You have stumbled upon the concept of Life Design, but you are not quite sure if it is related to the stars, the design of products, the circle of life from the Lion King movies or some other kind of mumbo jumbo?
Let´s take a stroll down the path of Life Design.
Picture this: it's a sunny Friday, and you bump into an old classmate.
He flashes a grin and asks, "Hey, long time no see! How's life treating you?"
Your mind whirls back to your rollercoaster of a week:
Chugging endless coffee to battle a 6-month insomnia streak
Navigating through email marathons, thank God ChatGPT is there for you!
Keeping your cool during fruitless meetings, (at least with camera off during COVID)
Missing your gym dates twice because of late-night client emergencies.
Your daily to-do list has long time ago outgrown your job description.
To top it off, your career was always your priority, but the salary isn't quite the sweetener for the bitter taste of meaninglessness. You are heading home on this Friday night with no plans. You're past your 20s, single but too busy to mingle. Life's become a hot mess.
You decide to deal with it later...until you meet good old Charlie, the king of silly questions.
"Charlie, life's a blast! I scored a big promotion, our company's winning awards, and we're all about that work-life balance. No complaints here, adulting is awesome – I'm feeling super lucky!”
And that's how 99% of us slam the door on change - 52% confidently embrace burnout, 22% prefer the stress of unemployment, the rest - just feel miserably lost.
Fast forward three months. You're in your boss's office, handing in that resignation letter.
Insomnia's your new best friend.
Burnout's knocking at your door.
You don´t even want to bother your buddies.
You quietly quit, no fuss.
What would people say if they knew you failed to handle this, right?
Looking for a magical life pill? Keep searching.
Still stuck in resignation letter limbo or dealing with layoffs? Keep reading.
Life Design is for the brave souls who dare to look in the mirror and shake things up.
It may sound GRAND, but at its core, Life Design is like untangling your mind and tidying up your life's clutter. It's deep, messy, but it always works! Whether you do it in 5 or 30 days is up to you.
Does it change your real life? Well, that's on you - are you ready to walk the talk?
The process rolls through 4 phases: DISCOVER, DEFINE, DEVELOP, and TEST.
DISCOVER: Look in the mirror and find your dissatisfactions.
DEFINE: Brainstorm ideas and scenarios.
DEVELOP: Pick a direction and plan your next steps.
TEST: Check your ideas and resources in the real world.
You can jump around these phases but don't go backward.
You don't want to waste more time in three months for another 'quick fix' solution, right?
Let´s also debunk a few myths.
Life Design is not for dreamers, it's for doers who keep an eye on the future.
You don´t need a design degree to start where you are.
You don´t need a vacation to find inspiration (it would be nice, though!).
You don´t need a big change to give it a try.
All you need is a pinch of curiosity.
How do you know the process works? Life Design has deep roots in DESIGN THINKING, a standout concept in the world of innovation. It tackled "wicked problems" back in the '60s!
In the '80s, it got compared to architecture. In the '90s, IDEO, the innovation legends, made it mainstream. David Kelly founded d.school in 2000. In 2016, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans of Stanford Life Design Lab dropped the book "Designing Your Life," putting Life Design on the map. And just recently in 2022, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kernbach from the Life Design Lab at University of St. Gallen snagged an Impact Award.
So, it's scientifically legit, okay? No more excuses to delay your exciting future!
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