Have you ever thought about “designing” your life? I certainly didn’t for many years. I first became aware of this concept in the mid-’80s from Napoleon Hill’s classic book, ‘Think & Grow Rich.” In the book, Hill was talking about a fact of life that is so transparent, that it is occluded to almost everyone.

Hill explained that except the things in nature, everything else once began in the mind of a human being as an idea. Someone had an idea, then they talked it, and took action steps to being that idea into reality.

When I read that, I thought, “It’s so obvious, yet hardly anyone recognizes it.” Hill went on to point out that your ideas are just as valid as anyone else’s. I found that to be very encouraging because I had LOTS of ideas in of my head.

How I Learned About Design

Let me tell you about my awareness of design. When I was 10 years old, I saw a Corvette at Chevrolet dealer’s showroom and fell in love with cars. I read everything I could about cars and soon became a “car guy.” I quickly learned that cars are “designed,” and being artistic, I started drawing and designing my own cars.

In high school I wanted to become a “design draftsman.” I went on to work drafting and a technical illustration, I eventually went to art school to become an illustrator. The first thing an illustrator does for an illustration is “design the layout.”

Years later I had a position with Tyco Toys and Mattel Toys as a toy designer in the Preliminary Concepts and Design Department. Our job was to come up with toy concepts, create a basic design, and then create color renderings to show upper management for consideration for development. Once again, I was “designing.”

Although I was very aware of the thinking process that goes into designing “product,” I hadn’t considered applying the concept of “design” to my life until the early ‘90s. Napoleon Hill was correct, so why not “design” my life?

Let me use a car analogy. If my intention is to design a sports car, I will need to set certain parameters - the top speed, how quick from 0-to-60 mph, braking distance be from 60-to-0 mph, g-force on a 100-foot circular skid pad, and how well the car handles.

With those objectives in mind, I can design the layout of the car and all of the parts needed. Thousands of decisions will have to be made and with enough time, attention, and funding, one day my sports car will be zooming down the road.

In other words, it’s a process. If the process can work for a sports car, why not for your life? The answer is that there is no reason why the same process can not be applied to your life, except for the ones we choose to make up.

Let’s Apply This Lesson To Life

When a designer starts out designing a sports car or a toy, he or she often starts with a idea of the function and form, then he or she will start to sketch it out. You can do the same thing with your life. The really great designers have a lot of passion for their subject. Start with something you have a lot of passion for. A great place to start is with your passion.

Get a pad and pen and start to sketch out your Ideal Life Scene. I suggest doing this two different ways. First, imagine that you just won the Powerball Lotto and you now have 200 million dollars. What would you do? This is just a mind game, so have fun with this. As ideas come to mind, write them down. Keep at it until you are tired of playing with your imaginary winnings.

The second way to imagine your Ideal Life Scene is to create an idealized version of where you are right now. What would your apartment or house ideally look like? As ideas bubble into your awareness, write them down until you feel that you’ve exhausted your ideas.

Then pull back and look at what you have come up with. For me, the Lotto exercise just seemed to unrealistic. But the other version seemed entirely realistic and got me excited. From there I could start to design ways to move towards my ideas.

When you create a compelling vision, something to get excited about, your passion stirs and your mind starts to come up with ideas that would have otherwise never occurred. Every great sports car begins with a stunning rendering - a vision. When I started working on my first book, “It’s Time To Wake Up,” I designed the cover so that I could print it out and look at it for inspiration.

Get Out Your Sketch Pad

You can do the same thing with your life. Sketch it out, design it, get a clear vision in your mind’s eye. Some people like to make posters with pictures that get them excited. Be flexible about your design because as you begin working towards your ideal, things will happen and your vision change. But stay with the process. So what if the end point is different that the beginning vision. Any plan is better than no plan. Without a plan, you end up living by default.

All of us have done things in the past that didn’t work out. Don’t let that stop you. When one of Thomas Edison’s attempts to develop the electric light filament didn’t work, he used to say, “I now know another way that doesn’t work.” So if you tried and “failed” before, just remember what didn’t work, and don’t do that again.

All that matters is that you keep trying.

Our lives have always been and will always be in the forever moment of Now, with the on-coming time just ahead. Keep your INTENTION on the on-coming time and your ATTENTION on the present moment. The only place where action takes place is in the Now. When you hold your design sketch ahead in the on-coming time, it clears the way and creates a field to move into. Before you know it, you are living in your ideal scene.

Scott