As this year has just begun, many remain filled with optimism about their futures, having made a list of new goals and resolutions.
There’s something about a new year that brings refreshing thoughts of a new start and a chance to finally make things different. This is where lifestyle design begins, within you with thoughts of a better tomorrow for yourself and your family.
A realization comes over you indicating that life really doesn’t need to be as difficult as it has been, if only you were to take charge of your destiny and break free of what most have been taught to be the norm.
We’ve been fooled.
Most of us spent large chunks of our lives believing that we’re suppose to work for decades, trading 40 to 60 hours each week for a salary while building up someone else’s business. This is a lifestyle designed by someone else, and we decided to accept this social conditioning.
Even when there were times that we wondered if this was truly the best model for us, we convinced ourselves that it was because this is how most of society functions, not realizing the limitations this places over you.
Like many, I was slow to recognize that true lifestyle design was having the freedom to pursue your interests on your own terms, not just squeezing in the good times around your work schedule.
I can remember going on job interviews many years ago when my thinking began to change. I realized then that interviews flow both ways and I was not going to accept anything, although my transition was incomplete.
It all begins at home.
Once you’ve made the mental transition to really wanting freedom, you then need to begin the process of changing your environment to support your thoughts. You can never make a change until you make a change.
Begin with the basics.
Look around your home and determine what no longer fits into your future lifestyle and get rid of it. Give it away, sell, and donate; do whatever you have to do to quickly get these things out of your life. This “stuff” will only serve to keep you in your current state of mind because visually, you haven’t made a significant change in your overall surroundings.
Make a date.
Make a date with your significant other and have a serious sit down discussion about where you are mentally and why it’s so important to you that this transition in thinking occurs now. There’s nothing stronger than having the support of your loved ones.
Redesign your home.
Paint some rooms and change the furniture around. Begin with the room you spend the most time in, likely your office or workspace. You need a different look to feel as though things are really changing.
Buy a new book collection.
Start building a new book collection on lifestyle design and personal development. Read from these materials daily to keep your energy moving in the right direction. Place them in your office on a shelf in plain sight so that they’re never far away. You can also obtain some audio versions of materials to listen to while driving or cycling.
Write down your goals and plans.
Write down your goals and your plans to achieve the lifestyle that you have now committed to. If you’re still working for someone else, be sure to include your exit strategy and include a timeline.
This may require more time than you’re comfortable with, but you have to do what is necessary until such time that you can fully design your own lifestyle.
Change your activity schedule.
Change your activity schedule by eliminating things that are not in tune with your new way of thinking and replace those activities with things that are. Those monthly dinners with the Browns who are always whining and complaining about their jobs – stop going!
Replace that less than thrilling event with something more positive that will keep you moving toward your goals.
Stop being one of them.
You know the types like the Browns above. Always complaining about the job or the boss but not doing anything about it for decades. When you think about this, it’s as close to crazy as you can get, short of being certified. Why be so unhappy for so long and do nothing about it?
This is the product of fear and complacency as they are afraid to speak up and afraid to get out and do something else.
Use your creative power.
Use your creative power on something besides excuses. We’re great at coming up with excuses anytime we become uncomfortable or allow fear to set in. Harness that brain power and focus it on getting out of your current situation.
There’s something to be said about how we can think for days, months and even years, never coming up with an idea or a plan for changing our lives for the better but we can find an excuse in a matter of seconds.
Bottom line.
Your home is your castle and the environment where you’re most in charge of what occurs in your life. Lifestyle design is a mindset and your surrounding environment affects your thought processes greatly.
What we’re doing with this exercise is reprogramming years of “normal” thinking that to this point, has likely not advanced our causes to where we would like for them to be.
As I stated from the beginning, lifestyle design begins at home.
Note: Any circumstances in your life replicating those of the Browns above is purely coincidental – Not!
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G'day! I'm Gordie, founder and editor-in-chief of Lifestyle Design For You. I want to welcome you to the center of the universe when it comes to lifestyle design and personal development blogs. We're a team of ten writers providing you with articles to help nourish your mind and improve your life. Lifestyle design is about designing your life so you can do what you want when you want. 
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting article! We just redesigned our bathroom & kitchen and we don’t even own this home. lol
Rose´s last blog ..10 Valentine Wordpress Themes
Your landlord must be happy!
Did you follow Jimi’s ideas? If not, then rip it all out and start again.
Rip it all out? No way.. Not on your life.. Um Nope.. Not happening.
Rose´s last blog ..10 Valentine Wordpress Themes
I wonder if my landlord would let me loose on their walls?
