Why am I here?
What am I doing?
Why does it matter?
What is my purpose?
What's the point of it all?
By training yourself to think like a designer, you'll be able to figure out the answers.
This week I read the book Designing Your Life: How To Build A Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. I highly recommend this book as the Holiday Gift you can give to everyone and anyone.
Start investigating design thinking by watching the video above and listening to Bill and Dave on the Diane Rehm Show.
My favorite parts of the book:
I loved all the reframes! For example:
Dysfunctional Belief: To be happy, I have to make the right choice. Reframe: There is not right choice - only good choosing.
Dysfunctional Belief: I need to figure out my best possible life, make a plan, and then execute it. Reframe: There are multiple great lives (and plans) within me, and I get to choose which one to build my way forward.
Dysfunctional Belief: I should know where I'm going! Reframe: I won't always know where I'm going - but I can always know whether I'm going in the right direction.
Dysfunctional Belief: Life is a finite game, with winners and losers. Reframe: Life is an infinite game, with no winners or losers.
I loved the idea of Wayfinding.
Wayfinding is the ancient art of figuring out where you are going when you don't actually know your destination. For wayfinding, you need a compass and you need a direction. Not a map - a direction.
In this book you will be introduced to five things you need to do - the five mind-sets you will need to move forward:
- be curious (curiosity)
- try stuff (bias to action)
- reframe problems (reframing)
- know it's a process (awareness)
- ask for help (radical collaboration)
You'll be so glad you read this book. Check out the NewYorkTimes article on thinking like a designer. Then, head over to the Design Your Life website. Watch this vimeo and this vimeo.
Start design thinking, and build your way forward.
