Designing Your Life
5.0
10 min

Designing Your Life

by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

Brief Summary

“Designing Your Life” is a book about taking control of your career and personal satisfaction by designing your life. It emphasizes the importance of understanding your values and needs, as well as the four key areas of life: health, work, leisure, and love. The book provides actionable advice to help you achieve your goals and find fulfillment.

Key points

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Key idea 1 of 7

Unfortunately, many people do not feel happy for various reasons. Suppose you are satisfied with the profession you have chosen and everything in your personal life suits you. In that case, you are clearly one of the fortunate ones.

People often express dissatisfaction with their career choices. For example, in a survey of employed U.S. citizens, about 66 percent said they were unhappy with their jobs. After receiving their degree, they would convince themselves that this was the profession they wanted to pursue. They did not think whether they would actually enjoy their work. Thus, your diploma should not constrain your freedom of action since approximately 75% of graduates work in a field different from the one they studied. While you may have chosen a particular specialty in the past, it does not necessarily determine your future.

Statistics support the idea that we need a new life perspective to satisfy our needs and desires. For example, about 31 million Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 could make a career change that would help them feel more self-important, influence society, and, of course, have a sustainable income. However, the problem is that they don't know how to make this change. The truth is that anyone, regardless of age or profession, can design their own life and enjoy it greatly. By carefully planning your life, you can become more creative, fulfilled, and happier. You will have a sense of freedom that will allow you to change and grow in all aspects of your life, regardless of your age. Everything around you – houses, apartments, furnishings, chairs, computers – has been designed. So why not design your life as well?

01
While people are treading the path that everyone else has taken, you can pave your way to success
02
Outline the four most important aspects of your life and identify the problems you have
03
Don't be afraid to pursue a career that fulfills and satisfies you based on your vision of life and work
04
Never leave an activity that keeps you engaged and energized
05
Create a mind map with new ideas that will pull you out of gridlock
06
Don't get hung up on one single reality; consider alternatives and parallel courses of events
07
Final summary

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