A well-designed life is a life that makes sense. It’s a life in which who you are, what you believe, and what you do all line up together. – Burnett & Evans
Have you ever read a book or stumbled on a concept that lit you up and set your whole being to vibrating? That is how I felt when I discovered Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans. In the book, Burnett & Evans teach you how to apply design thinking to build your way forward rather than think your way forward.
So many of us get stuck in patterns, habits, jobs and relationships we don’t love because we think we need to know exactly how to change things before we begin to take action. But Life Designers don’t wait for the answers. They understand that there isn’t just one perfect path forward; there are a myriad of possibilities in front of us and we find our joy, our happiness, our peace when we allow ourselves to start experimenting and playing with all of that possibility.
Life Designers get Curious, they start noticing. Noticing what feeds their energy and what drains them. What makes them fall into a flow state. What people, places and things feel like home, joy, pain, pleasure.
Life Designers have a Bias to Action; they don’t wait for the perfect solution, they start experimenting. They aren’t afraid to fail forward. They design small experiments to “test the waters”, then they take what they learned, refine, iterate, or pivot, and take another small action towards that more fulfilling, joyful, contended, wonder-filled life they’re building.
Life Designers know how to Reframe. They learn to turn dysfunctional beliefs on their heads and how to view problems and challenges through different lenses. They start asking questions like “What if I…?” and “How might I…?” Instead of getting stuck in “I’m not experienced enough to get that promotion” they ask “How might I get the experience I need to get promoted”.
Life Designers welcome Radical Collaboration. They understand that we aren’t in this life alone and that often the best answers come from other people. When you learn to ask for help, and invite others in to share their ideas, experience and expertise, an abundance of possibilities you were previously blind to unfold.
Through the lessons and exercises in this book, you’ll learn how to build your unique, well-designed true flow life. A life that makes sense to you, is aligned with your values, and finally feels like home. There are no mistakes, only experiments and informative experiences. When you become a Life Designer, every action you take, every challenge you face, every choice you make is simply one more colorful thread in the beautiful tapestry of the life you are designing.
