“The world will ask who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you”, said Carl Jung, a leading psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology.

A Covid illness with 10 days of isolation was a good reminder recently of the power of living by design, as paradoxically as it might sound. Despite the illness, I amazed myself with steady focus and progress on many fronts, some for which a catch up was long due. Granted, I was fortunate that my symptoms remained mild through the sickness and that I had enough support around me to be able to recover. However, reflecting over this episode, it dawned on me that certain practices can lead to a more intentional way of living, therefore, to a life by design. These practices include:

• Staying in touch with our bodies: While I really wished to not have to take time off from work throughout this period, I had made a tacit pact with myself, my body in particular, that if I got too tired, I would honor the need and rest as long or as often as necessary.  Our bodies have more intelligence on ourselves than we give them credit for. Tapping into this source of intelligence accessible to each one of us is an under-rated practice. The more we lean into the wisdom of our bodies, the stronger we become – physically, mentally and emotionally.
• Applying the right amount of pressure: While there was uncertainty as to how fast I would recover, I didn’t want to waste time knowing that if I got worse, I would have a harder time to catch up. The pressure of using my time wisely sustained a high level of focus and execution. Knowing exactly what I needed to do and focusing on execution, one step at a time, resulted in more progress than expected. While stress generally gets a bad vibe, some amount of pressure is in fact needed for being more disciplined in general, getting ourselves outside of our comfort zones and to a next level of growth.
• Focusing on the right things: What we focus on is what we magnify in our lives and relationships. While I could have focused on the negative of the experience of being ill with covid, I was paying attention to my body and my to-do-list to make progress in a balanced fashion. What we focus on can change our behaviors in a positive or negative way. Often times, we can’t control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them. Tony Robbins, world renowned coach, calls this “life working for us and not to us”. We might default to a state of victimhood as a way to cope with life, but it is critical to wake ourselves up from a victim mode and to live empowered beyond specific circumstances of life. Self-awareness and seeking help are, often times, the fastest path to problem solve.
• Understanding the power of self-love. Who we are and what we end up doing or not doing in our lives has a lot to do with how we treat ourselves. Self-talk, self-acceptance and self-forgiveness are pillars for building resilience, which is foundation for growth and overcoming adversities. Self-love is a necessity to live life as a victor rather than a victim. Meaning it is OK if we make mistakes, or if our lives feel messy at times, … The more we grow in our self-love, the kinder and more supportive we become for others around us because self-love makes us understand that we are all “perfectly imperfect” as Dr Val Margarit, a leading transformational coach and sociologist, likes to say.

We all have good and bad days, good and bad chapters, …. but it’s never too late to become more intentional, more in touch with our bodies, more disciplined and more focused… to do even a tiny bit better today than yesterday. That tiny bit will compound over time … to a life by design.

As the amazing Dr Val Margarit says, “create a life you are proud of”!

Bonus Resource: https://www.valmargarit.com/blog/how-to-design-a-life-you-love