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5 Steps to Designing the Life You Want by Bill Burnett

Original​

Dysfunctional Beliefs to Reframe​

Burnett encourages reframing common limiting beliefs:

  • "What's your passion?" Less than 20% of people have one singular, identifiable passion. It's not a useful organising principle for design. The reframe is to be curious and lean into what you're interested in.
  • "You should know by now." This idea that you're "late" is unhelpful. People's lives are more fluid between the ages of 22 and 35. The reframe is: "You're not late for anything." Start from where you are.
  • "Are you being the best possible version of you?" The idea that there is one singular "best" is a trap. The reframe is: "The unattainable best is the enemy of all the available betters" . There are many versions of a well-designed life.

The Five Ideas from Design Thinking​

  1. Connecting the Dots (Finding Meaning): To experience life as meaningful, you must connect three things: who you are, what you believe, and what you are doing in the world. To do this, you write two views:
    • Work View: Your theory of work—why do you work, and what is it in service of?
    • Life View: The big picture—what is the meaning of life, and what is your view of the world?,
  2. Stay Away from Gravity Problems: A "gravity problem" is something you cannot change (e.g., your family name is not on the door of the family business, so you cannot be president). You cannot solve a problem you are not willing to have . The only thing to do with gravity problems is to accept the circumstance and then decide how to work within it or choose a different path.
  3. Do Three Plans (Odyssey Plans): Since you have more than one potential life in you, ideate and brainstorm three possible lives (Odyssey Plans) to ensure a wider range of ideas:
    • Plan 1 (Current Life): Your current career, but made better, plus your bucket list items
    • Plan 2 (The Backup): What you would do if your current job disappeared (e.g., the robots took it).
    • Plan 3 (The Wildcard): What you would do if money wasn't an issue and you didn't care what people thought.
  4. Prototype Everything: Before jumping into a new life, test it. Prototyping is a low-bar way to ask an interesting question, expose assumptions, and sneak up on the future. There are two types:
    • Prototype Conversation: Talk to people who are already living the life you are considering (e.g., the bartender in Belize).
    • Prototype Experience: Try out the experience physically, such as sitting in on a class if you are considering going back to school.
  5. Choose Well (Irreversible Decisions): A good choice is made by combining rational thought with your "gut feeling". To ensure happiness after a choice, you must make the decision irreversible. Research shows that people who are forced to stick with their choice (no option to return or swap) are significantly happier with their decision than those who leave the option open.