Why you should design your life (and how to do it)
Why you should design your life (and how to do it)
Do you ever feel like you’re just going through the motions, unsure of what you really want or how to get there? Do you ever wonder what your purpose in life is or feel like something is missing? Many people struggle with these questions, but the good news is that it’s never too late to start figuring out your life. In this video and article you’ll learn why it’s important to have direction in your life and steps that you can take to start taking your life to the next level.
1. Provides a sense of meaning and fulfillment
Having a clear sense of purpose and direction in your life can provide a deep sense of meaning and fulfillment. When you know what you want to achieve and why it’s important to you, you can start moving towards pursuing those goals.
2. Helps with decision-making
When you know what you want to achieve and what’s important to you, it becomes easier to make choices that align with your values and goals. Without a clear sense of purpose and direction, it can be challenging to make decisions that support your long-term goals and aspirations.
3. Increase motivation and focus
When you have a clear goal in mind and a reason for pursuing it, you’re more likely to be motivated to take action and make progress towards achieving that goal.
4. Enables personal growth and development
With a goal or vision for what you want to achieve, it will help you develop a framework for growth. In pursuing your goals, you may encounter challenges and obstacles that require you to learn new skills or acquire new knowledge.
Use the book Design Your Life
The book’s central message is that life is a design problem, and that just as designers create products to solve problems, people can use design thinking to create a life they love. It talks about the importance of re-framing problems as opportunities and using curiosity to explore multiple possible solutions. While there are several exercises to apply design thinking to your life, here is a breakdown of one of the key exercises in the book by developing what’s known as The Odyssey Plan.
Step 1 Brainstorm
Brainstorm a list of possible futures for yourself. This can include different career paths, personal goals, or lifestyle changes. What do you want your life to look like? Take out a sheet of paper and start writing down what’s important to you.
Step 2 Create three different Odyssey Plans
Each of which represents a different path you could take in the next five years. Each Odyssey Plan should include a title, a brief description, and a set of milestones or goals you would need to achieve to make that plan a reality. These can be vastly different from one another. For example, in one you might have a plan to become a well known author. The 2nd could be to become a YouTuber.
Finally, maybe it’s to stay at your current job… What are goals that you would be chasing after with each career path that you’re moving towards?
Step 3 Test each of your Odyssey Plans
Try out different experiences to get a sense of what each plan might really be like. Try interviewing people that are doing what you want to do. Ask them questions and try to offer a helping hand to learn the basics of the industry.
After prototyping and testing each of your Odyssey Plans, you can choose the one that feels most promising and aligns best with your values and goals. I would highly recommend picking up the book because it offers useful templates to guide the process. You can find a link down in the description of the video.
When is enough going to be enough? If you’re unsatisfied with your life you need to start making a change in order for your life to change.
