Sunday, November 28, 2010

Designing a Life

I've been thinking a lot lately about the kind of life I want to live, and how to go about designing it.

I just spent 3 weeks travelling.  And the one thing that was crystal clear to me all that time was that I did not want to keep living this life as I currently was, starting with my current job!

(Gratuitous travel photo 1: of me...you know where!)

This is something Tomas and I talk about a lot.  And yet that is all either of us ever seem to do...talk.

(GTP 2: the shoes weren't the only thing I loved about Amsterdam!)

So, a Few Home Truths
  1. A mutual friend of Tomas and I has been staying this past week, and said every time I've seen you for the past 3 years you've both been hating your jobs!  (She is not exaggerating!)
  2. I've let life take me where it wanted...I haven't been particularly proactive in my approach.
  3. The fear of doing the wrong thing stops me from doing anything.
  4. I start getting the Monday blues on Saturday afternoon.
  5. My role at work is changing a little, in a way that I think will be less creative, ie: more of the stuff I don't like about my job and less of the small amount of stuff I do.
  6. This list could go on and on...

(GTP 3: my 'little' cousin, travelling companion extraordinaire!)

Inspiring Friends

Today I had brunch with some friends.  One told how she'd been so dissatisfied with her job earlier in the year that she'd started looking and applying for new ones with a vengeance.  Then one just came and tapped her on the shoulder.  She starts her new job in January.  It's a new challenge, in a new town.  She is excited.

She also mentioned her housemate, an accountant, who wanted a change, so moved over from Perth, got a job as a barista - complete with on the job training, and is enjoying the less stressful pace for a while.

Another friend is growing her online business so that she can support herself enough to quit her day job and do the thing she's always dreamed of; another is setting up a small business so that when she has kids she has a way to keep income coming in; another quit a job that no longer suited her and moved to a new company, new boss, better role.

People are doing it... people are purposefully designing the lives they want to live, and putting those designs into action!

In my heart I know the kind of life I want.  Now I just need to plot a plan to get from design to implementation!  (And I'm putting it out here in an attempt to be accountable!)

How about you...have you designed the life you want to live, and are you/have you done anything to work towards it?

We'd love to hear what you're doing, and what steps you're taking towards the life you want!

Wishing you a great week!

Jones :)

1 comment:

  1. It's funny you know... it's almost as if there is something in the water that is making us question ourselves, our careers, our directions, motivations etc.

    My wife’s and my whole group of friends are in the same boat. We lived in the UK for three years, and upon returning kept questioning everything that we were doing. We both worked in the corporate 8am – 7pm world with BlackBerries buzzing all night and all weekend.

    Long story short is that my wife has thrown it all in and has started a fashion label (@thisisbento) and I have just done the same to open a small art gallery (@100thgallery). We’re now both chasing our dreams and will hopefully be able to make them financially viable. If things don’t go to plan, then we can always get jobs back in the corporate world... but neither of us wanted to lay on death beds asking the question, what if...?

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