Welcome, everyone! Today, we’re diving into the Law of Design, one of the invaluable principles from the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth series. The Law of Design teaches us how to shape our lives to be the best they can be—on our own terms before someone plans for us.
One of the most valuable lessons this law offers is about designing our lives with purpose. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about considering how we spend our time and energy.
Let’s see how we can apply these ideas to our daily lives.
1. Keeping Life Simple is Challenging
As Neil Cole said, “The secret is found in simplicity.” This resonates with the Law of Design. Growth strategies must be clear and straightforward, or they won’t work. To ensure simplicity, ask yourself these three questions when creating a strategy:
- Can it be easily repeated?
- Can it be personally meaningful?
- Can it be transferred to others?
Remember, even a well-planned strategy is pointless if it’s too complicated to apply.
2. Designing Your Life > Designing Your Career
Life works best when we focus on living well. Sure, it sounds simple, but it takes effort. Why do we spend so much time planning, only to realize that no plan is perfect? That’s the point—there is no such thing as a perfect plan.
We should not just focus on our career goals when designing our lives. A balanced, well-designed life will lead to career success and personal fulfillment. Invest in areas that matter the most. Customizing our lives teaches us more about ourselves and reassures us that we’re on the right track.
3. Life is Real—It’s Not a Rehearsal
Life is not a rehearsal. We get a chance to learn something on the way. The sentence “I would have… or I should have……” will always try to reach us. This happens when we regret things we should have done before.
As the saying goes, “One life is enough if you use it well.”
So, don’t dwell on the past. Every decision counts. Make the most of it!
4. Multiply by Two
When setting life goals, always give yourself extra time and resources. Why? Important things usually take longer and cost more than we expect.
Prepare for this by “multiplying by two” to allow for smooth progress and deeply rooted healthy habits.
Building Effective Systems
A good system supports good strategies. What makes a good strategy? It’s a method that helps you achieve your goals strategically and consistently. But to make it work, you need systems.
“Without systems, you’re starting from scratch with every challenge.”A life without systems is one where the person must face every task and challenge from scratch. By creating the system, we are letting ordinary people achieve extraordinary results.”
Here’s how you can start:
See the big picture
Every journey needs a clear destination. You’ll feel unfulfilled if you’re just busy but not moving toward your real goals. Every step we take needs to be targeted to the areas critical to our definition of success. If it is not, we are not helping ourselves.
As someone once said, “Unhappiness is not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it.”
Set priorities
Ask yourself, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” and “when is the best time to make the most of it?” Our priorities should cover the system that connects to our goals.
Measure your progress
It sounds so theoretical, and to simplify it, you can ask, for example, “In the next 5 years, where do I want to be?”
It is about understanding where we sit and belong in today’s world, not our wishes or hopes for where we want to belong. To track our progress, we will need a measurement for each system.
The saying goes: “If you cannot measure something, you cannot understand it, and if you cannot understand it, you cannot control it. Lastly, if you can control it, you cannot improve it.” -Hawthorne Effect-
The Hawthorne effect happens when people change their behavior while being observed.
Take action
A plan on paper is worthless without action. We all know planning is essential; some of you reading my previous articles might realize I frequently say this. Planning and action must go together: ” The plan creates the track, and the action provides the traction.” When you have a goal but don’t think you’ll be able to reach it, adjust the action steps before the goal.
Stay organized
Time is more valuable than money.
This book mentions that the number one time-waster for most people is looking for lost things. If money mistakes can be corrected, but it’s different with time. When it passes, what we can expect is regret or appreciation. Most people waste time looking for lost things. Stay organized so you can focus on what truly matters.
Be consistent
As the saying goes, “Our daily routines determine our future successes.” Consistency is key to building lasting habits.
Conclusion
To develop a winning strategy for life, don’t just copy someone else’s plan. Customize your systems to fit your own goals and personality.
As Jim Rohn once said, “If you go work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you.”
It’s okay to adjust your system along the way—just keep it simple and give each system at least three weeks to show results. Remember, life is about progress, not perfection.
AMKNWORLD 
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