Design By Systems

Dear Designer,

Last week we talked about building your success before you even take that first step forward.

• Writing what you want and creating the details of the kind of life you want to be living, three to five years from now.

• Meditating up on it…that is, visualizing and…the key → feeling the feelings you would feel if it were already true.

• Creating systems that support the obtaining of your desired results and ultimate lifestyle.

I’m confident that those exercises work, and that when you implement them, pretty amazing things will start to happen.

Let’s break down further that third bullet point.

Let’s examine what systems are and how you can use them in your endeavors to design the kind of life you have always wanted to live.

I’ve got a few examples for you.

Remember, make no small plans.

Keep designing,
Josh

P.S. I’ll admit, this newsletter is coming to your inbox "MIGHTY LATE.” My apologies. It’s one thing to “have” a system. It’s an entirely different thing to follow that system. I didn’t follow my newsletter writing system this week and now…yeah!

Enjoy!

Today’s Design Theory

^{(Why theory? Ideas are theories until you test, prove, and adopt the results into the fibers of your identity.)}

I don’t know about you but will power doesn’t work.

Last year, there was a habit that I wanted to break.

It just wasn’t serving me.

It just wasn’t me any more.

One day, a friend of mine told me what they were doing to make some progress in that same area of their life.

It was a little system…

…3 steps…

…and, instead of will power, I used “System Power” and got so much further in overcoming that habit than I had in a very long time.

You know, the harder you try, the same results happen sometimes.

It’s not you.

Nope. Not at all.

It’s the way in which you’re executing…the way you’re trying to solve the problem.

Here’s a thought:

If you’re going to make any progress at all, there needs to be some additional variables to offset what you’ve already tried.

It’s not enough to let things slide.

No matter how long something takes to achieve or overcome, you just have to keep trying because that’s the amazing kind of person you’ve decided to be.

For a short time, will power can work.

But, not if you’re looking for longer term change.

Personally, I’m not okay with the same me that I was last year or the year before.

Perhaps even last month.

I’d like to think that I’m here on this beautiful planet to keep improving and growing…

…and in the process, help others as my capacity and skills develop and intensify.

So, I’d like to share with you three systems that will help you gain momentum.

They’ve helped me.

Systems can be designed to take almost any shape.

You can include physical cues, cell phone alarms, scheduled appointments with yourself, or writing exercises.

A system is really a sequence of predefined tasks that lead you down the same road to get the desired result you’ve selected.

Anything to make your achieving…EASIER…is a huge step in the right direction.

Systems are one way to create predictable progress.

Whatever you’re working on, a business, acquisition, services, a habit breaking battle, a side hustle or new stream of income, anything that requires a longer path to a higher goal..

…attaching a system right to the foundation of it…

…that’s what’s going to make all the difference.

These systems work.

Give one or all a chance.

Momentum System 1: Focus System

Objective: To centralize your focus on a current objective, either for the day or long term, that is important to you and what you are trying to accomplish.

Here’s one system I created and utilized.

1. Create an image on your cell phone wallpaper that refers to the achievement you are trying to accomplish.

2. Set three alarms through out the day, a few hours after you start your morning routine, after lunch, and an hour before you finish your work day before dinner.

3. The alarm should read something to the effect, “Focused? Need to realign?”

It’s only human nature that we, sometimes, need fall back measures to keep momentum churning forward.

This is one way that has worked for me to continue to remain as focused as possible.

Momentum System 2: Accountability System

Objective: To gain support and encouragement from another human where you can feel connected and supported during a time of effort and commitment.

My wife and I built a house in 2021. We were able to create a space in the floor plans for a home office.

Nice thought.

But…sometimes, it gets lonely.

I mean, I live in a farming town in southern Idaho.

Population: 768 or close to that, (if the sign’s even accurate anymore.)

This wonderful office is where I spend my time every day, doing what I do in business or in marketing or in other tasks as I help people achieve their goals.

Here’s a simple system you can try that has helped me gain momentum with a human touch.

1. Identify a trusted “human” person in your life who can share in the experience of keeping you accountable, and the other way around if they are a willing party.

2. Verbalize boundaries such as, length of time, methods of communication, frequency, and acceptable hours to text, call, message, and/or email.

3. Communicate the level of coaching, encouragement, silence, feedback, or responses that you are looking to receive.

4. Once all conditions and details are expressed, reconfirm their willing participation.

5. Once you’ve set up a person and plan, ongoing accountability interaction will prove to be monumental in your success and the development of your designed reality.

Momentum System 3: Three-Wins End of Day Reframe

This is a well known system that you may have heard of.

I’ve used it.

Recently, my family and children take turns using it while we eat together around the dinner table.

Now, I’d like to share it with you and, yes, urge you, to give it a try.

It works.

And…

…it’s no small thing.

1. Grab a journal, notebook, mobile phone app, or a desktop digital “piece of paper.”

2. Write down three wins you had that day. It could be something you learned or a commitment you kept. Maybe something you completed that you’d been putting off. Reframe your day as a WIN by creating a vision of a “job well done,” clearly recognizing that you’re not perfect, but that you accomplished some goodness today.

3. Then, jot down three commitments you’d like to keep or three accomplishments you’d like to make happen tomorrow.

My past has been known to creep up and haunt me, hinder my progress, cast a shadow on my perspective of who I am and what I’ve done.

This system is a compact way to design the past into a useful lever to move forward.

Final Thoughts

There are other systems that I use and that you probably use that have and are now proving to change the game in many ways.

…this LIFE game.

Reply “system library” to this newsletter if you’re interested in a few other systems I’ve documented and that have worked or are working now.

I’d love to share.

Make it happen, (but don’t white knuckle it anymore.)

All day and every day.

Keep designing.

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Pincel: AI Generated “Design Life” Logo

I searched long and hard for an AI tool that would take my logo and create a theme out of it. (Wasn’t easy.)

So, I’ll save you the time and tell you about it.

It’s one of the best AI tools I’ve found that keeps the integrity of your logo. Here’s what I did to generate multiple logo versions:

• I loaded up my logo mark

• Typed in a brief prompt: “a cloud in the blue sky realistic in the morning”

• Set “readability” to 2.11

• It generated this lovely design.

(I’m an affiliate. Click on the section below to sign up and get started, FREE and paid options.)

Keep designing,

—Josh