I need a whole stack of hooks…
And I’m not keen on institutional grey!
Stuart´s last blog ..Earth To Hell – Kylie Chan
You could try but you might have to move to your recently bought apartment after all.
You sod, I didn’t think the music was that loud!
I love this post, we’re working on our house at the moment.
We knocked down some walls and put a french door on the back of the kitchen, everyone thought we were crazy.
They soon changed their minds when we had 19 over for Christmas Dinner!
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Why You Have to Lead From the Front
Glad you like the post.
Your story is pretty much how things go throughout life. Some people will think that you are crazy for starting an online business as well instead of getting a “real job”, until your success skyrockets. Then everyone wants to know how you did it.
I will bet that kitchen makeover was a very positive change in the end, although many could not envision the final outcome early on. Congrats on that! I know that those projects are not as easy as they are made to look on TV during a one-hour show.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
“lifestyle design begins at home”
I like the tag line. I feel it’s something anyone can absolutely relate to. All of us face difficult situations, initially, at home. Except, of course, if you’re living alone. I agree that one needs to make sure one’s place of refuge is conducive to self-development and that other people in that environment should also be supportive. And, to do that, one must focus on changing perspectives. Inner work is another thing that’s necessary to accomplish a total redesign of your lifestyle.
Cheers to you Gordie and Jimi!
Ryhen
Ryhen | Mind Power´s last blog ..Cause and Effect: How To Really Change The World
Thanks for the feedback, Ryhen.
As you have mentioned, changing perspectives is critically important.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
Hi Ryhen,
Like Jimi said, a man should be the king of his castle. It’s their that we can take control of our environment first and make it conducive to helping us design our lives.
And here I thought charity begins at home.
Good article, especially since our house and home is in serious need of a revamp. Certainly have to get rid of a few things. Especially those old PC’s I got from the dark ages.
Robert Bravery´s last blog ..List of HTML Design tutorials and resources.
Hi Robert,
Decluttering gives one a great feeling. It’s like you have more oxygen to breath or something. Get rid of those old P.C’s. Maybe keep one to be an antique later in life.
Like you Robert, I once stored all sorts of computer gear after upgrading to the latest and greatest, never to return to those items that seemed to have had some value earlier.
I finally gave up my hording ways, keeping life simple and uncluttered. This has improved my overall environment.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
The problem with charity beginning at home – especially with things like PC’s – is that people who take them off your hands get stuck into the whol e idea of “invested warantees”…
Now, if you left perfectly good tech on the roadside, no one could come running back to you and say, “I took this off your hands, but…:”
The concept of charity is being bent over and reamed out these days.
Stuart´s last blog ..Earth To Hell – Kylie Chan
Thanks for your comment, Stuart.
I’ve never found anything charitable about “being bent over and reamed out”, but I think I get your meaning.
Those who travel this route are simply negative thinkers looking to get over on someone else’s good fortune. As a part of one’s lifestyle design plan, there must be a remedy for keeping these types away.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
Hi Jimi.
Good call there about changing furniture around. It can make a huge difference to angle a table differently, or add in a new flat surface, like a small bookshelf, or something of that type.
The part about changing your activity schedule makes sense also. If you are changing, and keep the same schedule, you can’t possibly be changing that much at all. Cutting out items that “seem important”, but which are energy users, can be the difference between barely getting by and gladly completing tasks.
It does start at home. Valid stuff.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..When You Feel Unstoppable, Take Notice
When you get momentum going in changing things in your life, it’s sometimes easier to start changing other areas of your life too. Momentum is a great thing and is much better than starting, stopping, starting, stopping.
Hi Armen.
Thanks for visiting.
For me it was always important to actually “feel” a difference. Moving around a few items may seem a small thing to some, but the impact can be quite surprising.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
This advice is very practical…I think sometimes we believe major changes are required to get the path to freedom rolling, when all it takes to get started are some minor adjustments.
I actually moved a sofa to a different wall in my apartment last week after deciding that the original set-up did not motivate me to work. It’s such a simple change but now there is more light when I’m working and I’m looking out a window instead of facing a television. As a result, I’m accomplishing a lot more when I sit down to work.
Solid article Jimi!
Earl´s last blog ..Jump Off a Cliff, Stick a Crayon in Your Mouth & FLYYYYY!
Hello Earl!
I am glad you pointed out the fact that it really does not require major changes to get moving in the right direction. So true. Like most things in life, we simply need to take action.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
That’s great, Earl. One simple change can make a big difference to your work atmosphere. Facing a window is great if you’re not easily distracted.
