5 steps to designing the life you want | Bill Burnett | TEDxStanford

Summary of "5 Steps to Designing the Life You Want" by Bill Burnett

Short Summary:

Bill Burnett, co-author of "Designing Your Life," introduces the concept of design thinking and its application to designing a fulfilling life. He argues that traditional approaches to life planning often fail because they rely on outdated beliefs and neglect the power of curiosity and experimentation. He outlines a five-step process based on design thinking principles, emphasizing the importance of connecting the dots between your values, beliefs, and actions, accepting limitations, exploring multiple life possibilities, prototyping your ideas, and making well-informed decisions. Burnett stresses that this process empowers individuals to create a meaningful and joyful life by embracing creativity and embracing the unknown.

Detailed Summary:

Section 1: Introduction and Reframing

Burnett introduces design thinking as a methodology for innovation, applicable to products, services, and most importantly, life itself.
He emphasizes the importance of curiosity and reframing problems, arguing that traditional approaches to life planning often focus on the wrong problems.
He introduces the concept of "growing into" your life, suggesting that we should embrace continuous learning and evolution instead of seeking a fixed destination.

Section 2: Dysfunctional Beliefs

Burnett identifies three common beliefs that hinder individuals from designing their ideal lives:
- "What's your passion?" This belief assumes everyone has a single, identifiable passion, which is not true for most people.
- "You should know by now." This belief creates unnecessary pressure to have a clear plan for the future, neglecting the fluidity of life.
- "Are you being the best possible version of you?" This belief implies a singular best version of oneself, neglecting the multitude of fulfilling lives one can live.

Section 3: Five Design Thinking Ideas

Connecting the Dots: Burnett emphasizes the importance of aligning your work view (your theory of work) with your life view (your meaning of life). This creates a sense of purpose and meaning.
Gravity Problems: These are problems you cannot change. The best approach is to accept them and decide how to work around them or move on.
Multiple Lives: Burnett encourages exploring multiple life possibilities, suggesting that most people have 7.5 good lives they could live. He encourages ideating three different life plans: your current life, a life without your current job, and a wild-card plan.
Prototyping: This involves testing your ideas through conversations with people living your desired future and through real-world experiences.
Choosing Well: Burnett emphasizes the importance of making well-informed decisions by gathering options, narrowing them down, and trusting your gut feeling. He also stresses the importance of letting go and moving on, as making decisions reversible can hinder happiness.

Section 4: Conclusion

Burnett summarizes the five design thinking ideas and emphasizes that they are practical and effective.
He shares anecdotal evidence of students who have successfully used these ideas to design fulfilling lives.
He concludes by encouraging the audience to embrace curiosity, talk to people, and try new things to design a joyful and well-lived life.

Notable Quotes:

"Designers love reframes."
"We say you start with curiosity and you lean into what you're curious about."
"No plan for your life will survive first contact with reality."
"You can't solve a problem you're not willing to have."
"The unattainable best is the enemy of all the available betters."
"The increase in meaning-making comes from connecting the dots."
"You only get one life, but it turns out it's not what you don't choose, it's what you choose in life that makes you happy."
"You want to make a good decision well."
"It's not about being lucky, it's about paying attention to what you're doing and keeping your peripheral vision open."
"You cannot choose well if you choose only from your rational mind."
"If you make decisions reversible, your chance of being happy goes down like 60 or 70 percent."
"Get curious, talk to people and try stuff, and you will design a well-lived and joyful life."