Awareness is key – the rest is practice

I’m constantly talking about the concept of being a Life Designer vs. being a Life Planner. Or, more correctly, behaving like a Life Designer vs. behaving like a Life Planner, because it’s less about innate character traits, and more about the habit of behaving in a certain way and with a certain perspective.

This means, you’re free to shift your behaviour at any given time. Only precondition: You must be aware of your behaviour before you can effectively change something. That’s why I thought of this little Quiz, which will help you to understand better your own default behaviour, and will give you the opportunity to change something, in case needed or wanted.

Just to be clear: Behaving like a Life Planner isn’t something bad per se, it’s just that in times of change, uncertainty, and challenges, behaving like a Life Planner will most likely keep you stuck, feeling paralyzed and powerless. Whereas behaving like a Life Designer supports you in getting active and building new perspectives.

So, Let’s Get Started!

All you need for this little Quiz, are 10 minutes of undisturbed quiet time, and honest answers.

To gain the most out of this Quiz, I suggest you go through all of these questions twice! The first round you’ll answer these questions thinking how you behave in your professional life. This way you get a distinct understanding how you’re behaving in different areas of your life. Believe me, most of us have quite different approaches in different life areas, but never pay attention to it. The second round you’ll go through the same questions, once again, but this time you’ll answer it in regards to how you behave in your relationship life (love relationships, friends and family).

If you can’t answer a question with either yes or no, then simply disregard and move to the next.

Quiz Yourself – Now

1. When faced with a new situation, do you try to make sense out of everything ASAP, classify it as good/ bad, wrong/right etc. (rather than observing the situation without judgement for a while)? Yes – No
2. Are you trying to avoid making mistakes as much as humanly possible (rather than seeing mistakes as important feedback and information)? Yes – No
3. Do you need to have absolute clarity about a situation or outcome before you start to take action (rather than just trying things out first, and then gaining clarity through this practical experience) Yes – No
4. Do you approach new situations with a ready made opinion about the situation and outcome “I already know, how this will turn out” (rather than approaching it with a curious beginners mind, open for surprises and learnings)? Yes – No
5. Are you always cautious what other people might think of you, how they value your actions (rather than paying attention how you value yourself and your actions)? Yes – No
6. Do you see competition as something bad, which is threatening your position, standing, aspirations etc. (rather than seeing competition as an opportunity to innovate, to excel and maybe even to collaborate)? Yes – No
7. Do you wait for good opportunities to arise to get active (rather than getting active to create the opportunities yourself)? Yes – No
8. Do you perceive challenges, setbacks and resistance as problems (rather than opportunities)? Yes – No
9. Do you move within the boundaries other people have established for you (rather than defining for yourself, what’s possible and what isn’t, what makes sense and what doesn’t, what’s of value/ meaning and what isn’t)? Yes – No
10. Do you think that a great life and a great job is the end-goal, something that you’ll achieve one day, if you work hard enough (rather than seeing a great life and great job as a state of being, with opportunities for happiness, fulfilment, accomplishment every single day, no matter where you are on your journey)? Yes – No

What Are The Answers Telling You?

After each round (first round = your professional life; second round = your relationships) count how many Yes and how many Nos you obtained.

If the majority are Yes-answers, then your default way-of-behaving is mostly a Life Planner. If the majority are No-answers and you’re leaning towards those “rather than” options, you’re behaving mostly as a Life Designer. So, what does this tell you?

First, too many Yes-answers are an indication that challenges, uncertainty and life changes will throw you off track quite easily. And that you generally have a hard time dealing with them in a pro-active and positive way. Secondly, too many Yes-answers are also a sure sign of too many limiting beliefs, which are still active and holding you back from reaching and living your highest potential.

So either way, it’s time to get active now. To change your approach, where your default behaviour is blocking you (Life Planner) and to strengthen those areas, where you’re already doing great (Life Designer) and acknowledge what’s working well.

Always remember, awareness is key…..and the rest is simply practice.

Did this topic spark your curiosity, and you’d like to dive deeper into behaving like a Life Designer, limiting beliefs etc.? Then check out the opportunity to practice Life Designing.