Jimi, very insightful post. I’d like to link to this from home building site as I think it really fits my philosophy of thinking through what you need, what you use, and what *really* makes a dream home.
Alison Moore Smith´s last blog ..Delta Touch-Activated Kitchen Faucet
Welcome, Alison!
Everybody’s idea of what a dream home is varies, but what can allaim to do is make our homes suit our lifestyle to help us grow more. That may mean getting rid of the clutter, turning a storage room into an office or whatever.
Hey Alison, good to see you friend.
Happy you like the post.
We do have to really think about what we need as opposed to what we want (which is likely everything). You end up with a house full of things that are in the way of progress.
How is your latest home project coming along?
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
Very nice Jimi!
I have really been looking into my lifestyle design as of lately. I just picked up The Expanded and Updated 4HWW by T Ferriss and am taking boatloads of notes this time through. So far since buying it two days ago I have:
1. Used the 80/20 rules to cut out most of my incoming irrelevant and unimportant information (websites, blogs I dont read, etc…)
2. Put my PS3 up for sale – This was tough to do, but do I really need it? I hardly use it.
3. Came up with about 5 different muses (automated income generators)
Thanks for the info, it is always nice to get restructured and keep our desired lifestyle design goals reinforced.
Tanner´s last blog ..Top 10 College Tips
Hi Tanner,
I also should go through the 4-Hour Work Week again and studiously take notes like you’re doing. I’m currently going through Tony Robbin’s Personal Power, so I think I’ll start going through the 4HWW next month.
You’ve taken some good steps here to boost your lifestyle design. Keep it up, Tanner!
Hey Tanner, how are you?
I’ll have to get a copy of the latest 4HWW and get up to speed. There is always something to learn and I see you’ve already taken some action, which is great.
Giving up that PS3 is a REAL commitment. LOL
Since I started blogging last year I only use mine for Blu-ray movies, no time for games these days.
Good to see you.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..The Week In Review
Hey Gordie,
You brought up an idea…After the 4HWW, I might switch over to TRobbin’s Personal Power. I have notes from one of his series, I think it is Get The Edge.
Tanner´s last blog ..Top 10 College Tips
Cool, man. I reckon “Personal Power”, “The 4HWW” “Think and Grow Rich”, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” and Brian Tracy’s “Psychology of Achievement” “, when applied will bring solid results.
Hi Jimi,
I have always be looking for freedom since I left the university. But other people, people like the Browns, push a lot with their “normal” thinking. It is very important get away from them. To achieve this freedom and lifestyle you talk about is difficult itself. So, the most important point you wrote, in my opinion, is this one about stop seeing this kind of people and start joining people with a positive attitude and with the same interests you have. That helped me a lot!
Isaac Ben´s last blog ..Steps to financial freedom – Introduction
Welcome, Isaac!
It can be really hard for us do give up things in life. It can be even harder when we need to give up people in our lives. We know that we risk hurting them and we risk their resentment. However, poison can creep into our lives in many forms and needs to be neutralized. Sometimes cutting people out, while seemingly harsh is the best way.
Hi Ben!
Those Browns are always in our face trying to keep you miserable like them.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Purging My Clutter – Can you help me with my Email?
Hey man, great post! I found your site on InfoPreneur’s site and this is great practical life-application that anyone can do. So many think that to attain that “desirable lifestyle” you’ve got to be some special person destined for it, or born into a rich family. But really, the only thing getting in the way of your success is you!
God bless and keep on keepin’ on!!
Hi Travis,
You’re so right. Human potential is almost unlimited, but unfortunately it’s usually untapped.
Love your last sentence, “…the only thing getting in the way of your success is you!”. That is really what it all boils down to.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Purging My Clutter – Can you help me with my Email?
Interesting… I particularly liked the point you made about getting rid of things and making a visual commitment to changing. Seems simple enough to do, but I can see how it’d be overlooked.
Good article, I look forward to reading more ^^
Thanks for visiting Heather. Gordie has assembled a really nice blog site here. Glad you enjoyed the article.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Purging My Clutter – Can you help me with my Email?
Thanks for the welcome! I’m enjoying this blog so far really; just been poking around in older articles and so on….
Nice to see someone with their head on their shoulders
Heather´s last blog ..Challenges; Are They Worth It?
