MATT DOAN

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Design or be designed

Design or be designed.

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Control or be controlled.

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Position or be positioned.

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Nobody wants to hear these harsh truths.

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But take a hard look at your life:

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…what is your “work” strategy?

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…how is this strategy impacting your career trajectory?

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…what does this trajectory mean for financial and time freedom?

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…what lifestyle are you creating for yourself (and/or your family)?

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You might not like the answers. But that’s okay. We all start there.

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Right now, you’re at a critical fork in the road. Let me explain the two paths.

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The majority: designed

Most people live Outside-In.

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A person’s outside world rules their inside world.

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These people:

  • Let external circumstances dictate what’s possible
  • Blindly accept “norms” and default situations
  • Believe they have very little agency

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Here, your life is designed by other people and forces.

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“Work sucks.”

“I’m always tired.”

“My wife is always mad.”

(You realize you can fix all these, right?)

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Logically, you know you have a “choice,” but you don’t exercise it.

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Why do so many end up here? Simple. Falling in line is safe and predictable.

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Being designed is just easier.

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The (brave) minority: designers

In contrast, Uncaged rebels live Inside-Out.

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They set their “life” terms and then act them into existence.  

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While everyone else is blaming the default path, they design their own — with extreme specificity.

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Being a designer of your own life is hard. The results can take a long time to manifest.

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But it’s ridiculously worth it.

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Think how you’ll feel when:

  • Micromanaging bosses can’t “touch” you
  • You’ve got multi-stream income flowing in
  • You’re present with family — actively creating memories
  • You have massive control over how you spend your time and energy

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The choice is simple: be the designer.

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The ultimate “how”

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First and foremost, designing your life requires extreme ownership.

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It’s a mentality where “everything is my fault.” (Let that notion free you.)

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Start with the pen.

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There’s nothing more life-changing for you than the written word.

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Why do this?

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“You’re 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a daily basis.” (source)

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I’m talking five minutes a day: write down your goals (how you want your life to be).

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Externalizing your desired life “design” must be a regular thing — written (primary), spoken (secondary).

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This process extracts the noise from your monkey mind and forces you to crystalize specific thoughts of what you actually want to create in your life.

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I completely transformed my life through early-morning journaling sessions.

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If I hadn’t continually written down what I wanted, I’d still be a divorced and single dad, struggling with a sickening relationship with corporate life.

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Today, my life is the complete opposite of that.

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Sure, you can stick with being designed.

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Or you can be the designer.

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Trust me: pick the pen, day after day.

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It’s the simplest of habits.

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You’ll inevitably start making life-altering choices that align with your designed life (this is how identity works).

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Design or be designed.

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