TPE #93: Design Your Dream Life With “Life Audits”

Read time: 3 minutes

What’s up, Miles here with a special issue of The PPC Edge.

Today, I don’t have an advanced Google Ads tip as usual…

Instead, I want to share something else that’s super valuable: Life Audits.

It’s the 5-step framework I use to build my dream life with intention (the same one I’ve used to go from broke college graduate in 2017 to being voted #12th most influential PPC Expert in 2024).

Here’s what I’ll cover today:

1. How Life Audits changed my life.
2. My 5-step Life Audit process.
3. Use my 22-page workbook so you can do your own Life Audits.

Up until now, I’ve only shared this with members of The PPC Hub.

I hope you’ll use Life Audits to build your dream life with intention (whatever that means for you).

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

1: How Life Audits changed my life (a tool you can use to build your dream life with intention).

Let me tell you a story. Not to flex, but to show you the power of Life Audits. It gets tactical after!

Ever since I was a little boy, I knew I wanted to be free and live life on my terms and not on someone else’s (true story: the nannies at daycare called me “Mister Freedom” when I was only 2-3 years old).

The problem: I just didn’t know how to make it happen.

Until February 2017, when my father gifted me a book that changed my life forever:

Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans.

After graduating from college, my girlfriend and I traveled around South-East Asia.

Here’s a pic of 23-year-old Miles devouring Designing Your Life at a swimming pool in Vietnam (somewhere around March 2017):

This book introduced me to the concept of “Life Design”: intentionally auditing, thinking about, and building the life of your dreams.

It opened my eyes to what’s possible when you take a step back and envision the life you want to live.

By being proactive instead of reactive.

It was exactly what I needed.

You see, I dreaded the idea of not being free and working a 9-to-5 for the rest of my life.

(I have nothing against people working a 9-to-5 job, but it’s just not suitable for me. If you have a 9-to-5 job and you love it, all the power to you!)

I was constantly asking myself and thinking about:

• What do I want out of life?
• What do I need to do to make that happen?

I ended up working at a 9-to-5 agency job for 2.5 years, but I did it with intention. I worked there, so I could learn the skills (and get paid in the process) I needed to start my own business down the road.)

If I had to start over, I would follow the exact same route.

The most important thing is that I did it with intention and purpose: I soaked up as much knowledge as I could in 2.5 years — after which I started my freelance business.

All by design.

And 2 years later, I founded PPC Mastery with Bob, and have since helped thousands of Google Ads Specialists with advanced training programs (and was even voted #12th most influential PPC Expert of 2024).

This has allowed me to travel the world while working from my laptop, secure my financial independence, and support my family when needed.

Every day, I get closer to living my ideal life, because I work on it with intention.

You can do anything you set your mind to — my story proves it.

I shared this story because it shows you the power of Life Design.

Throughout my wild journey, periodical Life Audits have kept me sharp and focused on my bigger dreams and goals.

Let’s dive into my 5-step Life Audit process so you can sue it for yourself!

2: My 5-step Life Audit process.

The Life Audit is a tool you can use to design your life with intention.

You’ll take a step back and reflect on your life (with a series of questions and prompts):

• Are you happy with where you are in life?
• What’s the ideal life you want to live?
• Are you living your ideal life or is there a disconnect between your current and desired situation?
• Who do you need to become to live your ideal life (and how will you make that happen)?
• What should you do to get closer to living your ideal life?

You’ll uncover:

1. What your current life looks like.
2. What your desired life looks like.
3. The gaps between your current and desired life.
4. How to bridge those gaps to get closer to your desired life.

It’s pretty simple and not complicated.

It just requires you to put in the work.

Here’s a pic of a Life Audit I did recently (I love to do this in an inspiring location with nothing more than green tea, a pen, and a piece of paper.

The problem is that most people never take the time to audit their life.

And as a result, they go with the motions and issues of daily life.

With a Life Audit, you identify what’s actually important to you.

Here’s my simple 5-step Life Audit process:

1. Reflect.
2. Dream.
3. Set Goals.
4. Define & Take Action.
5. Review & Refine.

If you follow this process (there’s a detailed breakdown of each step in the workbook below), you will have total clarity on how to make adjustments so you live life according to YOUR standards, not anyone else’s.

3: Use my Life Audit Workbook to design your life with intention.

I created a workbook you can use to do your own Life Audits (download it here for free).

I do an extensive Life Audit AT LEAST once per quarter — but I recommend you to look at your goals and dreams every single day so you don’t lose focus on what’s truly important.

Here’s my call to action for you today:

1. Download the Life Audit Workbook.
2. Schedule your Life Audit (set a date now).
3. Take 4 hours to deeply think about your dream life.
4. Make adjustments and take action to make it come true.

Done? Send me a DM or tag me on LinkedIn — I’d love to see what you make of it!

Good luck with your Life Audits — I wish you nothing but the best.

I’ll be back with regular advanced Google Ads tips in next Monday’s issue of The PPC Edge.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

Cheers,

Miles (& Bob)