Hi Gordie and Jimmi,
Reading your description of the 40 hour working week struck a chord with me. All I ever wanted to do was fall in love, get married and have lots of babies! I get very easily bored and so love and appreciate that I can call ‘looking after the children’ my full time job whilst doing lots of other bits and pieces on the side. I know my other half would prefer the ‘bits and pieces’ to pay better but I’m content
Thank you for encouraging folks to take action on their dreams. More than that, you give practical advice which is much appreciated.
Eleanor
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Do Paypal really like good causes?
Thank you for the kind words, Eleanor. They are very much appreciated. I have always wanted to see everyone succeed in reaching their goals. Getting started always seems to be the hardest part.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Purging My Clutter – Can you help me with my Email?
Welcome, Eleanor!
I also wanted to have lots of babies, but when doctors told me that only women can have babies, I turned my energy to lifestyle design and personal development.
It’s great you’re following your dream and an admirable one at that.
Thank you Jimi for sharing.
For me lifestyle design is living the life you want to live. If you have dreams and your desire to do something about those dreams is strong then they will happen.
All too often people look for a ‘big bang’ when in reality achieving your dreams is a series of small steps.
I particularly like your comment about painting the room. Although it gives the sense of change, does it actually take you towards your dream or distract you from taking your next step?
Hi Matthew, good to have you visit.
Painting the room actually enhances your energy to move forward because you now feel that some progress has begun. It is one of those first small steps, as you’ve mentioned above. I don’t see it as a distraction from the next step, but rather one of THE steps.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Purging My Clutter – Can you help me with my Email?
Welcome, Matthew.
Yes, small steps and lots of them are the way to achieve your lifestyle design goals.
I like the part about beginning with the basics. I have also discovered that clutter is just that – clutter. It serves one purpose and that is to create chaos not only in our homes but also our minds.
When I feel that I am being dragged under by the tide of daily events I have begun to realise that this is the best time to stop everything, except breathing and related useful bodily functions, and clear the decks.
It works every time and I get back to it afterward in a better frame and mind and end up achieving more than I would have done while feeling bogged down.
Welcome, Geoff!
That sounds like a great idea. Just stop and breathe. Those things will still be there when you jump back in.
I work in the education industry and after each semester I get a week or so break. It is during that time that I have started to clean out the clutter and mess. The say that a cluttered desk is the sign of a … Whatever they say, a cluttered desk for me is a non-productive nightmare.
By the way, I meant to say that I have also been adding to my book collection as you mentioned.
The latest one that is really worth a read for anyone stuck in a loop is “Change your Questions, Change your Life” by Marilee Adams. It really opened my eyes to how I was living life based on the answers to questions that were no longer relevant.
I know that might sound like nonsense to some but it is worth stopping to think what questions we asked ourselves some time back. Then consider the answers we came up with which are probably our main drivers in life right now.
Now stop and consider if those questions are still relevant. Life changes quick and I found that by not necessarily completing changing my questions (what do I want out of the next 12 months, what are my plans for the next 5 years, etc) but by re-thinking the answers to those same questions I have been able to get a better idea of my life going forward.
Geoff´s last blog ..Jan 13, Goal Setting Tips – Plan + Action = Success
Hi Geoff,
I also work in the education industry at a university here in China. I’m exactly the same. As soon as I get all the marking done, it’s decluttering time. Most of the stuff are students’ papers. It feels so good to get rid of them.
I find fear is one of the factors that keep me from moving forward, one of things you pointed out in your post.
Moving ahead with small changes is a way to work through my fear. I liked your point about making a physical change in your environment as a beginning. I think I am going to make a positive change at my desk to reflect my new attitude!
Michelle
Michelle Licudine´s last blog ..I Will Surive!
Hi Michelle,
Take a look at this post. It will help you see how fear can work for you.
http://lifestyledesignforyou.com/2010/01/three-f-words-you-must-know-to-succeed/
Hi Jimi,
First, I want to say I really enjoy your blog. Thank you for your commitment to it, it is wonderful.
As for this post, I am right on board with you. I am an author, and single mom, who homeschooled her children (they are about to go off into their own lives now), so I enjoyed an extensive level of location independence. This allowed us to live in different cities, and to take extensive trips, such as 6 months camping our way across the US (best history/geography/political lessons a child can get, and far better than they would have gotten had they instead been sitting in a classroom). However, we generally settled into places for a year or more at a time, before moving on. Whenever we did, we would experience ‘creep.’ Slowly but surely, more ‘stuff’ would enter our lives, only to be acknowledged when it came time to move.
