Your Blueprint to a Wonderful Life
For countless people around the world who feel they have no choice in how they work, live and love, Cornelia Shipley arrives with this simple message:
You can be the architect of your own existence.
In these pages, she shares the process she has used so successfully to help her clients make major changes in their lives.
Whether it’s moving up in the corporate ladder, discovering a new creative outlet, or learning how to reward yourself on your journey, Design Your Life provides a clear and infinitely practical program that will teach you how to develop a strong personal foundation, improve your relationships and live on purpose with passion and powerful intentions for everything that matters most to you.
How my choices and a tragedy led to the book Design Your Life
You’ve probably heard by now that my new book, Design Your Life: How to Create a Meaningful Life, Advance Your Career, and Live Your Dreams hits Amazon on July 18th. I’m very excited, and it will be a proud moment in my life. But it was another moment that had me dedicate the time and attention to finally write the book I’ve had in me to write for the last 9 years…
I have a full life – a full life I designed life! It was not always that way. Like many of you, for years I was living someone else’s life – letting what I valued and desired take a backseat to what others thought I “should” do and “should” want. Thankfully I took control and designed my life in time…
About 8 years ago is when I had my defining moment – After having to miss too many important family moments, and passing up too many potentially promising relationships and friendships, I decided to reclaim the drivers seat of my own life. To leave a fast-track job and begin to focus on my values and my standards – instead of those around me.
For me, family is so very important. And in designing my life, I made sure I was available to my parents when they needed me, that I took family vacations, and that I made room for falling in love. Sharing it all with those I love, and doing work that has both meaning and value to me.
And it was all coming together – I had met the man of my dreams, we got engaged, we got married, and we headed off to an amazing honeymoon trip to South Africa. I made the commitment to my husband that when we returned from our trip, I would get busy writing – sharing with the world how they too could design a life that works! I was excited to gift my processes and tools that have worked for me and so many of my clients and students.
And then tragedy struck…
You see, only five days after our wedding, in the midst of our amazing trip to South Africa, we received a call from home with heartbreaking news: my mother had suddenly passed away. My grief was—and still is—quite profound. Shifting from being on our honeymoon to planning my mother’s funeral was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. It was in the midst of that planning, that I became acutely aware of how grateful I was that I designed my life to live from my values and standards!
I took comfort in knowing I had been there with my family – that my Mom knew how much I love her, and that we had shared the most important moments together. In the face of this tragic loss, the life I designed was structured to support me in my grief and ensured that I could facilitate my own self-care, while also being present with my family during this incredibly emotional time. I learned firsthand that living a designed life enables you to respond to life’s circumstances and challenges with grace and ease instead of stress and worry.
In the process, I reignited my commitment to share Design Your Life with the world. My mom’s passing reminded me that everyone deserves to live a life where they are fully supported and able to make choices based on what matters most to them and I owe it to a world where so many are struggling to find meaning, contribution and happiness to share my process and empower people to choose what matters most to them!
I know that you can either live a life you design or live the life someone else designs for you. When you live someone else’s design for your life, you rarely get the time you want with your family or to do the things you feel called to do. You often end up incredibly frustrated and feel like you have given up on your dreams. You may not have the kind of support system, and meaningful relationships that can withstand when your own tragedy appears. I know first hand that facebook friends are nice but when tragedy strikes you need those you know, love and trust to surround you and care for you in the way YOU need to be cared for.
That’s why I wrote my new book, Design Your Life: How to Create a Meaningful Life, Advance Your Career, and Live Your Dreams – because I know the power of this process – I know that you can live your designed life and be free to create exactly what you want – regardless of your circumstances. That’s what’s in my new book – the proven process that will empower you to take the reigns in your own life. I am committed that everyone experience the power of living this kind of life – the book will be available world wide via Amazon on July 18th – I look forward to hearing your success story!
Continue to live your designed life!
Cornelia
