Here are some questions and thoughts to help you live an intentional life and run a practice by design
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Several decades ago, I sat with a Thought Leader who developed, built and ran a corporate wellness, performance and engagement system called meCentral. Ian "Hutch' Hutchinson and I used to talk about all things training, speaking, engagement, and the like. Hutch back then (we have not connected for a while) lived a life without compromise, it might not have been perfect (whatever that is) but he lived it on his terms. I always admired his commitment to living a life by design, it's actually the name of his business now with a great leveraged online coaching program. Here is a free taster example if interested (https://www.lifebydesign.com.au/kick-start-course/). He is a mate of Robert Holden’s (Happiness is a Choice author) and shared with me over coffee what it meant to design a life of your choosing; a life less ordinary, less obligatory, and more intentional. This idea has always stuck with me and I thought it might be something worth a little attention.
The Thought Leaders practice model is built on a foundational freedom meme of "Doing work you love, with people you like, the way you want." In other words, it is a practice and by extension a life by design. With that in mind, here are some questions and thoughts to help you live an intentional life and run a practice by design.
Life
What is your earliest positive aspirational memory? Forget the descriptive content you used back then (i.e. Teacher, Doctor, Astronaut) and rather capture the theme, the context of that aspiration (i.e. Share, Heal, Explore). Now with that in your heart, what changes might you make to how you are currently living that would get you closer to that original, pure intention?
Sometimes shame buries truths you can use to live a more meaningful life. Is there something you carry as a shame that might be the vehicle to your deeper fulfilment and happiness?
Examine where you feel a sense of obligation and responsibility and challenge some of the stories you tell yourself about those commitments. Do they serve you still? Are there any maladaptive habits you have formed around these that no longer serve you?
If you dared to do anything with your life that you are currently not honouring, how might that look?
A great core question to ask at any given moment is "What do you want?"
What will you have to give up to get it?
What are your non-negotiables, the things you won't change or give up along the way?
With regard to all this life by design, what do you now know for sure? Where do you have certainty? Where do you have conviction? Anchoring this emergent conviction, what's next for you?
Practice
Consider the difference between a job, a career, and a vocation.
Realising that we are privileged to do more than just work, perhaps more than a career even, how is your practice feeding your vocation? And if it's not, then what could you change that might increase the 'vocational' quality of your practice?
What about your current work fills your soul? Is there anything you can do to increase the amount of this in your week?
What about your work wears you down? Is there anything you can do to remove this, systemise this, outsource or delegate this work?
What does your ideal week look like?
How does your cluster pricing create more freedom for you and where does it need a little focus?
What business are you really in? And if we asked your clients the same question, how might they answer?
Is there work you wish to stop doing in your practice but have not yet let it go? Why? Now with that increased consciousness what decisions would you like to make?
Final thoughts
We run a practice so we can live more intentionally and focus on the work we love. This takes some courage and a bit of exertion as you stick your elbows out and make room in the social norms for a life less ordinary, a life where you commit to living and working by design.
With Love
Matt Church
Founder