Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (with 7 concrete ideas)

Recently, I told you about the 5 books that made the biggest impression on me in 2023.

Many of you have asked about the book “Designing your life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

And I can understand. Isn’t it a main topic for all of us 😀

I’m also passionate about it, and I’ve already shared several books on the subject.

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (my summary here).
  In Habit N°2 (start with the end in mind), there’s a suggestion for writing your eulogy. I discovered it when I was 18, but found it hard to get into, until I found the next book…

• Living Forward, a proven plan to stop drifting and get the life you want de Michael Hyatt & Daniel Harkavy. (my summary here)
  The blueprint enabled me to put the exercise into practice. I’ve been doing it for about ten years. It changed my life.

• Hero On A Mission: A Path To A Meaningful Life By Donald Miller (my summary here). Another way of approaching it. Write or rewrite your story, choosing the character you want to play.

• How Will You Measure Your Life ? by Clayton M. Christensen (my summary here). Use proven leadership techniques in the corporate world to focus on what’s essential in your private life.

All these books (and many others) help us align ourselves, find meaning, and live our dreams, each in our own way.

We may all want the same things in life—a healthy and long life, work we enjoy and that matters, loving and meaningful relationships, and a hell of a lot of fun along the way—but how we think we’ll get them is very different.

(Italicized text comes directly from the book).

That’s what I loved about this book. It gives us another option. The techniques used by professional designers, the authors’ original profession, to live the life we want.

So let’s dive into “Designing Your Life.”

What’s the link between design and our lives?

What does a designer do?

He envisions and creates something that previously didn’t exist, which (at times) holds the power to alter the world.

What if we could do that with our lives? Using the mindset (curiosity, try stuff, reframe problems, awareness, collaboration) and tools of the profession. This is the interesting and successful aim of this book.

So what’s a well-designed life?

Everyone is responsible for finding their definition. But this is the authors’.

A well-designed life is a life that is generative—it is constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving, and there is always the possibility of surprise.

One of the “designer’s” states of mind is “change of perspective (reframe)”. It’s often used in the book.

A reframe is when we take new information about the problem, restate our point of view, and start thinking and prototyping again.

The book offers a reframe of our lives.

The biggest reframe is that your life can’t be perfectly planned, that there isn’t just one solution to your life, and that that’s a good thing.

And the authors continue the exercise of reframing throughout the book.
Each time, they take a “dysfunctional belief” and help us see it differently to create more options for ourselves.

I’m a great believer in this concept. I’m lucky enough to see it in practice with my coaching clients. Questions offer them an opportunity to see their worlds differently. And when they do, they never go back. Everything seems to get easier, and they make much faster progress toward their goals.

The 7 ideas that stuck with me the most

1/ Start where you are

It doesn’t matter where you are. Yesterday was the best day to start. And today’s second-best moment.

But where to start?

Design isn’t just about major life changes. It goes perfectly with small improvements.

The authors propose four dimensions and an exercise (below) to help you choose the right “problem” to “design”.

• Health
• Work
• Play
• Love

You can also download all the exercises with templates here .

2/Building a Compass

The difference between “designing” and becoming obsessive. That’s the “action”.

I don’t dwell on my problems over and over again without dealing with them…I take action. (my way of transforming my fears into energy)

Lifeview & Workview.

The authors help us define our Workview and a Lifeview. And then to find the inconsistencies. The goal is alignment.

We’re (often) looking for the same thing. But how you get there is completely different from one individual to the other.

A slight distinction that makes a big difference. The idea is not to replicate the success of others but to create our own. (A lack of intention can cost you dearly, even if you succeed).

An exercise to help us…👇

3/ Wayfinding work can be fun, too.

You’re not looking for a precise map, you’re looking for direction.

The authors suggest that we find clues in what we already do.

What energizes me? What engaged me?

It’s an exercise I’ve found in many experts on the subject.

• Marshall Goldsmith, in his book MOJO
• Dan Sullivan in his book ABC Model. (my summary of the idea here, point 4 of this blog)

The idea is to understand at a granular level what we like to do and what we don’t. Then to maximize the former and reduce the latter. (see exercise below👇)

I love summarizing a book (even though it takes a lot of time 🙂 ), but I like the layout part much less (preparing for the blog, etc.).

The more I understand this, the more I can find solutions. (delegation)

4/ What to do when we’re stuck?

With a blog called “Options To Grow”, I couldn’t agree more 🙂

I make better decisions when I’ve created several options for myself.

