The concept of “Life Design” may be fairly new; however, when we take a close look at the underlying tenets used to create the “design”, we see similarities to universal laws—such as the Laws of Attraction—that have existed for centuries. The success of a Life Design is generally based on the following: deciding what would make us happy in various areas of our lives, a belief we can make it happen, focusing our thoughts on what we want, letting go of limiting beliefs and being willing to act on our plan. These are the same steps for creating the life we want using the Laws of Attraction.

To create a Life Design or a Lifestyle Design means to examine our current lives and decide what we would like to change to make us happy. For example, designing our “happy” life means deciding what we want to do for a living or how much we want to work. It encompasses where we want to live, how we want to spend our leisure time, and what things we want to do in and with our lives. It doesn’t matter how old we are or at what stage in life we are. What does matter is that we follow the steps and believe it is
possible.

When Timothy Ferriss wrote The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich, it became a bestseller; it was the beginning of a different method and focus for how to create the life we desire by design. One of the first statements Ferriss makes in regard to designing our lives is that we need to change our way of thinking. “Life doesn’t have to be so damn hard,” he says. “It really doesn’t. Most people, my past self included, have spent too much time convincing themselves that life has to be hard.”

Reality is not set in stone and we don’t have to go along with someone else’s version of it.

In Ask and It Is Given, Esther and Jerry Hicks explain the Laws of Attraction, how they work and how they impact our lives. They begin by reminding us who we really are and why we are here. “You are here to experience outrageous joy,” is a phrase used by the Hicks. They go on to explain how life is not supposed to be hard, and we’re not meant to struggle. Instead, we’re meant to be happy and to enjoy all that life has to offer.

Step one in Life Design is to decide what it means to be happy. One of the ways to do that is to use our imagination and get clear on what it is we really want in our lives. What would make us happy? This is also the first step in using the Laws of Attraction. Gaining clarity on exactly what we want to create in our lives is the first step to manifesting it.

Ferriss tells us his book is different because, “First, I’m not going to spend much time on the problem.” Similarly, The Laws of Attraction state that what we focus on expands. We need to be aware that the energy of the problem is not the same energy as the solution. In other words, to be successful, we need to focus on the solution, not the problem. Ferriss, like the Laws of Attraction, find it more beneficial to focus on what we do want, and not what we don’t want, as a key to creating our desired experience.

One of the most powerful notions in Ferriss’ Life Design is that we get to create our own reality. That is something we already do all day and every day without necessarily realizing it. How we choose to think about something is us creating our own reality. What he refers to specifically is the common ideas of the reality we have constructed that says life is hard, we have to have a “9-to-5” job and work overtime to make enough money, and we have to be able to save our money to retire someday. This way of thinking has become what most people believe is the “reality” of life.

Ferriss’ belief is that we need to reclaim what reality is for ourselves. We get to define what we want our reality to be. “Reality is negotiable,” he says. Reality is not set in stone and we don’t have to go along with someone else’s version of it. The Laws of Attraction state that we create our own reality and, in that, we always have the power to change it. When we decide to change our reality, we let go of limiting beliefs and replace those beliefs with beliefs of empowerment and confidence.

Both perspectives express the idea that our concept of reality can always change. It can and does change whenever we decide we want something different in our lives. In the moment, we allow ourselves to think differently. We begin to see our lives through a different lens, perspective and reality.

For the successful Life Design, there are, of course, steps to follow, plans to put in to place and expected actions based on those plans. The plans and actions develop out of the desire and ideas of the individual. Similarly, with the Laws of Attraction, the steps develop from a place of feeling good. When we feel good, the laws say, we then allow in inspired ideas that move us to act, and to develop plans and steps to follow. This is referred to as “inspired action”.

Today, there are many versions and adaptations of how to create your “Life Design”. There are means for us to empower ourselves and be deliberate in designing and creating a life we want. At the core, they say we are to focus on what we want, believe we can have it, look for the joy in life and follow our inspired plan.

It seems we are continually looking for the way to fulfill our purpose in this life as well as to find happiness, love and prosperity. It’s likely there will be other “designs” that will develop to help bring more of us to an understanding of the power we have to change our lives through universal laws.

Darlene Alvarez Maddern is a life coach, mentor, teacher and speaker. Connect at 860-488-2619, [email protected] and CreateWithYourThoughts.com. See Community Resource Guide listing, page 70.