What is Life Design? To me it is when when an individual carefully and strategically designs and crafts their own dream life and lifestyle and actualises that plan. I’m a strong advocator of Life Design and have been for most of my life.

We’ve all heard the now cliche phrases – ‘Dream big’, ‘Work smart and not hard’, ‘Keep your dreams alive’. For nearly everyone it’s a struggle, so via this blog I will aim to share the how-tos of what I did to acheive my life design and the lessons I’ve learned from others.

Desiree Banugo’s Life Design:

• Work 9 months of 12 like at school – CHECK!
• Be able to pick and choose my own contracts and negotiate what I get paid – CHECK
• Minimise my tax bill by seeking the best advice and make more money in the process – CHECK
• Take extended holidays where and when I choose – CHECK
• Start in property investing – CHECK
• Start to transform my freelancing company into a full business concern – CHECK

and it doesn’t stop there, but that’s just a taster. There will also be some other thoughts and learnings, information and knowledge that I’d like to share too so look out for those  posts in the future.

Take some time to answer these questions and visualise your goals when you get there.

• What is your life design?
• What do you want to achieve/possess/experience  in your lifetime?
• How will you get there?
• Is anything or anyone holding you back from achieving those goals?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box below.

I first heard about Do You! on Oprah’s show (I’m a massive fan!) and thought I must get hold of the book. If I remember correctly, the entire show featured successful celebrities and what they do to keep them in check. This was in the back end of last year. I hunted everywhere for the book, but like music releases (or perhaps worse) it can take forever for imported books to appear on the shelves of UK bookstores.

On my last trip to New York, I was give the book as a birthday present back in February and only started to read it last Monday. But that’s all good – there’s a time and a place for everything.

Even though I remember the rise of Hip Hop as a kid, I was more of a Gospel/RnB girl. I loved some of the beats that included some of the music my parents listened to (I couldn’t tell you the tunes), but I didn’t really delve in until I was way older. Growing up in the 80s & 90s was a pivotal time for black music and it’s people – hip hop was starting to walk until it stood straight and the world heard the loudest voices, which unfortunately didn’t carry the full message.

Okay so now to the book. I love watching Run’s House, which features Reverend Run of Run DMC aka Joey Simmons, younger brother of Russell. It’s a warm, funny and positive reflection of a family who is successful, wealthy, normal and ambitious who happens to be black. In that show, Russell makes a few appearances which I think sometimes makes him come across as arrogant, judgmental but every much the successful business man. Maybe it’s a good brother / bad brother spin on the programme, I don’t know.

However, after reading Russell’s book, I’m just so impressed! WOW! Every chapter resonated with me – big time! The book is about the 12 rules he aims to follow every day and even if he breaks them ‘on a regular’. Now there is nothing new about what he says – it’s just the way he says them. As a hip hop dude who’s into yoga, believe me the twist is very interesting.

Throughout the book Russell makes it really clear what he’s passionate about – I love the fact that through this media, a book, from 4,000 miles away I can get inside the head of an amazing individual. The insight helped me understand the actions of his motives such as producing a positive family-oriented reality show which is currently on MTV but may be been relegated to BET. Why he’s passionate about eliminating the negative words thrown about casually in hip hop such as the N-word and why he’s a vegan. Every rule had a spiritual and physical connection and was all embracing to every reader of all races, classes and status levels. Whilst not all of it will resonate with everyone, you’ll take away one thing – maintaining success without a spiritual connection may be more of a struggle.

Now I want to be absolutely clear here, by spiritual I’m not talking about any religious affiliation nor am I talking about the spirituality that is often related to the likes of clairvoyants and those that speak with loved ones who have passed. I’m talking about spirituality in relation to the quiet voice that helps you out through life, aka your gut instinct, which some say is God him/herself.

The past week was particularly trying for me and I knew that the Universe somehow guided me to pick up the book and led me to each chapter as I needed it. Thanks to the Universe! I’m definitely in a much better frame of mind today. However, here are the most poignant points for me from the book.

