Using Principles Of Design In Life
In the last few years, I have been able to redefine every single aspect of my life and since the start of this year, it has consolidated at an exponential rate. This past week I was trying to reverse engineer what I was doing and that’s when I realized that I had been operating based on a few design principles. We all have them but we aren’t conscious of it as these principles are usually wired into us from our childhood and the exposure we have gotten growing up.
But the question to ask ourselves is whether these principles are valid anymore? Is it helping us create the life and experiences of our choice or it is unconsciously keeping us away from being our best selves?
When you choose to break away from the norms and social construct when defining life for yourself, you have an opportunity to consciously craft every aspect of your life in alignment with your vision and values. You will start to see higher congruence in your experiences and integration of your aspired way of being into your everyday life.
Start by first identifying what it is that you truly want to do or who you aspire to be, then define every aspect of your life aligned to the way it would look when you are in that state of being. Next, identify your personal principles of designs that are aligned to your vision and values and use these principles to design your daily practice, habits, and choices. These principles of design are the link between where you are and where you want to be, and if you start to consider them as themes that can be applied to all aspects of your life, it really brings it all together and helps you stay consistent in all your actions.
Let me give you an example:
It became clear to me that I want to experience life with more consciousness or awareness. So one of my principles of design is to live more consciously. This principle when applied to my life lead to the following:
- On incorporating an active practice of mindfulness every day, I experienced an increase in my self-awareness, I am more aware of my body, mind, emotions, thoughts, and actions
- Becoming aware of the food I consume, the source it is from and its impact on the environment and animals made me realize the negative effects of consuming animal-based proteins and the cruelty towards animals that exists in doing so, so I shifted to a plant-based diet
- Becoming fully present in conversations or when interacting with others, lead to deeper connectedness and empathy
- Doing one thing at a time, instead of multitasking, has significantly increased my focus and reduced errors
- Conscious consumption of resources, I now buy things only when it is needed and from sources that are sustainable and environmentally friendly, free of chemicals and free of animal cruelty
- Becoming aware of my thinking patterns and logic cycles behind decisions and choices have allowed me to break away from old disempowering patterns and redefine them with new empowering ones
- Being conscious of where I spend my time and energy has helped me honor myself and others and their time better
As you can see, following just one principle of design that resonates with you can help you redefine so many aspects of your life and behavior simultaneously. Some of the other principles that I follow are being authentic, being disciplined towards growth & evolution, and heart-based living.
