by DJ Schofield | Last Updated:December 8, 2023

It’s a Tuesday morning. I’m drinking a cold brew by the river, writing.

I work remotely with the ability to travel to wherever I want, get coffee whenever/wherever I want, go to the gym whenever I want, and live on my own terms.

This is the life I chose — the life I designed.

The “life you want” is quite subjective.

It can also change quite drastically over time. We are constantly changing, after all.

So, what life do you want?

You may want to work remotely and travel.

You may want to be a nurse. A doctor?

You may want to be a musician. A writer? An influencer?

No matter what kind of life you desire, here are three ways to design the life you want.

Do and Keep Doing

Do stuff. Take action. Nothing happens, and nothing is learned without taking action.

I’ve always been one to fail fast and adapt quickly. I’m not married to any idea. I’m married to never stopping and constantly pushing boundaries… thinking outside of the box if you will.

I’ve tried so many things… a couple of podcasts, numerous websites, a marketing agency, drop shipping, and probably 50 other things I’m forgetting.

You may be thinking, this dude has a terrible case of the shiny object syndrome. And you would be correct.

BUT I also have tons of experience and lessons learned from each of these ventures.

If I never started that marketing company (that failed), I wouldn’t know how to code or develop websites. If I didn’t start the numerous websites, I wouldn’t know SEO. If I didn’t know SEO, I would have never started YouTube.

If I didn’t do any of this, I would not have a remote job, I wouldn’t be sitting here drinking coffee, I wouldn’t be able to work on my schedule, and most importantly, I wouldn’t have the life I want.

Everything you do is a stepping stone to where you’re headed.

You don’t have to know if you’re stepping in the right direction. You have to keep stepping.

Keep stepping until one day you discover clarity.

You see, for the past eight years, I have been experimenting with many different businesses and side hustles. I love the process of creating.

It wasn’t until I experienced a sense of clarity that I began building.

Do many things until one day you find something you’re good at and genuinely enjoy. Then double down. Start building, but never stop experimenting.

You have to be crazy enough to run after what you want.

Learn to Solve Problems

The reason for nearly every job is to solve a problem.

Teacher? You’re solving the problem of educating our youth. Nurse? You’re solving the problem of helping people who are sick.

If you’re currently in a job that doesn’t involve solving problems, you probably won’t be in the job for very long.

That’s a harsh truth.

You are compensated based on the complexity of the problems you solve. If you start a bookstore that turns into Amazon and allows anyone to have anything at their doorstep within 48 hours… you solved a massive problem with thousands of little problems along the way. You’re probably a billionaire.

Therefore, you must learn to solve problems.

Luck and Timing

Luck usually doesn’t “just happen.” There is normally some form of cause and effect happening.

The common denominator with lucky people is they find themselves in more situations that give luck a chance. The perfect formula is “prepared + timing = luck.”

What does it look like to be in situations that bring luck? It could be as simple as going to a networking event or as crazy as standing outside Tesla headquarters waiting to meet Elon.

Of course, there are a million ways this could look in practice. The key to finding luck is to be prepared and to put yourself out there. Get out of your comfort zone regularly.

Build

Now it’s your turn. Build Clarity… What do you want your life to look like? What will it take to get there? What skills do you need? Who do you need to know?

Build your life… nothing will ever happen if nothing happens.