As I sit here with waves literally crashing around me, I decided to scrap the original idea I had for this week’s post.

You're probably thinking, wait, you have waves crashing next to you? Are you on a boat?

Nope! Instead, I am 520 miles from home and I'm sitting on the beach in Jamaica staring at the Caribbean Sea.

I decided to scrap my original topic this week because instead, I wanted to talk to you about living life by design. Growing up, many of us are molded to attend school, go to college, get a job, and maybe even continue on to some higher level of education. What they don't tell us is that life is going to throw us curveballs and that maybe, following "the plan" isn't what is going to make you happy.

Personally, I followed the plan as closely as possible. In high school I had good grades, I was an athlete and Class President. I earned academic and athletic scholarships to go to Hofstra and became a Resident Assistant there for two and half years. Everything was awesome and those four years were some of the best times of my life.

So what was the curveball?

I was a finance major with an economics minor who was scheduled to graduate in May 2008. Remember those times? The times of economic downfall and ZERO jobs?

Being the resilient person that I am though I started taking multiple part-time jobs in golf. You name it, I did it. I was a beverage cart girl, I caddied, I ran junior golf tournaments, I coached, I was an assistant golf professional. The list goes on and on.

If you've read some of my previous articles you know that I am a health and wellness coach. Beachbody came into my life back in the winter of 2014 as did the coaching opportunity, and I added another part-time job into the mix. What's funny, though, is that I preferred it to showing up at the same place day-to-day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., something that so many of my friends did.

Some people didn't understand it, and some would make comments, but I believed that the judgment came from a place of jealousy. I may have been working 60-70 hours in the summer with hardly any days off, and I missed a lot of holidays, but I also was able to create a life where I basically had the winter off to live in South Florida from November until April. They may have loved their jobs, but there was a feeling of wanting more freedom like I had.

Last year when I wrote down my new year’s resolutions, one goal was to narrow my part-time jobs down to two. In June of 2016, I resigned from my golf coaching position and was able to check my resolution off my list. The reason I was able to do that because I had built my Beachbody business up, created a team of coaches, and was immersed in helping challengers. My entrepreneurial skills were creating a life by design, and I can do this job from ANYWHERE in the world- all a girl needs is some wifi!

Now, you may be thinking, why still have two jobs?

If I am being honest, it's because I really enjoy where I work. I love being around the membership, my boss is wonderful as is the staff I see each day. It's an excellent way for me to meet more people so I can encourage them to improve their health and well-being too.

What's great is that I have the flexibility to do this. If my husband were to get a job somewhere else in the country, I’m able to pack up and not miss a beat. It provides me with the freedom to travel, spend time with the ones I love the most, and one day maybe become a stay-at-home mom who can still provide a steady income for the family.

Even as I am down here in Jamaica, I have been communicating with my challengers. We have a Health Bet going on right now for the next four weeks. I check in on them to see how their workouts have been and if they need help with their nutrition. I email recipes, keep them accountable, and provide encouragement.

For me, there's nothing better than this and so I want to help and encourage you all to find your dream lifestyle and to live life by your own design. If you're not currently happy with your situation, write down what and where you want to be. Seeing it all laid out in front of you will help you start to build your map to get there. Yes, there will be difficult decisions but trust your gut, but don't worry about fitting into someone else's standards. Life is too short to be unhappy.

So, what makes YOU happy?

© Copyright Whatismyhealth, January 15th, 2017

(What makes you happy? Leave your comments below!)