Last week I wrote a post the 8 Ways to be Remarkable, in response to which an awesome reader Tyson asked this question:
“What advice do you have for the people who would love to do all these things, but have to work a 9-5 to make some money for themselves?”
So today we will talk about what it’s like to live a remarkable life for free!
The key to live a remarkable life is to understand that to master those traits is not a quick fix, it’s a lifelong journey. That means that you will succeed at times and you’re going to fail at other times.
Steve Bowen, summarized it as that you are going to feel amazing while you are on your journey to master the art of living on purpose!
1. You will feel pain
2. You will cry before you get it
3. You will lose your friends
4. Your family will discourage you
5. People will hate you for no reason
6. You will almost talk yourself out of it a hundred times
7. You will doubt yourself a thousand times
8. You will think you are going crazy
9. You will develop weird habits
10. You will lose money
11. It will all be worth it
Work + life are not separate and you are the key to master the art of living on purpose!
Living a Remarkable Life is All About Attitude
1. How to Be Yourself
I have done over 2 dozen interviews for my book Wonder Women Guides, and what I have learned so far is that the women who are in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s are a lot more comfortable with being authentic.
Those of us in Gen Y struggle with this, because we are still trying to figure ourselves out. It seems that our self-acceptance tends to sharpen with age [Here are 6 Powerful Questions You Can Ask Yourself.]
We have the ability to shut down the self-talk, differentiating the prescribed story society has defined and defining the story that we want to tell.
I know everyone talks about mastering your purpose and passion. I even prepared a whole course about it. But the bottom line that I emphasize with my clients through my course is that you need to master yourself…that is your purpose.
Your main purpose is to become the most authentic version of you.
If you think about all your role models, there are no two that are the same. If you are looking at a path, that has already been taken, it’s not your path.
Let’s look at Susan Boyle who was a contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2009. She was 48 years old with the thickest Scottish accent. She only sang in church choirs and karaoke bars. During her birth she had lack of oxygen that left her with a severe learning disability, and she was bullied in school.
That was all part of her experience that shaped her and left her with all the flaws and quirks that made her unique. Today she’s a huge success.
You can be yourself everyday for free just by being vulnerable and taking off your mask!
2. How to Dream Big?
Dreaming Big doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be president, a billionaire, and award winning celebrity, or even solve some sort of world issue. It’s an attitude about believing in you and your potential to the do the work that you were meant to do.
I love Jim Collins who coined the term BHAGs -big hairy audacious goals. Life is not about settling, its dreaming big and accepting that you might fail. Its not about the outcome… its about the journey and the cool adventures it takes you on.
I love the story of Sophie and Grace, 5-year old girls obsessed with Nicki Minaj. All they dreamed of was just seeing their role model. Well, not only did they meet her, they are now having a journey with Ellentv.
You can be dream big everyday for free by how you look at your approach to life, love, work, relationships and all the rest of the sexy things in between…
3. How to LOVE Your Job?
No one who does well in life hates his or her job. I look at my old company and the ones who complained and bitched – letting the negativity take over – have become more bitter. They have not really grown in their careers or created awesome lives for themselves.
That’s a choice you need to make.
You need to decide whether your job really excites you and whether it’s taking you where you need to go. For example, third grader, Katie Stagliano tackled her school project with a lot of love and was able to grow it into a 40-pound cabbage. How insane is that?
Now you might be thinking what is that got to do with loving your job?
It was Katie’s attitude… She loved that cabbage and dedicated all her time to it. She eventually donated it to a local soup kitchen. And because of her gratitude (#7 on this list) she was inspired to do more for the hungry people and charity staff.
She then founded Katie’s Krops, asking local organizations for help with fundraising. She got her school involved in growing and harvesting vegetables to donate to the hungry. She didn’t do it to be extraordinary; she did it because she loved it and would probably do it anyway with no money.
Same thing applies to Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, and every person considered to be living an extraordinary life…
If you don’t know what you love, just start something and explore what might happen. It’s always easier to connect the dots looking backwards than looking forward.
You can be make change everyday for free by loving what you do!
4. How to Work?
If you love your job, you are a lot more committed to getting shit done. Want to know the key of success? It’s a lot easier than you think…
No job is perfect -not even your dream job , but there needs to be something you are damn excited about.
