. How does your ideal life look like? What kind of success do you want to achieve in your life?
Action Steps
Take a piece of paper, imagine your dream life, and then put down everything onto paper. Write down your thoughts and be as specific as possible. It doesn’t matter whether you are writing a long-form article or list down everything that you want to achieve, the key is to make it clear and give a vivid picture of what you want to your mind.
Read: Ultimate Goal Setting Guide: How to Set Goals and Crush Them
2. Create the Process
The second step is to create the process. No matter what you want out of your life, there is a process you can follow to create the results you want.
And your mission here is to find out the process. Ask yourself, what do you need to do to get to your goals and dreams?
For example, if you want to get back in shape and lose the additional fat on your belly, what you need to do is to find out the process of how to do that.
You can read books, interview people who have successfully get back in shape and lost their belly fat, attend a course, hire a trainer, etc.
The key is to identify the process for creating the results you want.
Regardless of your goals and dreams, there will be someone out there who has already done it and he or she has the answer. And your job is to find out that answer from the person who has done it before.
If you want to build a successful online business, then go ahead and find out the people who have built successful online businesses. Interview them, ask them questions, and learn from them.
Study success because success leaves clues.
Elon Musk didn’t have a degree or a Ph.D. in engineering or computer science, yet he managed to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry through Tesla and also created rockets through SpaceX.
When a reporter asked Musk how he managed to learn about building rockets, he said, “I read books.”
Action Steps
Learn the process. Find out the plans and what you need to do to create the results you want to achieve your goals and dreams. Read books, study successful people who have done it, and learn as much so that you can formulate a plan to get there.
Read: How to Turn Your Goals into Actionable Plans
3. Get Rid of the Obstacles
Now that you know what you need to do to create the ideal life you want. The next step is to get rid of the obstacles that are preventing you from getting there.
Most people fail to stick to their plan because they have too many obstacles blocking them from achieving the success they desire.
For instance, if you want to start an online business but you lack technical skills, you have to think of a way to get around that.
You can learn the technical skills yourself or you can hire someone else to do the work for you. Whatever you do, don’t use it as an excuse to procrastinate or quit.
Many people want to lose weight, but they don’t exercise because they often tell themselves that they don’t have the time. And so they keep delaying their exercise plan and procrastinate on their goal of losing weight.
Until you get rid of the obstacle — not enough time — you will never stick to your plan and create the success you want in your life.
Find a way to get around your obstacle. If you say that you don’t have time, what you are really saying is that your goal isn’t the main priority.
- Can you schedule a time?
- Can you wake up an hour early to exercise?
- Can you stay an hour later to work on your internet business every night?
- Can you get a partner who knows the technical skills?
- Can you make it a habit to read and write every day?
Whatever you do, you have to get rid of the obstacles that prevent you from moving forward.
Action Steps
Find out what is stopping you and then find a way to get rid of them. Learn from others how they have done it and replicate their process.
Read: 10 Common Obstacles that Prevent You from Succeeding in Life
4. Make Improvement Along the Way
Once you have got rid of what’s stopping you, the next thing you want to do is to make improvements along your journey.
If you continue to do what you have been doing, you will be getting the same old results as before.
Unless you make a change and improve what you do, you will never get a different result.
How do you think professional athletes like Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, and Muhammad Ali became the greatest? Well, they train and improve every day.
And that’s what you need to do in this step. You have to understand that you are where you are right now because of your current skills and knowledge.
If you want to go to the next level, you need to improve your skills and knowledge. Just like what Abraham Lincoln said:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln
Action Steps
Commit to learning and improving your skills. Spend at least 30 minutes to an hour learning every day. Schedule your learning time so that you will never miss it.
Read: 10 Practices How to Improve Yourself Every Day
5. Focus on the Journey and Pivot for Success
The final step in this 5-step framework for designing and creating your dream life is to focus on your journey and pivot for success.
Too often, people give up on their goals because they got distracted and thought that they found something ‘better’. They fall into the ‘shiny object syndrome’.
When they start a project, they are feeling driven and motivated. But as time passes by, they got distracted by other projects. As the saying goes…
“The grass is always greener on the side.”
Hence, they started to doubt themselves if what they do is correct. And eventually, they lose their motivation and procrastinate on their goals and dreams. And then they will quit and give up on their original plan and start looking for new ones.
The key is to focus on your journey and the rewards that you desire. Don’t get distracted by other things.
And you want to learn to pivot quickly whenever you make a mistake or fail.
Meaning, you can change the strategies for getting you toward your goals, but you should not change your goals.
When you find out what you do isn’t working, you can change your tactics and strategies, but never the goal.
Extraordinary successful people understand this, and this is why they have been consistent with their dreams and goals. They pivot quickly when things don’t work out, but they don’t abandon their dreams and goals.
Action Steps
Always focus on the journey and the rewards that you want. Never let yourself be distracted by other ‘shiny objects’. And learn to pivot by getting rid of what is not working, but never lose sight of the target that you are aiming for.
Read: The Story of Focus, Consistency, and Improvement
Conclusion
I always believe that anyone can design their lives and create the success they want and bring their dreams into reality. Follow this 5-step framework to create the ideal life you want. Most importantly, apply what you have learned and execute these ideas because thinking alone won’t make you successful. You need to act.
