In a world that often pressures us towards a singular, pre-defined career path, the idea of "designing your life" can feel both liberating and a little daunting. For many of us, the traditional approach to career planning—figure out your passion, get the right degree, and climb the ladder—can lead to dissatisfaction, burnout, or a sense of being stuck. What if there was a different way? What if, instead of waiting for inspiration to strike or for a perfect opportunity to land in your lap, you could actively design a life that works for you, right now? This is the powerful premise behind Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ influential book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life.
As a career and transitions coach, I often encounter clients who feel trapped by their circumstances or paralyzed by choice. They might be looking for a new direction, navigating a significant career change, or simply trying to find more meaning and satisfaction in their current roles. This book offers a refreshing, practical framework, drawing on principles from design thinking, to help individuals navigate these challenges. It’s not about finding the answer, but about developing a mindset and a set of tools to continuously prototype, iterate, and evolve your life. In this first article, we’ll dive into the foundational concepts that underpin this transformative approach, setting the stage for how you can begin to apply these ideas to your own career and life journey.
The Designer Mindset: Embrace Curiosity, Bias to Action, and Reframe Problems
At the heart of Designing Your Life is the invitation to adopt a "designer mindset." What does this mean? Think of how a product designer approaches a challenge: they don’t start with a definitive solution but with a problem to understand, a user to empathize with, and a series of experiments to run. Burnett and Evans translate this into several key principles applicable to life design:
Curiosity: Designers are inherently curious. They ask "What if?" and "Why not?" In the context of your life, this means being open to exploring different possibilities without judgment. Instead of shutting down ideas because they seem unrealistic, you allow yourself to imagine what could be. This involves curiosity about yourself – your interests, your values, your energy levels – and curiosity about the world around you – different industries, roles, and ways of living. For a client feeling stuck, cultivating curiosity is often the first step out of inertia. It shifts the focus from "I can't" to "How might I?"
Bias to Action (Prototyping): Designers don't just think; they build and test. This principle is perhaps one of the most liberating aspects of the book. Instead of spending years planning the "perfect" career change, the authors advocate for prototyping. This means taking small, low-risk actions to test out ideas. Want to explore a new field? Don't quit your job and go back to school immediately. Instead, interview someone in that field, volunteer for a project, or take a short online course. These "life prototypes" provide valuable real-world data and experience, helping you discern what truly resonates without significant investment or risk. This active experimentation replaces endless rumination with tangible learning.
Reframing Problems: When designers encounter a roadblock, they don't give up. Instead, they reframe the problem. If a door is closed, they ask if there’s a window or another entrance. In life design, this means shifting your perspective on challenges. Instead of asking "How do I get my dream job?" which can feel overwhelming, you might reframe it to "How can I explore roles that leverage my communication skills and offer opportunities for creative problem-solving?" Reframing allows you to move past seemingly insurmountable obstacles and uncover new avenues for exploration. It's about finding an actionable problem to work on, rather than getting stuck on an ill-defined or overly broad one.
Radical Collaboration: Designers often work in teams, seeking diverse perspectives and leveraging collective intelligence. In life design, this translates to engaging with others. Talk to people about their experiences, seek mentorship, and don't be afraid to ask for help or advice. Your network isn't just for job hunting; it's a rich source of insights, potential prototypes, and support. This principle challenges the myth of the lone genius, encouraging us to see life design as a collaborative journey.
Health Check: The Four Areas of Life and "Wayfinding"
Burnett and Evans introduce a practical tool for self-assessment: the "Health Check" Dashboard. This involves evaluating four key areas of your life on a simple scale (e.g., a dial from 0-100% full):
Work: This encompasses your primary job, but also any meaningful activities you engage in that feel productive or contribute to the world.
Play: Activities that bring you joy, energy, and a sense of effortless engagement. This isn't just about hobbies; it's about what truly recharges you.
Love: Your connections with family, friends, romantic partners, and community.
Health: Physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The goal isn't necessarily to have all dials at 100%, but to gain an awareness of where you might be out of balance. This visual assessment helps identify areas that need more attention or energy. For example, if your "Work" dial is low but "Play" is high, you might be excelling in hobbies but feeling unfulfilled professionally. This tool provides a baseline for understanding your current state and identifying potential areas for design intervention.
Closely related to the Health Check is the concept of "wayfinding." Just as a hiker uses landmarks and an internal compass to navigate a trail, you can use your interests and energy to navigate your life. The authors suggest paying attention to what you engage with, what drains you, and what energizes you. Where do you find yourself effortlessly flowing? Where do you feel a sense of engagement and curiosity? These are valuable clues for "wayfinding" your way towards a more fulfilling life.
Lifeview and Workview: Articulating Your Guiding Philosophies
One of the most profound exercises in Designing Your Life is the articulation of your "Lifeview" and "Workview." These are not static manifestos but evolving philosophies that guide your choices.
Workview: This is your perspective on what good work means. Why do you work? What is work for? What constitutes a life well-lived in the professional sphere? Is it about impact, creativity, financial stability, contribution, learning, or something else entirely? Many people have never consciously articulated their Workview, leading to a disconnect between what they do and what they believe.
Lifeview: This is your overarching philosophy of life. What gives life meaning? What is the purpose of it all? What is your relationship to community, spirituality, or the natural world? What are your core values? How do you define success and happiness?
The power of these two exercises comes from examining the coherence between your Workview and Lifeview. Do they align? Are there any contradictions? For instance, if your Lifeview emphasizes community and contribution, but your Workview is purely about individual financial gain, you might experience internal friction. Identifying these dissonances is crucial, as it often points to areas where redesign is needed to bring your actions and beliefs into greater harmony. This alignment is not about finding one perfect job, but about understanding what kinds of work and life choices will resonate with your deepest values.
Starting Your Design Journey
Designing Your Life offers a liberating perspective: your life is not a fixed destiny, but a design project. It encourages you to move from passive waiting to active creation, using the iterative, experimental tools of design thinking. By embracing curiosity, taking action through prototyping, reframing challenges, collaborating, and aligning your work with your deepest values, you can begin to craft a life that feels authentic and fulfilling.
In the next article, we’ll delve deeper into the practical tools and exercises from the book, exploring how to generate multiple "Odyssey Plans" for your future and the critical role of prototyping in testing those ideas. For now, I invite you to reflect on your own Workview and Lifeview – how coherent are they? And what is one small, curious step you could take this week to prototype an idea you've been considering?
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.
