Why Lifestyle Design is for You, Even If You Work a 9-5 Job

Lifestyle design isn’t a new concept.

Sure, Tim Ferris popularized the concept of lifestyle design with his 2007 book, The Four Hour Workweek. However, many Passionpreneurs, myself included, have been living and promoting the principles of lifestyle design for many years. In my case, for over two-decades.

In case you’re wondering, a Passionpreneur is someone who has utilized the principles of lifestyle design to create a lifestyle and one or more money making entrepreneurial ventures around his/her passions.

The central concept of lifestyle design is very simple; you don’t have to wait until you’re retired to start living the life you really want to live.

Think about that for a second.

How many people do you know who intentionally designed the lifestyle they’re living now? Not many, I bet.

That’s because most of us have been conditioned at a young age to do well in school so we can go to college, get a “good job” with benefits and then spend the best 30-40 years of our lives climbing the career ladder.

Like most people, this was what I was taught when I was young.

So, in high school, since I was very good at math and science my guidance counselor recommended that I pursue a college degree in engineering. Not knowing any better, I did.

Four years later, I graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and quickly found a job as an Engineer.

I loved engineering in college because I loved solving problems and figuring out how things worked. However, in corporate America, I quickly realized that I wasn’t very enthusiastic about spending my time in a cubicle all day long.

After four years in corporate America, I made the discovery that I am not the employee type. So, I hung up my suit and tie and bid farewell to corporate America to pursue the uncertain life of an entrepreneur.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with the traditional world of work, if you don’t mind spending the best years of your life as a corporate worker.

But, there is another way.

Through lifestyle design, you can create a new life as a Player, instead of spending your entire life as a “worker.”

What is Lifestyle Design?

Ask yourself this question, “What is it you really want to do with your time on a daily basis? Do you know?
Do you have a Big Vision for your life?

These are two of the most powerful questions that you can ask yourself, because what you do with your time on a daily basis is the “purpose” that you have CHOSEN to give to your life.

So, if you have chosen to spend all your time slaving away at some dead-end job that you hate, 8-10 hours a day, everyday, with no time to pursue your passions, then you’re in essence living a meaningless life.

Remember, life’s purpose or meaning isn’t something we find. We give meaning to our lives by doing meaningful things everyday.

For me, lifestyle design is about intentionally creating a life that you can fall in love with. An energized life that inspires you and those whose path is brightened by your light.

A life in the pursuit of freedom, fulfillment and fun that is bold enough to unchain your adventurous spirit so you can aspire for more than title and status.

A life in the pursuit of purpose, passion and play.

If you’re currently working a 9-5 job, does that mean that you should walk into your boss’ office tomorrow and quit your job. Well, that would be highly irresponsible.

Remember, I said that lifestyle design is about “intentionally” creating a life that you can fall in love with. This requires thought and a lot of deep soul searching to figure out what feels most right to you.

Whatever you decide, however, you don’t have to wait until you’re sixty-five before you start striving to “suck out all the marrow of life,” as Thoreau put it.

You can start now, right where you are, even if you’re currently feeling stuck at some dead-end job that you hate.

You only have one life, so why not live it on your terms?

Is Lifestyle Design for You?

Let’s be honest, lifestyle design isn’t for everyone. But, is it for you?

If you’ve ever felt like there’s something missing in your life, or sometimes hear a little voice in the back of your head asking you “is this all there is?” then maybe lifestyle design is for you.

Lifestyle design is for you if you’re ready to design your own life instead of just going along with the Corporate Industrial Complex whose sole purpose is to turn you into an obedient “worker.”

With lifestyle design, you may choose to still work in a traditional job to fund your true passions or you may choose to become a Passionpreneur. The choice is yours.

If fulfillment is what you seek, maybe lifestyle design is for you. Remember, fulfillment is the feeling that you’re on the right life path. It is the deep, inner knowing that your life matters. It is the desire to spend your time doing things that are meaningful to yourself and others.

If you’re interested in living the life of a “player” and not just a “worker, then lifestyle design is for you.”

Who is a player in Lifestyle Design?

Fulfillment is the feeling that you're on the right life path. Click To Tweet
Players play at life.

We put creativity, fulfillment and fun at the center of everything we do. We’re not afraid to explore our multiple selves. Unlike “workers” who are restricted to a limited version of themselves in the workplace, players live life as a multi-dimensional human being.

We are entrepreneurs, artists, writers, bloggers, songwriters, musicians, filmmakers, and inventors, all at the same time. In short, players are creators. We create our lives around what feels most rewarding, exciting, enjoyable, challenging and fulfilling.

Who would you rather be, a “worker” or a player?

How Lifestyle Design Can Help You in Your Current Job

Let’s face it, not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and not all workplaces condemn you to what Dostoyevsky called the most terrible human punishment – a lifetime of work that is “completely and utterly devoid of usefulness and meaning.”

So, how can lifestyle design help you to find or create fulfilling work? Start at the end and work your way backwards. What do you really want to be doing with your time on a daily basis? Are you doing it? If not, get started now.

Find people who are doing what you really want to do and learn from them. Take a class, webinar, seminar, or get a free strategy session from a life coach or consultant.

If you want to be a Player, then you have to become the master of your own fate. So if the work you’re currently doing is no longer engaging, fulfilling or meaningful, it’s time to either learn to love it or create a plan to leave it behind. You’re doing yourself and your employer a great disservice if you continue to work at a job that you hate just to collect a paycheck.

As Steve Jobs once said in a commence address:

” Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. “

How have you intentionally designed your lifestyle to live the life that you really want to live? Please leave a comment below.

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