Living deliberately

I might explode if I read another recipe or routine about being a successful person. They are all vaguely similar asking you to get up early, exercise, eat your greens, read books, meditate and put down your phone. While I agree with most of these in principle, there’s also no need to put yourself through a regimented and elaborate process to be successful, most importantly: not somebody else’s.

They are right about one thing though: It takes planning.

Be the person you hoped you would be

It’s easy to bob around on the surface of life, dragged into rips and currents that push you down a path you never planned on. Sometimes this is amazing, and sometimes you wonder what happened and where you are.

Unbelievably at first, life is pretty short and it does run out.

If you’re not deliberate about what you do and don’t do, how you live, where you’re headed…you will simply drift and time will pass. Whatever it is you wanted to be or wanted to do: you need to take charge of it and plan for it deliberately and right now. This is where a routine makes sense because:

“We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

You can’t take somebody else’s recipe for success and apply it to yourself expecting the same outcome. You need to do the work to define what success means for you and what lights you up. Who had you hoped you would be, and how do you get there now?

Getting up at 4am to meditate might be nourishing in the long run but it may also not nudge you in that direction. Eating your greens and running regularly will keep you healthy — but again, it’s not going to make you an award winning architect if that’s what you want to be.

Plan

Make a list of all the things you hoped you would be and define the life you want for yourself. You can do this however you want, bullet lists, images, sticky notes…

Mine went something like this:

Photography, art, making, those are the things that bring me alive. Walking, running, hiking in nature, breathing through yoga practice, those are the things that keep me alive. Loving people, spending time with them, caring for them, making their lives better makes my life worthwhile.

The reality was that I wasn’t making anything ever or doing any of those things. I was working hard and sleeping little. I was full of excuses about why I wasn’t who I wanted to be, why I didn’t have time to make anything and why I was only running occasionally.

I was already very “successful”, just not in the way I had hoped or expected to be.

Do the work

Define what matters. Be deliberate. Live on purpose.

Last year I made over 230 pieces of artwork, exhibited my photography twice, and won a photography award. I moved into an art studio and I worked. I sketched every day, painted every week, made plans for projects I wanted to do and created Kanban boards to ensure I did them and kept things on track. I got back to running regularly and re-immersed myself in a daily Yoga practice. Nothing happened over night, I had to plan my routine to fit it all in, fail, try again and keep on track.

I hold myself accountable for living the life I want and for being successful by my own definition of success. This is what makes you whole. This is what gives you a fulfilling life.

What that is might change over the years…and that’s ok.

Did you hope you would be a photojournalist, an adventurer, a parent, a home owner, a cabin dweller, a mountaineer, a professional diver, a designer, a marathon runner….whatever it is…

Start that journey today.