In the previous article, we explored the foundational principles of Designing Your Life, focusing on adopting a designer mindset, conducting a life "health check," and articulating our Workview and Lifeview. These initial steps are about cultivating self-awareness and establishing a framework for innovation. But what happens when you’ve done the internal work and you're ready to start envisioning what's next? This is where the book truly shines, moving beyond introspection to practical ideation and experimentation.
One of the most common pitfalls I observe with clients is the pressure to find "the one" perfect career path or life plan. This singular focus often leads to anxiety, procrastination, and a fear of making the "wrong" choice. Burnett and Evans wisely challenge this paradigm, recognizing that life is rarely linear and that multiple fulfilling paths can exist simultaneously. Their solution? "Odyssey Plans." In this article, we’ll dive into how to generate these compelling alternative futures and, crucially, how to use the power of prototyping to test them out in the real world. This approach liberates us from the tyranny of the single choice, empowering us to explore a richer tapestry of possibilities.
Odyssey Plans: Designing Three Alternative Lives
The concept of "Odyssey Plans" is a cornerstone of the Designing Your Life methodology. Instead of trying to pinpoint your one true calling, the authors challenge you to articulate three distinct, viable five-year plans for your life. This isn't about being indecisive; it's about expanding your imagination and understanding that happiness and fulfillment can manifest in various forms. Each plan should be concrete, compelling, and different from the others.
Here's how to approach creating your Odyssey Plans:
Plan A – Your Current Path (Iteration): This is the life you are currently living, but with an intentional five-year projection. If your current trajectory continued, where would it lead you? What would you refine, improve, or expand upon within your existing career or life structure? This plan acknowledges your current reality and allows you to consider how you might optimize or evolve within it. It’s often about making your current "good" life "better."
Plan B – That Thing You'd Do If Plan A Were Suddenly Gone: This plan explores a completely different direction. If your current career or life path were no longer an option, what would you pursue? This is where you might explore that long-held dream, a dormant passion, or a completely new field that has piqued your interest. It’s a chance to consider a significant pivot, unconstrained by the "shoulds" or expectations tied to your current situation. This plan often reveals hidden desires or talents that aren't being fully utilized in Plan A.
Plan C – The Wild Card (The Life That Has Nothing to Do with What You Do): This is often the most fun and freeing plan to create. It's the life that isn't dependent on your current profession or any obvious extension of it. What would you do if money were no object (or if you had just enough to be comfortable), and you had all the resources and support you needed? This isn't about being irresponsible; it's about pushing the boundaries of your imagination. Perhaps it’s a sabbatical to travel the world and write, starting a non-profit, becoming a full-time artist, or dedicating yourself to community activism. This plan often unearths deep-seated values and desires that traditional career planning might overlook.
For each Odyssey Plan, Burnett and Evans suggest articulating:
A visual timeline: Map out key milestones, experiences, and achievements over the five years.
A dashboard of resources: What resources would you need for this plan (time, money, skills, connections)? Where would you get them?
A "Like/Dislike/Question" list: What excites you about this plan? What concerns you? What questions does it raise?
The goal isn't to commit to any of these plans, but to explore them with curiosity and equal enthusiasm. By visualizing multiple viable futures, you reduce the pressure on any single path and begin to see that there are many ways to build a well-lived life.
Prototyping: Testing Your Ideas in the Real World
Once you have your Odyssey Plans, the natural next question is: "Which one do I choose?" Burnett and Evans would counter with: "How about you don't choose, but test them?" This is where the crucial concept of "prototyping" comes in. As mentioned in the first article, prototyping means taking small, low-risk actions to gather information and experience about a potential idea. It's about building your way forward, rather than thinking your way forward.
There are two main types of prototypes the authors encourage:
Life Design Interviews: This is essentially informational interviewing with a purpose. Identify people who are living aspects of the lives you've imagined in your Odyssey Plans. If Plan B involves becoming an urban farmer, seek out urban farmers. If Plan C is about starting a non-profit, talk to non-profit founders. The goal isn't to ask for a job, but to hear their story:
What do they love about their work?
What are the challenges?
How did they get there?
What advice would they give to someone considering a similar path?
These interviews are invaluable. They provide firsthand accounts, unvarnished truths, and often reveal aspects of a path you hadn't considered. They can also connect you to further resources and people. The beauty of this approach is that it’s low commitment and high return.
Experience Prototypes: This involves directly experiencing a small slice of one of your Odyssey Plans. This could be:
Taking a class or workshop: Interested in coding? Take a weekend introductory course.
Volunteering: Explore a cause you care about by donating your time.
Shadowing someone: Spend a day observing someone in a role you're curious about.
Starting a small side project: If you dream of being an entrepreneur, launch a minimal viable product or offer a small service on the side.
A mini-sabbatical: Take a few days off to focus solely on a passion project or skill development.
The key is to make these experiences real and testable. Don't just fantasize; do. Experience prototypes allow you to gather empirical evidence about what truly energizes you, what skills you genuinely enjoy using, and what challenges you're willing to embrace. They help you answer questions like, "Do I really enjoy doing this, or just thinking about doing this?"
De-Selection and Iteration: Learning from Prototypes
Not every prototype will lead to a breakthrough, and that's perfectly okay – in fact, it’s part of the design process. Burnett and Evans emphasize that there's no such thing as a "failed" prototype; there are only prototypes that provide useful information.
De-selection: Sometimes, a prototype will reveal that a particular path isn't for you. This is a valuable outcome! It allows you to confidently cross that option off your list, saving you significant time and effort in the long run. Knowing what you don't want is just as important as knowing what you do want.
Iteration: Often, a prototype will provide insights that allow you to refine or modify one of your Odyssey Plans. You might discover a new aspect of an industry you hadn't considered, or realize that a certain skill is more appealing than you initially thought. This iterative process means your plans are constantly evolving based on real-world feedback.
The continuous cycle of ideation (Odyssey Plans) and experimentation (prototyping) fosters resilience and adaptability. It teaches you to embrace uncertainty and view challenges as opportunities for learning and growth.
Designing Your Next Chapter, One Experiment at a Time
The concepts of Odyssey Plans and prototyping are incredibly empowering for anyone navigating career and life transitions. They free us from the paralyzing quest for perfection and instead invite us into a playful, curious, and action-oriented exploration of possibilities. By consciously articulating multiple futures and then taking small, deliberate steps to test them, you gather valuable data about yourself and the world. You learn what truly resonates, what energizes you, and what paths might lead to your next joyful chapter.
In the final article, we will explore the critical role of choosing and persisting, how to overcome common design challenges, and the importance of building a supportive community as you continue to design your wonderfully unique life. For now, consider drafting your own three Odyssey Plans – and then identify one small prototype you could run this week to test an assumption or explore a new possibility within one of them. What’s one conversation you could have, or one small action you could take?
If any of these themes resonate with you, I strongly encourage you to read Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans for a richer understanding. Tailoring them for you and supplementing these concepts with personalized strategies and tools is where a coach comes in.
