Designing Your Life - How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

Stanford University via YouTube

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Explore design thinking principles to build a well-lived, joyful life in this Stanford webinar presented by Bill Burnett, Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford University. Learn strategies to apply design thinking to your life, methods for aligning your "life" views with your "work" views, and tools to understand what gives you energy and what drains you. Discover how to reframe ideas that are holding you back and apply proven design-thinking principles like prototyping and bias-for-action to answer the question "What should I do with the rest of my life?" The webinar covers topics such as finding your passion, understanding flow, building your way through challenges, and exploring the relationship between money and happiness. Gain insights from Burnett's experience in start-ups, Fortune 100 companies, and his work at Stanford's d.school to apply innovative problem-solving techniques to personal and professional development.

Syllabus

Intro
Design Thinking
Design Your Life Lab
About Designing Your Life
Whats Your Passion
Design Thinking Model
Flow
The Flow Zone
Finding Yourself in Your Career
Flow Journal
Energy
Engagement Energy
Gravity Problems
Accept
The future is unknowable
Building your way
cautionary stories
Im stuck
Do I want this
What is possible
Narrative residence
Takeaways
Questions
Money
Money and Happiness
Feedback and Testing

Taught by

Stanford Online

Reviews

4.6 rating, based on 7 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Designing Your Life - How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

Syed Muzafar @Syed91

Taking the "Designing Your Life" course has been an incredibly transformative experience. This course is not just about career planning or personal development—it’s a holistic approach to rethinking how we live, work, and find joy in the everyday.…

Taking the "Designing Your Life" course has been an incredibly transformative experience. This course is not just about career planning or personal development—it’s a holistic approach to rethinking how we live, work, and find joy in the everyday.

The course seamlessly combines practical exercises, insightful reflections, and powerful frameworks that help you navigate life with purpose and clarity. It’s engaging, thought-provoking, and above all, actionable. The instructors presented the content in a way that was both accessible and inspiring, making it easy to connect with the material and apply it to real-life scenarios.

One of the highlights for me was learning how to prototype different life paths and approach decision-making with a designer’s mindset—experimenting, learning, and adapting along the way. The emphasis on embracing failure as part of the growth process was especially empowering.

I highly recommend this course to anyone seeking to align their life with their values and aspirations. Whether you're at a crossroads or simply looking to bring more joy and fulfillment into your daily life, this course is a game-changer. It’s a toolkit for designing a life you truly love, and I’m grateful to have been part of this journey.
Gio Esprit25

I recently completed the "Designing Your Life" course, and it was a truly insightful experience. The course is well-structured and engaging, focusing on applying design thinking principles to life and career decisions. It presents practical tools li…

I recently completed the "Designing Your Life" course, and it was a truly insightful experience. The course is well-structured and engaging, focusing on applying design thinking principles to life and career decisions. It presents practical tools like mind mapping, prototyping, and reframing, making self-reflection and planning much more approachable.

What I appreciated most was the emphasis on exploration and experimentation—encouraging you to try things out rather than waiting for the "perfect" plan. The exercises helped me clarify my values, identify possible life paths, and take actionable steps toward a more meaningful and joyful life.

Overall, I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to create positive change and navigate life's uncertainties with more confidence and creativity.
Divya Kumari Pandey

It's really amazing it's best and easy to understand and make decisions it's show journey of life and our thoughts process with flow what changes we face this video helps alot.
MAYANK HITENDRABHAI PARMAR

This course is good how improve your decision making skill and how to handle your stress how to do better yourself.
So , thanks
Bongalos, Jeffrey R.

it's good and I have learn a lot about self. good speaker. thank you for this opportunity to learn a lot from you specially from the speaker.
Amanda Santos Estevam

O curso foi ministrado por professores altamente qualificados e experientes, que apresentaram o conteúdo de forma clara e objetiva.
Jalalsalehi

Everything is ok but
The voice isn't perfect
The issue was new and creativity
Designing Your Life - How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life