Over the past few years I have been steadily moving toward a level of serious minimalism. It wasn’t easy when my kids were younger, but now that they are both brinking on adulthood, it is far simpler. And now that I’m at the point of getting close to a 100 Things level for myself (not counting community property in the home, such as living room furniture), I have found my way into greater levels of joy than ever before.
For me, the hardest things to let go of included books, art supplies, musical instruments, and such. However, I have now scaled what was at one time a library of over 3000 books down to less than 20. As soon as I read through these remaining ones, it will be almost nothing. I realized that I never need more than one or two books at a time, and plan on letting go of one before I replace it with another.
However, more fascinating to me was the realization that much as I thought I was free, my stuff had ‘paralyzed’ me in ways I didn’t recognize prior.
It struck me that our stuff becomes a kind of museum to our lives, and to our imaginings. How so? We hold onto things that represent past memories, and to things that represent a momentary flash of a version of our self that seems appealing. Example from my own life: I love art, and subsequently had 27 books on how to draw, paint with watercolor, acrylic, oil. I had all the supplied. But I never really used any of them, with the exception of the occasional charcoal sketch while traveling, such as on the long train ride from Amsterdam to Denmark.
I got rid of all the supplies, and all the books but one book on sketching. This was part of my last big ‘purge’ of stuff, and along with it went my guitar (I never played consistently enough to prepare my fingers properly), keyboard, and other similar items.
And then, as weeks went by, something amazing happened: I finally found my way back to the things I TRULY loved, that represented me on a core level, rather than an ‘idealized’ level. For instance, I realized that I LOVE dance, and always have (I had been accepted to NY’s School of Performing Arts High School, but my folks wouldn’t let me attend, so this should’ve been obvious to me, but somewhere along the way, dance became something I just did on occasion, when I went out with friends). I realized that I enjoy sketching, and have now been finding myself naturally drawn to it.
The same thing happened with stuff like cookbooks. I got rid of everything, except for one book that reflects my deepest beliefs about nutrition. And viola, suddenly there is no effort for me in terms of eating well.
Why is all of this? I feel like all the ‘stuff’ I surrounded myself with kept me ‘attached’ to those momentary flashes of things I would enjoy seeing myself live like….kind of like were I to step momentarily into another life. But the truth is, we only have one life to live, and we must choose what we fill it with. I had been filling my life with awesome stuff, and all of it was positive, fun, engaging stuff. But….with so much to choose from, I would often NOT CHOOSE any of it. Why not? I think that it was, subconsciously, too overwhelming. Instead, I would lose myself in internet research, reading, or well, anything that would force me to select ONE of the MANY things I had around me.
None of this was bad, per se. However, my functionality and my productivity has absolutely skyrocketed since I let go of all that stuff. Now I am surrounded only by the things I love more than anything in the world. And it makes it easy, each and every day, to find myself engaged in activities that I absolutely love beyond belief.
Will I ever pick up one of the things I ‘let go of’ in the future? Perhaps. Maybe once I gain some mastery in sketching, I will decide I want to explore watercolors after all. And maybe I will ‘waste’ some money re-purchasing those supplies. But when I think of all the LIFE I have saved, by clearing my world of distractions in order for me to find my way to what I truly am most passionate about, that small waste of money is actually the best bargain of all, in terms of dreams I can purchase with it.
Anyhow, I think this supports what you write here, in terms of how our home is where it all begins. For me it certainly is. I think that is something that is really important about lifestyle design: It clarifies us. Helps us focus on the core of who we are, and of who we want to become.
Thanks again, Jimi, for your wonderful posts. Keep up the great work.
Create an amazing day for yourself!
Laura
Hi Laura,
What an awesome comment. It’s a blog post in itself.
I love how you’re going minimalist and you’re really committed.
I’m also going through the same journey. I’m moving back to New Zealand in July, so it’s a great time for me to be getting rid of stuff.
I like what you said, that our homes seems to become like a museum of our lives. The only thing I like to keep now are photos and they are currently being scanned into the computer too.
Thanks for taking the time to writing such a great comment, Laura.
That was a great post with really specific advice. I see that I need to start eliminating some junk, but thank God I’m not a homeowner so I don’t have to deal with many other ‘problems’.
Hi Lis,
I am happy you enjoyed the post. Some of those things listed may not seem like much, but they work big time.
Thanks for visiting!
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..10 Time Management Tips
Hello and Welcome, Laura!
I see that you have really taken charge of your environment and eliminated many things that you were just not into at the time. Good on you for that, what a commitment.
We are very happy that you enjoyed the article and thank you for sharing a part of your lifestyle with us.
Jimi Jones´s last blog ..Week In Review