Bill and Dave suggest we use our creativity with MindMapping (see here, how I’ve been using this tool for years) to multiply ideas. They urge us to “never” choose the first choice.

A concept similar to a James Altucher routine. He’s been writing a list of 10 ideas every day for 20 years and reveals that he often finds the best ones between the 8th and 10th. It’s worth making our brain sweat 🙂. (discover the concept here)

5/ Design your life with 3 options

The authors suggest that, once we’ve covered a lot of ground with as many ideas as possible, we create 3 (possible) life options.

I was initially shocked by the idea. It flies in the face of another widespread concept (of which I’m a big fan). Choose ONE option and make it work.

I just experienced a live reframe shift 🙂

And I love that. To shake one of my beliefs. Because, once again, we can arrive at the same place in different ways.

When I decided to start coaching. I wondered.

What if I don’t like it anymore?
Could I go back to my previous life?

I called a recruiter who was following me at the time.

“What do you think? “

His response: “50% of companies will appreciate your background. 50% will disqualify you”.

He didn’t get too wet. 🙂

Reflecting on it, this view reduced my mental pressure. Even if I don’t succeed as an entrepreneur, I have other perfectly viable options.

Including financial independence.

An example of the tool proposed in the book to evaluate these 3 options. 👇

6/”Prototyping”. Test, test, test…

This is where pure design comes into its own.

“Prototyping”

The authors encourage us to “prototype” :

• Conversations: if you like a job, create opportunities to talk about it with the people who do it.
• Experiences: if you’re interested in a new career, create opportunities to spend time with someone who does it.

The authors don’t believe in the innate discovery of a passion.

Our experience suggests, similarly, that 80 percent of people of all ages don’t really know what they are passionate about.

But they believe in the process. Learning to “prototype” what seems interesting to you increases your chances of finding what you’re passionate about.

A bit like a child who tries out different sports before choosing one and never dropping it.

It’s also my experience with the career change to coaching. I’ve honed my passion with every experience…

• Those of you who have been following me since the blog’s inception know me as Mr.OTG (Mr Options To Grow, I could have been more creative, I admit 🙂 ).
• When I saw I liked it. I revealed my identity.
• My first readers asked me if I could coach them in their careers. I tested it, enjoyed, and went for it.
• I trained in different currents, which led me to launch a corporate coaching offer.

I sail from experience to experience, following one direction. And I have to admit. It’s interesting and exciting.

7/ Your dream job.

The authors devote two excellent chapters to finding your dream job.

They defend the idea of “searching differently.”

Why?

In fact, in the United States only 20 percent of all the jobs available are posted on the Internet—or posted anywhere, for that matter.”

The traditional method no longer works.

You have to search in the hidden job market.

The concept (of which I have long been a fan) consists of

• Connect with people in your network who do a job that interests you by taking an interest in them. (find out how this concept transformed my career).
• By focusing on their stories.
• Sometimes, inevitably, they’ll tell you about a hidden opportunity. But if they don’t, you can help them a little.

If they don’t start it for you, you can ask one question that will convert the conversation from getting their story to pursuing a job. The more I learn about XYZ Environmental and the more people I meet here, the more fascinating it becomes. I wonder, Allen, what steps would be involved in exploring how someone like me might become a part of this organization?”

In both cases, looking for a job is a numbers game. You can choose between the “traditional” method or the more proactive one described by the authors. The examples they give demonstrate the effectiveness of the second.

To some degree, it’s also a numbers game—the more connections you make, the more prototypes you run, the more opportunities will turn into offers. Consider the alternatives. Thirty-eight applications for zero offers. Fifty-six conversations for seven offers and a great professional network. Which approach do you like better? It’s your call.

Conclusion

But Dror, aren’t you tired of reading all these books?

Life is a process, not a result. The learning curve is endless.

• I left school at a young age to pursue a dream. Become a world karate champion. I didn’t succeed, but thanks to what I learned, I could…
  • Set up two businesses when I was 20.
  • In one of them, I learned about sales.
    • A job that allowed me to enter the corporate world as a salesman. Change careers 8 times. Going back to school. Gain senior management positions and emerge financially independent.
      • Today, these experiences enable me to coach top managers, executives, and entrepreneurs and to recreate a flourishing business.

Life is a process. You always get something out of it, even if you don’t succeed at the time.

Books are my best ally for learning and developing.

And this one is excellent.

I highly recommend it to you or the people around you.

Enjoy your reading.
Dror

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