Life! By Design_ 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You - Laura Morton [83]
Breathing is controlled by your mood and state of mind. Controlling your breathing will help you gain more control over yourself. Have you ever taken a deep breath when you are angry or stressed out? This increase in oxygen to your body lowers your pulse rate and blood pressure. It may sound simple, but don’t ignore the little things in life, especially breathing.
Many books have been written on the subjects of diet, exercise, health, and vitality. If you are committed to living your life By Design, changing your physical and dietary routines is essential for the energy you’ll need to achieve all you desire. The ten simple disciplines outlined in this chapter will help you achieve the level of energy that I have every day. Your friends will want to know your secret. Tell them you’ve committed to energy, By Design.
Allow me to take a moment to congratulate you for being well on your way to living By Design. I want to honor the hard work and fierce determination it will take to get you there. Believe me, it will be worth it.
Once you make the choice to live By Design, two things happen: Similar people, circumstances, opportunities, and information naturally gravitate to you. Like attracts like—it’s a basic law of physics.
The second thing that happens is an understanding that you’re not “bucking” the system; you’re just living by your design. There may be resistance from naysayers and “defaulters” that your newfound ways are uncomfortable for them. Do not let this hold you back. Move through the world by setting the example that other people will want to live up to.
Once you realize that the system is working, you’ll want to keep reinforcing your newfound way of life in everything you do. You will be amazed at how fast you can make the shift from living by default to By Design. Other people will begin to notice the changes you’ve made and inevitably want to do the same. We live in a society where most people look to others to make the changes we all want instead of taking action ourselves. As the old saying goes, “Sweep your front porch first and watch how others in the neighborhood respond.” Although you may share a good book, a hot new restaurant, or a spectacular bottle of wine with your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors, will you choose to share your secrets to living By Design? Choose to change your life and take notice of how living By Design affects those around you. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Now that you’ve got the fundamental principles, I want to leave you with something more that I know will help you master the process. I call these The 5 Evolutions to Master By Design Living. We all want mastery in our lives. We want to be fully engaged and present with every area that brings us success, wealth, and abundance. That is the epitome of living By Design. You’re fully living your vision when you find yourself in action, allowing your life to be in a constant state of flow. You’re loving the process and embracing the joy along the way. Enduring success comes from people who love what they do.
Persistence and practice are key to developing mastery in anything. Aikido Master George Leonard said, “Mastery is the mysterious process during which what is at first difficult becomes progressively easier and more pleasurable through practice.” In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he says it takes ten thousand hours to become an expert at something. That’s a little over four years! You cannot make a leap to “expert” without repetition and commitment. Fully living By Design is a process that will take longer than you want it to, although I assure you it won’t be long before you see results. The more you practice, are persistent, and are fueled by passion, the quicker you will feel the effects of creating your life By Design.
The process you went through to get you here began when you became aware of what you wanted and declared that this was how you wanted your life to be. I call this the First Evolution of By Design