Live Deliberately or Die

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden

It seems Thoreau was a pioneer in minimalism, taking only what he needed and living in the great outdoors, away from 1850s-era modern comforts in an attempt to understand life and humanity. Though not as extreme, I wanted to discuss my personal definition of deliberate living since it happens to be a driving force and pillar of this site.

Living a deliberate life means taking active steps in my day-to-day life that push me closer to a defined goal or milestone. These goals could be small (lose 5 pounds) or big (move to Venice, Italy and open a cafe.) Each goal is defined, quantified, and easily dissected into tasks.

Not your mother’s goal setting

Practicing deliberate living goes beyond simple goal setting. The reason goal setting is usually ineffective is because the amateur goal setter simply lists off a set of vaguely defined dreams with no plan of action. Even if he actually makes time to write these goals down, they usually get stored away in a notebook and forgotten. These lists are pushed aside in lieu of the everyday routines he disguises as important.

The act of deliberate living isn’t simply making a list. It is about carrying out active, calculated decisions that drive results and enable momentum, bringing you closer to your desired outcome. It’s about realizing that your dreams—not the tired routines that comprise your unfulfilled life—are most important.

It’s about doing shit. But not just random shit, worthwhile shit that gets you where you want to go, little by little.

You can consider deliberate living goal setting on steroids; what goal setting should be but never is. In contrast, the act of goal setting is easy. The act of living deliberately is difficult because it takes work… but it’s infinitely more rewarding.

The requirements of a deliberate life

Deliberate living requires a couple things.

It requires passion, perseverance, and unwavering confidence even among the opposition, especially because the opposition may be very close to you. Family, friends, and colleagues may not understand your desire to live more deliberately, probably because they are comfortable in their own bubble and this kind of action scares them. They may watch you and feel guilty about not taking massive action, so they disguise their guilt as disagreement or disapproval. Pay no mind, and just remember no one will hand you your ideal situation, you have to work your ass off to get it.

It requires organization: You have to be thorough. You have to really enjoy checking things off a list. You have to love breaking down milestones into smaller tasks. You must have intense focus and find satisfaction in accomplishing a small set of these tasks every day.

It requires consistency: You must take daily action, no matter how small a step. That could mean just getting your running shoes on, or buying Lonely Planet’s guide to Venice and researching different neighborhoods. Small but consistent steps create a snowball effect over time, which inevitably leads to more opportunities.

It requires sacrifice: You can’t always hang out on the couch, or eat cookies while playing Call of Duty. You can’t always take off on the weekends or relax after a long day at the 9-5. Big dreams and lives of passion don’t just happen. They take huge amounts of sacrifice and plenty of sleepless nights.

You must fight the urge to settle for “good enough”, and instead push for “so fucking awesome it can’t get any awesomer.” Excellence leaves no room for “what could have been”, and the idea of facing life’s end wishing I did just a little bit more always drives me to hustle harder than I did the day before.

It requires vision: you must think long term and see the bigger picture. While most people only see the future a month at a time, you have to envision your life 5, 10, even 20 years from now. Looking this far ahead allows you to ask “Where will my current decisions take me?”, and “Will what I do today bring me closer to my ultimate ideal situation that I envision?”

I decided 2011 is the year I live more deliberately.

Part of the reason I want to discuss this here is to organize my thoughts, another is because I want you to hold me accountable. One of the surefire ways to maintaining dedication to your plans is to put it all out there; when people ask how you’re progressing, are you really going to want to tell them you gave up? Hell nah.

My business

Through this site, I want to help other entrepreneurs and little businesses be the best online selves they can be. I believe it all starts with an awesome, useful, easy-to-navigate hub where potential clients can get all the information pertinent to them in the easiest way possible.

Why?
This will result in happy customers, which in turn leads to my client’s growth, which makes them happy. This way, my clients can focus on serving their customers and snowballing their growth, and not worry about the best background color for their site, or the best typeface to maximize conversions while still maintaining their brand’s look and feel. They’ll have more time to live their lives without worrying about this part of the business.

Eventually I will scale this up, offering products that maximize my reach and ability to help people while minimizing my direct everyday involvement. This way I can focus on offering higher-quality services to a few select people who really, really want my help.

How will this vision translate into deliberate daily action?
I think it starts with growing a consistent base of happy clients. These satisfied folks help spread the word which brings me new business. This allows me to meet and help more people doing what I do best.

Another step is talking and connecting with each person, as they each have their own set of customers, worries, business goals, and visions for their site. It’s my job to understand that and incorporate that into our collaboration.

Digging further, engaging in networking (with both potential clients as well as peers in this space), as well as continual writing are examples of daily action I can take to help grow this site, my influence, and my circle. It seems that the more I write, the more I receive requests for services… it’s unexpected, but totally welcome. I also notice the more I network with people, the more connectors I meet, which leads to more inspiration and ideas. Positive results thus far tell me that I should keep doing what I’m doing, and more.

Other goals

I do have other plans for 2011 that don’t involve this site (but still involve a whole shitload of awesomeness,) yet they seem to be beyond the scope of this post (maybe even this site? maybe not.)

I love discussing plans and aspirations and deliberate action, so if you want to hear more about them (or discuss some of your own) feel free to send me a note or drop some knowledge in the comments below.

How do you plan on living more deliberately?

Listen, it’s almost February and we’re a month into 2011. It’s not too late to kick major ass this year. Join me in an attempt to live a more deliberate life. Because honestly, if we’re not making strides towards the meaningful life we’ve always imagined, or the level of happiness we’ve dreamed, then what the hell are we doing*?

*Dying.

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