• Visions: gifts from God. Work on it, stick with it and don’t give up. Share it with the world which in turn commits you to your vision.
• Do You: be true to your self. Don’t sacrifice yourself for short term gains.
• Beauty of the mind: mind fitness is even more important than physical fitness. Cultivate it through meditation and even yoga. Listen for God’s voice inside of you.
• The right time is right now: you must start in order to succeed
• Give nothing less than your best: and it’ll pay off
• Get lifted: by surrounding yourself with the right people who are smarter than yourself
• “Failures” are nothing but a setback: only quitters fail.
• Always plant good seeds; it’s a lifelong commitment to success
• Live to Give: not just money, but time, compassion, love, energy and knowledge.
• Embrace diversity: in all aspects of you life. More opportunities become available with even greater rewards.
• Be heard: be empowered and then empower others. Effect change for the ‘betterment’ of your family and your community.
• Spitting truth to power: be empowered to take a stand for what you truly believe in. Do not be afraid to challenge those in power.

Many people will recognise some of the laws of the universe interwoven through here.

Some people may think that a balanced review would be to pick holes in the book too. And yes that’s what others would do, but I’m not known for following everyone else’s rules. So I’m going to focus solely on the high points and the effect those have had on me. If you’re looking for downsides, maybe you’ll find them by buying the book or Googling if you look hard enough. You can be the judge.

Like with every rule, you don’t have to follow any as they are there to be broken, however our society directs us to do so. Before reading this book, I followed some of the rules already but perhaps haven’t gone far enough or have been generous enough. I’ll just take one day at a time.

So to Oprah for bringing inspiring reads to your viewers, I thank you. To my Mom and Brother who found the book in a bookstore in New York City, while I was in a meeting across town, I thank you. To the Universe for motioning me towards reading this book at a time when I really needed to hear/read those words and continually blessing me. And to Russell Simmons for sharing his life journey as a business man, a highly respected pioneer of the Hip Hop Nation and as a man, to you I say thank you and continue to be blessed.

Go to Amazon to get Do You! by Russell Simmons

As a kid, I was always impressed by her because she was the first Black Lady of TV and was successful – something I wanted to be. She covered human interest stories with her chat show which I could relate to. Then as I got into my late teens, I noticed that her programme content shifted to wealthy homemakers and her audience were primarily Chanel and Gucci wearing, highly coiffured white women. That saddened me.

I can’t remember where I heard it from, but many people were saying that ‘Oprah weren’t catering for blacks no more.’ And that’s here in the UK. I have no idea what people were saying in her home country. And because I listened, Oprah and I parted ways.

I started to pay attention to Oprah again about 5 years ago when I was reading something about the world’s greatest achievers and the First Black Lady was all over the place. I can’t remember what it was maybe it was was something about her life story or one her quotes that I came across resonated with me. And the fact her birthday is a few days before mine own got me to sit up straight. I started to dig around and get more information about Oprah – who she is, what she stands for, what she does. The UK weren’t broadcasting her show on a regular basis so I started to buy her magazine again.

It may be that I’m now the woman that Oprah is talking to, I’m so taken in by her wisdom, intellect and character. When I was in the US back in February, they were broadcasting Oprah and Gayle’s Roadtrip across the US. I kinda watched it with a little interest as I was also surfing the net at the time. But when it was broadcast here in the UK in October, Sista Oprah caught my attention.

I can’t remember which town Oprah had stopped off at, but with her very cute trainer and Gayle, they went to the local gym to work out. Now Oprah had the tiniest waist that I’ve ever seen on a Black woman with hips, butt and chest! I was so impressed! And she advocated Pilates. Ok cool, that’s what I’m gonna do (although I haven’t done it yet!). I want to tone up and be healthy. If I lose some pounds or kilos in the process then that’s a bonus.

Then in December when Oprah came out to endorse Obama, I was thinking – wow what happened? In the UK we’re several months behind in the screening of US programmes. And it’s not aired sequentially, so right now I’m watching the show with Bill Cosby as a guest which was aired in October and then last week, programmes from Spring were being shown.

