5 Basic Rules of Life Design
     by Kathy Gates   

One way to measure a great life design is how well it accommodates what you want to do. The goal should be to create a life with as few barriers and obstacles as possible. Safety measures such as reserves and boundaries benefit you, plus there are a number of conveniences that simply make a life more efficient and enjoyable to use.

Like a good room design, thinking ahead about who you are and how you want your life to function is a good place to start.

1. Your life should be easy to manage.

Yes, life is managed, and it’s either managed well or it’s not. Does this mean nothing bad ever happens? Of course not. Bad things happen to everybody. But if your life is managed, you’ll be better able to handle adversity when it does come your way.

2. Your life should reflect your strengths.

Too many of us spend too much time slugging away at things we’re just not that good at. Instead, focus on your skills. Showcase your strengths. Make every part of your life mean something, and do not allow yourself to be content with sub-standards that are beneath what you can really do. Be the best that you can be, and delegate the rest.

3. Your life should be about you.

Not your mother’s life, not your neighbor’s life, not the Brady-Bunch life. It’s all about YOU. If you’re living somewhere that you don’t want to live with someone that you don’t want to live with doing something you don’t want to do -- well do

you need to go any farther to find out why you feel miserable most of the time? Surround yourself with the things that you love, people you love, environments that you love.

4. Your life should be consistent in its make up.

What I mean by that is what’s called cognitive dissonance in psychology. If you feel one way inside and do something else on the outside, you’ll be in constant conflict. When I was in college, I worked for a man who had me lying to customers all day long. I don’t believe in lying. Every night I went home sick.

5. Your Life should be quick to download.

Using the analogy of a web page, if your life is overstuffed with too much glitz and glitter, and not enough real content, it will not only be difficult, but also not satisfying. You’ll see it as a transparent existence, and so will everyone else. Put meaning in your life by adding things that are important, that have real content, real substance. Even though it may mean simplifying and eliminating some of the glitz and glitter, what remains is attractive and useful and wonderful!

What design rules have you broken? Have you not yet committed to a design at all? Maybe you have a little of this and a little of that, and none of it works together to create the smooth comfortable life you want. Start with the basics, and use these design rules as a guide. You can make a life a beautiful as you want it