“Most people believe they need to have something first, like money or success, before they can do certain things and be who they want to be. The Be-Do-Have model flips that thinking: it teaches that we must first choose who we want to be, which then determines what we do, which ultimately creates what we have.” —Matt Cooke, author of Beyond Wanting

The rituals you look forward to waking up to savoring each morning, whether it is Monday or Saturday.

The conscious, yet habituated practice of noticing and extending gratitude for what brings a smile.

The self-narrator in your head that accompanies your routine offering encouragement, calm, reflection, and trust (this latter point, self-trust, will be explored in-depth on Wednesday in episode #414).

Living, the act of engaging fully in life, to do so simply luxuriously, is to put into practice all of the skills we’ve chosen to learn – savoring, being fully present, appreciating, being compassionate, being courageous, living mindfully (all are detailed here on the Start Here page under the “foundations of living simply luxuriously”) – each taught in-depth in TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass.

Manifestation coach Matt Cooke discusses this Be-Do-Have model to remind us that if we want our lives to change our life, our energy, and thus our focus, is not in the present. So long as our attention isn’t on the life we have right here, right now – because we are wanting something we do not yet have, we will not bring forth the changes we seek. Because we are wanting, we are not appreciating, or know how to be appreciative of all that is part of our life at this moment; therefore, we cannot be trusted to appreciate what we say we want in the future.

Put another way, we have the life we live now because of how we are living and have lived up until this moment. There is no secret potion that brought us to this moment, and poof, we arrived. Instead, our mindset, our actions, the energy we put out into the world, have given us the result we live with currently.

How we make the changes to bring about the reality we desire is to strengthen our awareness, noting where and how it would be beneficial to grow, to heal, and to understand our mind, to work with it, being the driver of it, rather being led by it. To choose to become conscious of what we need to heal, understand and improve, that is the “Be”.

The “Do” in this model encompasses all the skills shared above, both in the detailed listing that began the post and in the skills outlined on the Start Here page.

• BE = focusing on how you would like to change – traits, mindsets and energy
• DO = identifying and then actively engaging in the actions and habits that bring you closer to your dreams

The first two steps of this model are what each of us can choose to do in our life right now. We don’t have to have anything else change except how we think, how we tend to our energy, and express it out into the world (think karma, which is simply what you put out into the world).

Following the clarity of how and why we are shifting in each of those areas, we start acting (not pretending, but taking action – doing) in the manner that your future self would, in the dream scenario. For example, if you want to be financially free, instead of wanting to be financially free, start making decisions and spending and saving your money as someone who is financially free would do. If you want more love in your life, start to be loving in all that you do. Remember that the guiding tenet of Buddhism is to engage with loving-kindness and integrity in all that we do, with others and ourselves.

By BEING and DOING what our future self would do, we stop wanting, which is what was preventing us from bringing to fruition the life we desire. How, you may be asking? When we ‘want’, we embody the energy of lack. So long as we consciously or unconsciously think we are lacking, “the universe vibrates with [that lacking] energy, and our thoughts play a pivotal role in shaping our external reality.”

“Every thought you think, emotion you feel, action you take, and belief you hold is constantly shaping your external world.”

Unconsciously or consciously, all that exists in your life right now came about due to the energy you put out into the world to encourage and support it into existence.

Living simply luxuriously, a life grounded in contentment, is all about living consciously, living with intention.

Applying awareness, we begin to see how to improve Being, what actions and choices we need to change in our Doing. This is a necessary assessment to discover where we may be dampening the needed flow toward creating the change we seek. Following this thoughtful reflection, now how to Be so that it embodies what our future self would do, now we know what to do to exhibit the actions and behaviors of our future self – we are now living consciously in our everyday helping to nourish whatever we focus on into materializing (or as some call it, manifesting).

Let’s take a look at the last part of the model – HAVE.

Because we are consciously BEING and DOING as our future self would do, we now HAVE what we need to cultivate the life that will align with those choices. We are no longer expending our finite energy on wanting, worrying, and feeling like we’re not enough or don’t have enough. The muscles we need to live the life we are dreaming about are being strengthened. At some future moment, entirely outside our purview of knowing, opportunities will start to align, and synchronicities will occur that your old self would have seen as coincidences or dismissed and not appreciated altogether. However, your new self, who is engaging with everyday life differently, knows better. You now know this is not an accident, and you appreciate, savor, and embrace them.

Serendipity begins to be a regular part of your journey. You do not expect it, you don’t even hope for it, but because you are fully present and savoring the life you have right now, a core component of how we live simply luxuriously, we notice gifts that are made for us, and we don’t ignore or dismiss them out of fear of the unknown.

At first, it may seem daunting or impossible that such grand changes that we have dreamed about could be possible by embracing these simple changes in our daily life, but this is why we savor everything that is an opportunity, no matter how small. It all adds up, and eventually, five years down the road, you reflect on your life and realize how much it has changed, and none of it by accident, but rather due to your intention which involved Being, Doing, then Having.

I often reflect on this truth as I look back on my life journey, which began with clear intention in 2009, continuing onto 2015, and then into 2021, and finally, leading me to our current moment. While I didn’t have Matt Cooke’s model Be-Do-Have in my mind, I did know that to live the life I envisioned for myself – be a full-time writer, live in Bend, find my forever cottage home, and most importantly, honor my energy of quiet, solitude, and being surrounded by Mother Nature for nourishment so I could share with the world what I could uniquely give, it began with one step at a time. Each step was taken without promise or guarantee, but I knew it was at least putting me in a position where my intention could materialize. Yes, it took over a decade for my vision to materialize. Still, for my unique journey, it had to happen along that timeline due to both what I had yet to learn and when the world could offer what I had envisioned, while I was also aware enough to know to seize it. Each of our journeys’ lengths will be different, but we can progress each day, each month, each year.

Today, I encourage you to write down what change you are dreaming about and wanting to bring into your life. Acknowledge that the ‘wanting’ is slowing you down, perhaps even preventing your progress, and start implementing this three-step process of Be-Do-Have for your unique life journey. Not only will you find yourself on a path that aligns with your strengths and gifts, but you will also deeply enjoy every day traveling along that journey. This is how living simply luxuriously – savoring the everydays just as much as the highlight days of our lives – invites our dreams to come true.

May your journey commence, continue, and be beyond what you might have thought was possible. Because it absolutely is.

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https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/online-courses/~Learn more about TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass here (the detailed syllabus, trailer, Shannon’s background, testimonials and more).