With all honesty and complete transparency, this book was a challenge to write. I’m the kind of person who likes things thought through neat, bullet pointed and clean…no fluff. My first draft was all of 25 pages. As I read through what I had written I had that nagging feeling inside that what I had written was good (actually, I felt quite proud of those 25 pages) but it was obvious that there was much missing.
The meat of the book was there but all the in between stuff was where the real treasure was hidden. The only problem, I didn’t feel like digging. I didn’t want to get caught up in the touchy-feely stuff. Now, please don’t mistake my reluctance as a sign that I don’t have feelings. My nickname is (proudly, I may add) “Mr. Puddlesworth”. I am an emotional creature. I just don’t like exploring that aspect of myself. But as I said above, that was where the treasure was.
So, I embarked on a “Discovery Journey”. I didn’t allow myself to bullet point, or to give short, straightforward answers. I squirmed & fidgeted as I forced myself to express my feeling by writing short paragraphs describing how I felt. That may sound simple to those of you who can spend an hour expressing how you feel about yourself or something you care about, but that’s not me…or I may say, it wasn’t me when I started (side note, this book has taken me two and a half years to write).
I began to dream, explore and be more creative than I’ve ever been. After I wrote down answers (see some of my questions below), I crossed them out repeatedly for not being authentic enough. I wouldn’t settle for ordinary or expected. At times, it felt like I was at the dentist.
- What do I want for my life? No canned answers allowed!
- What things do you want to achieve? Not the typical things one feels like they should achieve.
- Why do you want to make more money?
- Specifically, what would you use the money for?
- What do you want to enjoy?
This writing thing that I had dreamed of doing wasn’t fun anymore. Necessary? Absolutely. Enjoyable? Certainly not for my personality type. But then, potty training wasn’t fun either at the time. But I did enjoy the result.
As I pushed forward, I expected the process to flow like it did when I wrote the original 25 pages. Well, no such luck. As I uncovered something it was apparent that there was yet another question that needed to be asked or another heart-wrenching explanation that needed to be written. It was a process, but in the end, it truly gave me a clear picture of what I truly wanted without hiding under canned phrases or padded answers. I felt a sense of relief and had a clear direction.
I think that some might read this book and say:
- I jump around too much.
- You take way too long exploring things.
- There’s way too much touchy-feely stuff.
- Your process takes way to long.
If someone else had written this book and I had started reading it, I would have most certainly either skipped the “Treasure” and just highlighted the bullet point stuff. I wouldn’t have taken the time to take a personal journey of discovery. I would have missed out.
So, this is the reason why I’ve written this disclaimer. I’m asking you to please, set aside the time and take this book seriously. “Living a Life by Design” is not like any other book you’ve ever read. It will make a profound difference in your life if you’ll allow it to.
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Living Life by Design 