I love working with people, so I studied psychology and now work as a transformation coach for women in career change. I love it. I have spent years, months, weeks and days reading, researching, writing and interviewing people and loved every minute of it.
I am committed to understanding fear and helping others to find their internal peace, because that’s my way of changing the world.
If you love what you do, you get in the state of “flow” and you actually start to work instead of coming up with the award-winning reasons why you shouldn’t do it. You will make an impact and that will lead to an extraordinary life.
You can work everyday for free just by committing to being in flow.
5. How to Travel?
You don’t necessarily even need to travel abroad. A couple of years ago, I questioned why was I obsessed about travel. I have been to over 45 countries and during college every plan I had was a travel plan.
I loved it because it gave the space to question everything…
So I decided to take that attitude and bring it in my day-to-day life… and I coined the term “traveling mindset” and it’s about the attitude of looking at things differently; taking various routes to work; constantly experimenting with new foods, and getting to know new groups of people.
You can travel everyday for free just by tuning into your traveling mindset!
6. How to Care + Be Grateful?
Now you don’t have to want to save the world, but you’ve got to give your heart for something you care about. It might be cars, cards, friends or a social cause.
I love the story of Craig Kielburger who, at 12, read a story about Iqbal Masih a Pakistani boy who was a slave in a carpet factory. Masih protested and spoke up about the exploitation of children, and was murdered as a result of it.
Craig decided he would do something about it; he founded a charity called Free the Children with the mission to rescue children worldwide from slavery, desperate poverty and back-breaking labor.
He didn’t set out to be remarkable, but because he cared, he has been able to grow his cause to a $30 million/year charity that operates in 45 countries and was able to recruit another two million volunteers who care all of whom were under 18.
You can care everyday for free by just having a bit of empathy for someone else. You can be grateful for how much you have, every day.
7. How to be Curious
We live in a time where innovation is the top of mind for everything. Product developers innovate from seat belts, to yogurt to solving energy issues.
Now the main driver is not something new, but comes from Socratic thought. Where we focus on Why? Why do we do what we do? Why wouldn’t this option work? Why don’t we reduce the steps? Why don’t we make it easier … faster… better?
Take for example, Jack Andraka who lost a close family friend who passed away because of Pancreatic Cancer. He went online to Dr. Google because he wanted to understand why it happened. That triggered a lot of frustration because that’s when he realized 85% of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, when someone has less than two percent chance of survival.
Through being curious he found a protein that helps you detect early in the disease where a patient has 100% percent survival. At 15 he figured out a solution for early detection. He promotes using the Internet to help change the world that stems by curiosity to solving problems.
You can be curious everyday for free just asking the question “Why?”
8. How to Trust & be happy?
This is all about the attitude, are you looking at the glass half empty, or half full? Are you trusting yourself as you jump into the path that is unknown? Are you looking forward to the journey ahead of you?
I love Randy Pausch, a professor of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction and Design at Carnegie Mellon University, who, when he learned in August 2007 that his pancreatic cancer was terminal and he could expect only 3 to 6 more months of good health. He gave an inspirational and upbeat lecture titled, “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
He trusted life, even though he was dying. He took the opportunity to be grateful and be happy and pass on something for his children.
You can be grateful + happy everyday by just counting your blessings, even if it is just that you have life left in you.
So that is my guide to live an extraordinary remarkable life!
If you don’t know yet what you want to do, an awesome exercise that’s really helped me and my clients is asking yourself:
“When I am 90, the life that I lived was…”
- Are you jet setting around the world?
- Where do you live?
- Where have you lived?
- How much money do you have?
- Did you eat out at expensive places?
- Have you made an impact on this earth?
- How big an impact?
- Is sport a big part of your regime?
And think about all the other things that are included in your lifestyle and then once you are clear about that, you are able to decide what to do now to fulfill that life vision.
You can do this for free by taking out a pen and paper and write it down in minute details.
Then Master the Art of Starting!
You are the only one who can make your world + life extraordinary.
You don’t have to want to change the world, but you can be awesome by breaking some of these rules. Want More Than This, Design Your Dream Life, Break the Rules! If you are ready, check out our new course on Lifestyle Design: Master The Art of Living on Purpose.
Image Credit: rickholliday.wordpress.com
