3 óstep guide to break free and design the life you w ant

3STEP GUIDE TO BREAK FREEAND DESIGN THE LIFE YOU WANT

3-STEP GUIDE TO BREAK FREE AND DESIGN THE LIFE YOU WANT - LIFEHACK.ORG

Introduction

Are you tired of the same day-in day-out life? Do you feel stuck in a rut or trapped in an endless loop but can’t seem to break free?

It can be frustrating to hear about how to make your life wonderful by doing things that you can’t necessarily do on a daily basis because of your job and daily demands. Maybe you’re the breadwinner of the family, or maybe you have to fulfill plenty of responsibilities…

You can live the life you truly want while still fulfilling your responsibilities and expectations.

In this activity sheet, you will learn how to turn your life around and start living a fulfilling life.

How to Break out of the Loop

Limitations are the things that keep you constrained inside a loop. They keep you stuck facing the same problems, having the same choices, and taking the same actions over and over, and over again.

Some people are stuck due to circumstances, but for many people, they stay in the loop because it’s their comfort zone -- where everything feels safe, easy and certain. When you’re so safe in this comfort zone, you can’t really find a reason to step out of it.

The first essential step to breaking out of the loop is to work on the way you think.

At Lifehack, we help people shift their paradigms and consistently turn any limitation into an opportunity that is achievable.

The following steps are extracted from our course and will help you break free from the loop and design the life you want.

Step 1: Find Your Hidden Opportunities

In life, you will always have constraints of some sort. It’s you who decides whether they become your limitations.

Every obstacle has a hidden opportunity. Instead of fighting them or resigning yourself to them, see that there are two sides to every coin.

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So if you want to break free from where you are, train your mind to think of opportunities instead of limitations -- an opportunity is a turning point that can create a breakthrough.

All you need is to get the right focus and know exactly what is limiting you right now -- not anything in the past or future.

For example:

● I’m limited by my busy work schedule because it leaves me no time to spend with my family.

● It stops me from having a close relationship with my wife and my kid. ● If only I could manage my time better, then I’d be able to spend more quality time

with my family.

See how limitations can be turned into opportunities? The last statement is the opportunity statement.

Now it’s your turn to come up with your opportunity statement:

I'm limited by ... [ the obstacle/constraint ] Because ... [ why it's a limitation ] It stops me from ... [ the thing you want to do ] If only I could ... [ the achievement ] then I'd be able to ... [ the new possibility ]

Once you’re clear about what you truly want and what’s stopping you, you’ll be more driven to move forward as you now have a direction on how to turn your limitations into opportunities. And, this is when you can start to think about what you can do to achieve that.

Step 2: Flesh out Ideas What You Can Do

After realizing your hidden opportunities, it’s time to come up with exactly what you can do about these opportunities -- planning your progression towards what you want.

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Let’s take the father’s opportunity statement “If only I could manage my time better, then I would spend more quality time with my family.” as an example; it helps him to reflect about what he can really do to achieve the goal:

● Set a clear time to stop working ● Discuss about my workload with my manager ● Schedule time to play with my son every day after work, or during weekend ● Schedule date nights with my wife ● No work during family dinner

See how many possible ways to achieve his goal with a clear opportunity statement?

Now, it’s your turn to reflect about what you can do to achieve what you want:

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Step 3: Restructure Your Lifestyle

After brainstorming a list of things you can do to achieve your goal, create a concrete plan to make these things happen -- invest your energy consciously.

As the breadwinner for your family or yourself, it may be hard to fit all these new tasks into your already busy schedule. And so, reviewing your current lifestyle is necessary before trying to fit in anything new.

At Lifehack, we have a course module that is dedicated to helping you master your time. One of the essential frameworks to help organize and prioritize your time is the Superstructure Method.

To help you start living your purpose, we can use a simplified version of the Superstructure Method:

Review the roles you play in life and decide each role’s Must Haves tasks -- tasks that are absolutely critical to do; without it, the outcome is meaningless.

As you’re looking into your daily schedule, keep these questions at the back of your mind:

● What must be kept as a breadwinner? ● What should be ditched or changed in order to get closer to your true Purpose?

For example:

The father who wants his wife and his son to be happy every day discovers that he has 3 roles to play: as the breadwinner, a father, and a husband.

He finds out that he’s been working too many hours -- a lot more hours than necessary even as the breadwinner. He works over time every day just to get more compensation. This has allowed him little time to spend with his family.

So he has decided to ditch working extra hours every single day and fit in date night with his wife and play time with his son every other day.

This is how his new schedule looks like:

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Monday, Wednesday, Friday

As the Breadwinner As a Father As a Husband

Must Haves

8 hours of work 1 extra working hour to make more money

Bedtime story for my son Alone chatting time with my wife

Tuesday


Must Haves

8 hours of work

Play time with my son Alone chatting time with my wife

Thursday


Must Haves

8 hours of work

Bedtime story for my son Date night with my wife

Saturday, Sunday


Must Haves

3 hours self-training to upgrade work skills

Play time with my son or Family staycation

Dating or Family staycation

Now let’s review the roles you play and the tasks you must do achieve what you want.

What critical roles are you playing in life?

Role 1: ________________________________

Role 2: ________________________________

Role 3: ________________________________

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What are the Must Haves for each role to fulfill your Purpose?

Monday

Role 1 Role 2 Role 3

Must Haves

Tuesday


Must Haves

Wednesday


Must Haves

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Thursday


Must Haves

Friday


Must Haves

Saturday


Must Haves

Sunday


Must Haves

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Here, you’ve created a new plan for your life.

You’re no longer limited by your everyday obligations and demands which are stopping you from living the life you want.

Start Living the Life You Want

You don’t need to be limited by your responsibilities and daily demands. You can break free from the loop as long as you change the way you think and make up your mind about what is important to you. When you know what you truly want and what’s stopping you, you can make use of the techniques mentioned in this worksheet to make a plan and start taking steps towards it.

More Hacks Not to Miss!

If you’d like to learn more tips that can transform your life, then stay tuned with our email newsletter. Check out our YouTube show -- The Lifehack Show too for all the tips and tricks that help you live a fulfilling life!

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3 óstep guide to break free and design the life you w ant

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