"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist." - Oscar Wilde 

It wasn’t until I left corporate America and set up my own online business that I realized I had been living my life unwittingly on cruise control … at a speed someone else had set. I got up in the morning, rushed through breakfast so I could go to work tirelessly on activities that fulfilled someone else's dreams and benefiting someone else's priorities and bank account. Then I came home had dinner went to bed and started all over again the next day. I was so busy “earning a living” that I never really had the time or energy to think about what I want in life. There are several basic questions we might think of in a fleeting way, but never really answer for ourselves:

1). Who am I?

2). What do I want in life?

3). What is my purpose, why am I here on earth?

4). Where do I want to be 3 years from now, what are the action steps I'm going to have to take to get there and how am I going to have to change as a person to make this possible?

Believe it or not these are critical questions to ask yourself before you start any business or life changing endeavour, although few people do. 

If you don't answer these simple questions you will be as unhappy in your new business as you were when you were working for someone else.

It is the difference between existing and thriving. It is when you realize you have more power than you think to design your life. It is when you decide to take 100% responsibility for your life and your outcomes. 

Failing to answer these profound questions may also cost you dearly in wasted money, time and effort. 

Answering these questions can be surprisingly difficult, but much more empowering and fulfilling than you are inclined to believe. It never ceases too amaze me how many people don't know what they want from life other than the vague notion of getting rich.

When you answer those, or similar questions, you give direction and purpose to your life. When you have direction and specific goals you can start to plan to achieve your vision of who you want to become, what you want to accomplish and what you want your contribution and legacy to be. 

You build self-confidence and develop a driving force within you, that only successful people who have purpose possess.

You don't have to have all the answers in the first sitting. Make your first draft and refine it over time. Then get in the habit of reviewing it on a yearly basis as you and your expectations for life change.

What are the unexpected outcomes of designing your own life? 

So some of the less obvious by-products of your new lifestyle will be, you will:

• Stop existing and start living, start crafting a life that fulfills your dreams
• Stop making someone else rich and start concentrating on building your own wealth
• Get off the hamster wheel, leave the 9 to 5 and become a master of your own time and destiny
• No longer be stressed and unhealthy and start looking after your mind and body, a prerequisite for true success
• Fire your boss, start working for yourself and become an entrepreneur with all the responsibilities and self-fulfillment that brings
• Discover who you are, your purpose in life and determine your own destiny
• Learn your true values, what makes you … you, and what values you need to develop to become a successful entrepreneur
• Develop a growth mindset and embark on a journey of continuous self-improvement and enrichment. You will learn new skills to overcome the demons that have held you back like procrastination, fear or lack of confidence
• Learn your formal education did not teach you enough to survive in the digital age. You will come to appreciate that learning is a lifelong endeavour. You will discover the teachings of a whole host of experts you did not realize existed who can educate you in the science of getting rich and developing a lifestyle of freedom and fulfillment. 
• Learn techniques such as scaling, outsourcing and automation to make your work smarter not harder and grow your business exponentially
• Learn that you do not have to go it alone. You will have educational programs and mentors to guide you as well as the support of a community of experienced entrepreneurs
• Learn that working with a venture partner, spouse or like minded friend can increase your chances of success. Two heads are better than one!
• Learn the importance of mastery and continuous personal growth, and how to monetize your newly acquired skills. 
• Learn new habits to take your productivity to a new level
• Gain new found confidence and realize you can be successful if you put your mind to it.
• Become part of the new digital economy on the cutting edge of future growth of the ever-expanding global market
• Get ahead of the digital revolution curve. It is predicted that 70-80% of current jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, primarily because of the new digital economy and new technologies. By becoming an online entrepreneur, you will be ahead of the curve and part of this transformation, rather than waiting for your current job to disappear due to mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, artificial intelligence (AI), robots etc.
• Become geographically free and have the ability to make your office anywhere in the world there is an internet connection

You will experience a paradigm shift and develop a growth mindset which will equip you to grow personally and achieve your dreams for your very own internet business. This in turn will enable you to create a lifestyle of financial, time and geographic freedom. You will learn to live with confidence, drive and purpose and become the best version of yourself possible, exceeding your wildest expectations.

MAKE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE