Treat Your Life Like a Box of LEGOs
By: Silas Mahner
Tags: Personal Development, Creators, Self Improvement, Lego, Character Development

I was raised Catholic, and through the Church, I learned the foundations and importance of personal development. As a Catholic, I hold to the belief that God created us in His image and likeness. I reason that because God is The Creator, and we are in His image, we, therefore, must have the ability to ‘create’ within the boundaries of Creations. In other words, God created the Lego box — and all the Bricks inside — and we create our own Lego Set using those Bricks. You are the creator and the bricks you chose lead to the end result; to your completed Lego Set. If you can fully embrace the idea that you are the creator of your own life, you will surely achieve greatness.

Once you realize you are the creator of your life, then you can begin. Without this fundamental belief, you will always resort to blaming outside circumstances. Look at the many people around us who inspire us daily. Sports stars, music stars, family members, business men and women, innovators, and influencers in general. Many of these fantastic men and women were born into awful circumstances and went through hardships that none of us could begin to imagine, yet they have achieved such great things. In my estimation, we all have that potential. However, many of us either are or know people who are, willing to blame their faults and shortcomings on their circumstances. This behavior results in mistreatment of those around us, divorce, suicide, and so many other negative things.

“Take responsibility and initiative for yourself. Stop blaming your circumstances on what you are able to change” ~ Sonya Teclai

Becoming the person you want to be is just like building a Lego set. First, you must identify the bricks at your disposal. Second, you must decide what you want to build based on those bricks. And thirdly, you must meticulously choose those bricks which will result in your desired Lego Set.

Let’s break down each area a bit more.

1. Identify the bricks at your disposal

Everything in our life is a brick. The friends we associate with, the music we listen to, the books we read, the actions we take, the lifestyle we choose to live, the habits we develop, the people we look up to, the goals we set. All of these things are bricks that contribute to our Lego set. Constantly recognize all of the bricks that are already contributing, and that that could be contributing to your Lego set so you can decide what to do with them. Which brings us to the next step.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

2. Decide what you want to build

Now that you have decided to be the creator of your Lego set, and know what bricks are already part of your set, and what you have at your disposal, you need to decide what you are going to build.

This is usually the hardest part because there are so many bricks to choose from, and often the current set is off to a rough start. Before you set out to decide what you will build you need to accept a few things. Firstly, what you want to build will likely evolve along the way so don’t get stressed about getting it perfect right off the bat. Secondly, personality traits, habits, etc, are all malleable. You can change which bricks you use along the way if you head in a direction that you are not happy with. Thirdly, you can’t build the entire set at once. Your personal development isn’t something that can be defined in one single item. Your personal development is like your very own Lego City which you build over the course of your life.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

To get a rough idea of what you want to build, identify the key sections/areas that are important to you. Choose your main bricks that will serve as the foundation which you build Lego Set on. Having these main areas defined they will serve as a sort of compass for hashing out the details as you go.

Because it’s not possible to fully set out all the details of what you will build initially, while on your journey, you need to set aside time to take a step back and look at how things are coming along. This allows you to see mistakes that you’ve made in choosing the individual bricks so you can correct the course.

Once you understand the basic structure of where you want to start and have planned ahead for times to step back, you can begin to build.

3. Choose your bricks

This part is by no means easy, but if you stick close to the main areas of importance to you this will be mostly instinctual. Those main bricks you choose will be fundamental, and you should spend time adding those main bricks every day because they will make it easier to add the other bricks along the way.

Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash

Remember, there may be bricks in your Lego set that you didn’t consciously place there, but that’s the exciting part; you can either use them to your advantage or remove them and replace them with bricks that are more important/advantageous to you. I highly recommend paying attention to the people around you and seeing how they build their Lego sets. Good or bad, they can teach you a lesson that can then be used to your advantage.

If you are interested in how to implement what you have learned through habits I talk about something similar in this, 3 Practical Steps to Turn Your Dreams Into Reality.

Today is your day. Begin creating your Lego Set.