How to Redesign Your Life

We are expected to figure out what we want to do before we graduate high school. We are told to pick a career and plan our post-secondary education based on that career.

There is one problem…

At the time, we were just kids. We hadn’t figured out what we were passionate about, or what makes us happy in life. We barely knew who we were and some of us don’t figure it out until well into adulthood.

The problem that that could cause is thinking that the career we choose when we are fifteen is the life path we have to take for the rest of our lives. But that is not the case. Success is defined by the growth that you achieve in your personal and professional life. When we are put in a situation where we might not feel happy with our careers, we need to take the time to reflect on what we can do in order to make the changes that are necessary to be successful.

So, how can you redesign your life in order to feel happy and accomplished? It doesn’t have to do with the your educational background; it has nothing to do with how well you can serve a boss; and there is no connection with the opinions of family or friends. Redesigning your life has everything to do with your development, with the values and norms that build the person you are becoming.

Life is a journey, there are going to bumps, curves and roadblocks, but the obstacles will teach us lessons that build us up in creating the life that we have always wanted to live.

How to redesign your life…

Understand your Passion

I did this assignment in high school, where the teachers asked us to write for ten minutes on what we were passionate about. At the time I had no idea. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand the assignment, it was that I didn’t understand the difference between being ‘good‘ at something and being ‘passionate‘ about something.

Most adults go their whole lives thinking that the skills that they have are the passions they were meant to pursue. That’s not the case and our personal happiness can attest to that. I partook in a group therapy session, one to strengthen the bond of the people involved. The therapist asked “What is your occupation and do you like it?” One of the members of the group answered, and said they were “good at it, so they were content”. That answer made me realize how many human beings were walking around this earth content with life, instead of happy with it.

Our occupation is where we spend a lot of our time, it becomes our life because of the hours that are put into each morning, afternoon and night. If we are not doing something that we love or that brings us joy, our content will turn to misery.

Living life for the weekend, is not living life.

Living life for retirement, is not living life.

I learned that quickly, finding my passion, finding what brought me true and honest joy; I took that I used it as the throttle to redesigning my life. It is never too late for others to do the same.

Envision the ‘YOU’ you want to be

It sounds corny, but it works.

Sometimes the envisionment starts with a television show or a character in a book. Eventually, you begin to embrace the connection and start to see yourself in a new light.

We often hide behind curtains of social approval, “this is what I am supposed to do” or “this is what I am supposed to be”. In fear of judgement, anger, resentment, and loss. When we hide behind the curtains, we are not showing our true selves to this world, which can lead to mental health struggles, that we won’t be able to pinpoint until we embrace change.

The vision of ourselves that we create, that is the person we not only want to be, but we are, under the layers of social influence. By envisioning the ‘YOU’ that you want to be, you are creating a path to open up and show the world the beauty that you have been hiding all these years.

A Plan?

Sometimes the best plan is having no plan.

I am a big planner. When it came to redesigning my life, I still planned some of it, but later on… when it came to opening an online business, it is a split between staying organized and going with the flow.

The best decision I made was making one and not having a strict plan that followed it. Understanding where my passions were and going for them, without having an organized structure to follow to ensure success.

Do the organization skills help? Yes

Does planning things later on help? Yes

But when we take the leap towards the life we want, sometimes planning things out ahead of time, can cause you to have cold feet towards the life that will bring you the ultimate goal…joy.

Ignore the Haters

I didn’t know how else to put it.

When we start to change the course of our life we are going to upset people. There will be family members, colleagues and bosses who will be disappointed in the decisions that we make.

But it’s not their life.

It is not so much that they will hate on you, but they might make you feel like you are ruining the plan they made for you… again, it wasn’t their responsibility to plan out your life.

It’s your life. It’s your plan. It’s your decision.

You need to feel confident in the choices that you make, show that confidence. Your happiness and joy are worth it. You are worth it.