Earlier this year I backed a Kickstarter project for an incredible book project promoting an ethos and type of living that really resonated with me. As a result, last week I got to spend a few days in London with the founders of Misfit Inc – one of the coolest companies on the planet. We used this time to focus on Projects for All – a phenomenal not-for-profit Africa-focussed programme run by one of the most remarkable world changers I have ever met.
This experience had everything I really enjoy in a project. It was incredible fun, involved meeting and connecting with fantastic new people, and creating something new and radically different to make a positive impact on the world. It was a really fun and heartwarming few days. I am so excited to see the fruits of our time together in the coming weeks and months.
Irrespective of the output, the whole experience has reminded to talk about a way of thinking that I have really begun to use this year. A way of thinking that allows me to have great joy and achievement in most of the things that I do and a fundamental shift in how I view the output of my life.
In short, I have come to realise that my life is my art. I may not have mastered a paintbrush or musical instrument, but I am mastering what it is to be me.
Over the past few years, I have been making the transition from the hard, challenging life of business to the exciting business of life.
I don’t look to create a business to live a life any more. I look to create and monetize a remarkable life. I look to put my beliefs, values, convictions, internal rules, philosophy and personality into everything and anything that I do now. No detail of this is too small because every detail of my life is to be enjoyed.
My life has shifted from running a long, arduous marathon towards a distant finishing line to being a series of enjoyable creations. Each work or experience can be created for the moment and the circumstance. Each work can be part of who I am, and does not necessarily need to be fixed to running a single type of race with a singular destination. And I am hugely happier for making that shift.
I now do things for the love of doing them, not necessarily because they take me towards a goal. The irony is – this path is taking me far further.
Yet, in some ways I am very much at the beginning of creating a remarkable life. There are so many more ideas and projects. Each and every one of them will come from the very core of who I am. Yes, it might be scary and yes, I might be criticised at times. I may fall down or produce the occasional piece of utter junk. But there is always a new day and a new page.
But at the end of the day living someone else’s life is no life at all. The art of creating your own life is something worth getting out of bed for.
So, when you approach anything, I challenge you not to wonder ‘How do I do this?’ but instead ask ‘How do I do this my own way?’ It is about doing things your way, regardless of convention or expectation.
When you step up to the canvas that is your life, don’t just paint by numbers. Make sure you are painting by heart the work you were born to paint.
There is a masterpiece in every one of us. Don’t let it go undiscovered.
Thank you AJ, Melissa, Katrin & Marcus. Last week was just the reminder I needed.
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