Speaking with my Mom about it, I was saying that all that junk food that Oprah hadn’t eaten in ages but did on the Road trip undid the great work. I love junk food too and realise that Oprah is only human.

And this is why you must do your research before opening your mouth. Oprah has a thyroid problem. I don’t now if it’s curable, but I really hope that she can manage it and her health because it’s the one thing she needs to continue her great work.

Now I’m not disappointed, demotivated but empowered that I have the knowledge to try and avoid the problem myself and keep healthy. The ‘O’ effect will last for as long as her name is kept alive. And I’m still encouraged that as one of my mentors, she’s still an amazing person. The fact that she’s a woman and African American is just a side issue, although very important.

I earned any money! I remember meeting up with some friends from my last contract and one of the cheeky geezers said to me “What have you been doing all this time at home?” His words rang through my head and made me think – What do I have to show for my time away from contracting?

I wrote in an earlier post about Personal Admin and how much I hate it. It’ll never go away but I feel more on top of it and also I spend some of my time chilling – damn I deserve it and need it too!

Most importantly, I’ve spent a lot of time training myself in wealth accumulation. Generally, unless you’re top cheese of a global company with shares and on a salary of £1m plus bonuses you’re not going to be wealthy.

Let me explain my interpretation of wealth. Being wealthy is to have all just what you need so that you don’t have to worry about your finances, health, emotional states and the family are taken care of. Excesses are extreme wealth and if you’re entitled to it, then you’re blessed and you should use it to benefit others outside your own circle. And let’s face it, traditional academia trains you to become and remain employees.

Unless I can persuade Oprah or Sir Richard B to take me on as an apprentice, I gotta spend time (and money) learning how to be more like them and their peers.

I’ve spent the last 10 years working 8-12 hours a day and whilst it was fun, the real rewards that mean the most aren’t there. I freelance right now because I have yet to come across an employer who can reward me with My Own Time. And because of this, I work no more than 9 months a year.

Weekend before last I went to the World Internet Summit. I’ve been to a couple of these Internet Marketing Workshops, Seminars etc before and I have to truly say, there were some pretty amazing folks up on stage at the WIS giving us an insight to their success. I’m not going to focus on money here as I really do believe that money follows passion and hard work, but I would mention that they did a live demo of how to set up an online business over the 4 days. By the last day, I believe, 4 sales were generated for a recurring $50/month with very little advertising ie Google Adwords.

For sales might not be enough for you but think about this; 4 sales at $50/month= $2400 and even if you didn’t get any more sign-ups, couldn’t you repeat the same success across 2,6 or even 10 websites to generate $240k per year? It’s all about just getting started.

I was truly blown away with some of the new tips I picked up as I’ve been studying and working in this industry myself for the last 8 years. So for instance, most marketers are using social networking sites to build a mailing database, but to actually purchase software that will build your networks in practically minutes was astounding.

Also flipping properties online using an auction website – how cool is that? Now obviously with this young media, there are learning curves and unknown shallow and deep pitfalls, but how do you succeed? By making as many mistakes as you can – and fast!

Right now, I’m following Armand Morins Internet Marketing Explained course and I’m so excited to get a ticket to go to his BigSeminar event in Atlanta, US next April. The reason why I’m inhaling everything Armand right now, is that out of the 15 or so speakers, he was the most non-conformist, admits that he’s a lazy marketer, and likes to get things done quickly without having to use much brainpower. Now that’s a man after my own heart.

And what I’ve learned from his course in the first 9 of 54 hours of training material means I can get started to make money on the internet without purchasing a domain name, without getting a hosting site, without designing web pages or building a website, without paying for anything but lower cost advertising than Google Adwords and without using Ebay or any other sites like that to begin with – so you can see that I have no excuse and why I’m all over his training material.

As a result, I will post my journey to wealth here amongst everything else. It’s going to be fun! I’m energised and fired up today!