Soul Sisters Step UP- A picture of possibility Picture of Possibility Magazine | Page 6

Your Life HOLISTIC. HARMONY. HAPPY By Design What is Life Design? Life designing is intentionally personalising the aesthetics and crafting the landscape of your life. The goal is to create a lifestyle that genuinely But who best to decide what brings you happiness, stability, and fulfilment. success is To You? All the good stuff. Experiences that look and feel right to you. Life designing is sim- ple but not necessarily easy or quick; it does require a bit of guidance and work! If you’re miserable, it’s time to Reframe your mindset because success takes on When building your life, you should entirely fo- many shapes and designs. You should be- cus on what’s best for you, not the person down the gin identifying a design unique to you. street. It should not be based on societal norms or other people’s opinion of what success should be. Don’t be afraid of people criticising you, be- Create an environment you can thrive in, by cause you chose to do life on your terms. So intentionally adding all the pieces that will what if they label you unconventional, weird, bring you satisfaction and a sense of well-being. or even irresponsible if, at the end of the day, you’re happy and prosperous! It’s your God-giv- Avoid building a lifestyle you will even- en right to design a life filled with wholesome, tually hate or are extremely stressed by, healthy activities and things that stimulate you. based on external pressure. Remember, Our minds are framed by childhood influ- ences as well as what we see and hear daily. Burnout, overwhelm, stress and exhaustion are so prevalent because so many people are From a very young age, we are told what success draining themselves physically and emotion- looks like. What we should study, the type of pro- ally, chasing “unfulfilling success.” Pursuing fession we should pursue, houses even vehicles goals that bring them short-lived satisfaction. we should strive towards achieving. Everywhere Just one more thing ticked off the “success list.” we turn, the world is telling us what success is. - Shelly Aqui Why does this happen? Ask yourself: Are the goals you’re pursuing, in the name of success, making you happy? Are you working in a job or business that triggers enthusiasm? Are you creating a home you can escape to, versus often wishing to escape from? Do you practice self-care? Are you nurturing relationships with your family or friends? What about carving out time for recreation and relaxation? Are you praying daily? Do you resist the urge of trying to keep up with the “Joneses?” These stressors can place some emotional burden, overwhelm on you daily. Assess the quality of your lifestyle so you can begin to create a holistic life of harmony, that provides a feeling of fulfilment. This is achieved by looking closely at six essential compo- nents of your life success structure: spirituality, Self-care, finances, health, family and relationships and talents. Now, I don’t personally believe in “work-life balance”. When you think about it, no matter how hard you try, some areas of your life will always consume more time and effort. The key is identifying what works well for you. For me, If I see my friends every other week that’s fine; if I engaged in recreational activities three times monthly, I’m good. You need to identify what’s satisfying for you, then work on achieving it. Transformation takes time, so have patience and breaking the belief barriers from so- cietal influences, require a mindset shift.