How often do we talk about our careers and lives as if they are tests we are either passing or failing? We’re haunted by the idea that there is one “right” answer, a single, perfect path we must find and follow, or risk getting it all wrong. This pressure to have it all figured out can be paralyzing. It keeps us stuck in jobs we’ve outgrown, afraid to explore new interests, and second-guessing our own intuition. It’s the feeling of being an actor in a play where you weren't involved in writing the script.
But what if we could change the metaphor entirely? What if, instead of a test with a single right answer, your life was a design project? This is the liberating and empowering premise of the book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Stanford design professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Drawing from the same principles they use to help create everything from innovative software to elegant products, they offer a framework for applying “design thinking” to the ultimate project: you.
As a career and transitions coach, I’ve seen how transformative this shift in perspective can be. It moves us from a place of passive anxiety to one of active, creative engagement. This book isn't a prescriptive manual that promises a one-size-fits-all solution. On the contrary, it’s a toolkit filled with practical, thought-provoking exercises designed to help you become a more curious and intentional designer of your own future. It’s about building a life that is not just successful on the outside, but coherent and joyful on the inside.
Over the next three articles, I will be exploring the core concepts of this powerful book. My goal is to grapple with the key insights and actionable takeaways. We will explore what it means to adopt a designer’s mindset, how to generate multiple "what if?" scenarios for your life, and the power of running small, low-risk "prototypes" to test out new possibilities before making any big leaps.
Think of this series as a tasting menu. There are so many interesting concepts to explore in the field of personal development and in case you missed it, I would love to draw your attention to Designing Your Life. I encourage you to approach these ideas with an open mind. Take what serves you, what resonates with where you are right now, and feel free to let the rest go. If a concept sounds interesting, I invite you to simply notice how it might show up in your life. This isn't about finding the answer, but about learning how to ask better questions. Let’s dig in.
