Becoming a Life Designer
Have you found yourself thinking the following:
I don’t have enough time.
I have to get ________ (fill in the blank) done.
Maybe after I get _______ (fill in the blank) done, I’ll take a moment to myself.
And feeling…
Exhausted
Defeated
Heaviness (may come from believing that you are a failure, or from being over-scheduled)
Lady, if this resonates with you, then you’re in the right spot! Below, you’ll find the exercise I use to create more energy, ease, and success in my life.
Okay, let’s dive in...
If you were given the chance to go on Fixer Upper or Tidying Up with Marie Kondo or - who remembers Clean House - would you take it?
OMGS, I sure would!!! But that’s probably because I’m a total interior design and organization nerd.
Since I was a little girl, I've loved design. If my parents would have let me, I would have probably designed every room in the house.
I used to feel like I had this superpower to go into a room and figure out what was out of place, what needed to be removed, and what needed to be added. I’m not sure my family always appreciated my superpowers - but they were stuck with a designer in the house!
So as you can imagine, when I got a space to call my own - I was in seventh heaven.
I spent hours deciding on the purpose of each room, what the color scheme would be, and organizing the space so that it would make me and my guests feel a certain way. And then I had to really hold back when I went shopping for furniture and decorations!
Now just before you close out this window because you didn’t land on my page because you wanted to get advice from an interior designer, let me explain...
As a Life Coach, my goal is to empower you to take charge of your dream and to launch it into reality. And when I recently surveyed the women in my community, they told me that their greatest struggles were: time + vision. Specifically, finding time to do the things that you love, and getting clarity on your dream life - your vision for the future.
And that’s when I realized that my little penchant for interior design had a lot to do with my passion for life coaching. In other words:
So let’s take a moment to dive into this deeper.
Imagine you are an interior designer. You’ve just been hired to be the designer on “Flip or Flop,” or perhaps my favorite blast from the past “Extreme Makeover.” (Or any remodeling/designer show…)
Your job is to by creating a beautiful home from a home that’s less than ideal. (Think “Hoarders.”)
That is your goal to be embody the role of an interior designer. But instead of designing actual rooms, we will be envisioning your life like the house you are designing.
#1 Your Life House
You probably already have a good image in your mind of your dream house, but do you have a vision in your mind of your dream Life House?
Life House- /n/ - a metaphorical house that you’ve created that holds the rooms of your life
When you are a child, your Life House is highly influenced by the people raising you and the societal structures around you.
Perhaps, growing up you went to a mainstream school and people were always asking, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” or “What college are you going to attend?” Academics were a high priority. So this became a part of your Life House.
As we grow into adults, the parts of our Life House that we built or our parents created for us (until we were old enough) come with us.
Until we decide to change the script. If you aren’t dreaming about your Life House as much as you dream about your dream wedding, your dream house, your future husband or family…
Well, then your life is going to stay the Life House that it’s always been.
In other words, your life will stay in default mode.
Most of us have some happy memories of growing up. We have traditions and beliefs that we were taught that were so beneficial, and we never want to let go of. This is something to celebrate!! This is the default mode we know and love.
Yet, we also have areas in our default that aren’t actually moving us towards becoming the woman that we want to be. We have areas in our default that are hindering us. We have areas in our default that aren’t allowing us to have the impact in the world that we want to have.
Designing your dream Life House is essential if you want more for yourself, your family, and the world (your purpose manifesting into impact in the world).
#2 Rooms
You probably have many rooms in your Life House. Our worldview shapes our perception of the reality we live in. Yet, are you aware of what rooms are actually in your Life House?
Here you’ll find a few examples of some possible rooms you may have in your Life House:
Bedroom:
Purpose: Connection with yourself or with your spouse, Rest
Ambiance: Peace, Comfort, Safety
Child’s Bedroom:
Purpose: Connection with your child(ren)
Ambiance: Peace, Comfort, Safety
Family Room:
Purpose: Connection with your family
Ambiance: Laughter, Love, Play
Kitchen:
Purpose: Nutrition, Nourishing your body + your soul
Ambiance: Nurturing, Comfort
Dining Room:
Purpose: Connection with friends + loved ones, Community, Hosting
Ambiance: Hospitality, Laughter, Connection
Beyond these you probably have a room for work. You may have a room for faith. An exercise room? What about a room for your purpose?!
#3 Pick a Room
Now that we’ve defined what it means to have a Life House, and brought awareness around what rooms we may have in our Life House, it’s important to go deeper. Designers look at the whole, and then they focus in.
Whenever I’m deciding an area that needs a change - a.k.a I want more for myself in that area! - I have found that it’s essential for me just pick one thing at a time.
This keeps us focused, energized, and sets us up for success.
Think about…
What do I want this room to look like?
What do I want this room to feel like?
What kind of ambiance am I trying to create?
Who will this room serve once it’s finished?
If the purpose of this room is _______ (fill in the blank), what needs to be removed from this room to create more space?
If the purpose of this room is _______ (fill in the blank), what needs to be added to this room to support my vision?
The goal of this exercise is to begin bringing awareness around the tasks, activities, and thoughts you currently have in your life in each room.
Imagining my life as a house has been one of the most powerful ways, I’ve used to self-coach and bring more peace, joy, success, energy and ease into my life!
When you have a purpose to each area of your life, it makes making decisions 100% easier! I love being able to let go of the mental fatigue with this process! I love knowing when something is a YES for me, and when something doesn’t align with the vision of my room, and I can confidently say, “No, thank you.”
P.S. Ready to go deeper? Get a special bonus Guided Visualization from me.
