5. The Designer's Mindset - The Only Limit Is Your Imagination!

What if you thought about your career less like a rigid plan to be executed and more like a creative project to be designed? What if, instead of trying to find the "perfect" answer, you could build small, fun experiments to test your way forward? This is the core idea behind Designing Your Life, a revolutionary framework that applies design thinking to career development.

Overview: Build, Test, Learn, Repeat 💡

Developed by Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, this approach starts with a simple premise: your life is not a problem to be solved, it's an experience to be created. Designers don't just sit and think their way to a great product; they get curious, talk to users, build prototypes, and learn from what works and what doesn't. Designing Your Life invites you to become the designer of your own career, using the same creative, action-oriented tools.

A Deeper Look: The Designer's Mindset

At the heart of this framework are five key mindsets that can help you get "unstuck":

1. Be Curious: Let go of judgment and approach your future with a sense of wonder and exploration.

2. Bias to Action (Try Stuff): Don't get lost in "analysis paralysis." You can't think your way to a new career. You have to do something. The goal is to build things and test them out in the real world.

3. Reframe Problems: When you're stuck, change the question. Instead of "How can I find a job that gives me meaning?", reframe it to "How can I run three small experiments about meaning in the next month?" Reframing opens up new solutions.

4. Know It's a Process: Life design is messy. There will be dead ends and surprises. Embrace the journey and know that you are constantly learning and iterating.

5. Ask for Help (Radical Collaboration): You are not alone. Share your ideas and prototypes with trusted friends or mentors. Good design is a collaborative process.

How You Can Implement It

1. Start with Where You Are: Do a quick "dashboard" assessment of your life across four areas: Health, Work, Play, and Love. Where are you full? Where are you running on empty? This gives you a starting point.

2. Ideate Your Futures with "Odyssey Plans": This is a core exercise. You brainstorm and map out three completely different five-year versions of your life. This isn't about choosing one; it's about realising you have multiple viable and exciting futures.

   • Life One: The life you're currently living or planning, extended.

   • Life Two: What you would do if Life One disappeared (e.g., your industry gets automated).

   • Life Three: The "wildcard" life you'd live if money and what others thought were no object.

3. Prototype, Don't Plunge: Look at your Odyssey Plans. What are the biggest assumptions you're making? (e.g., "I assume I would enjoy the day-to-day life of a landscape gardener.") Now, design a small prototype to test that assumption. Don't quit your job and enrol in a horticulture degree! Instead, spend a weekend volunteering at a community garden.

4. Have Prototype Conversations: The easiest way to prototype is to talk to people. Find someone who is living a life or doing a job that interests you. Don't ask them for a job; ask them for their story. This is an invaluable way to get a feel for a career path without having to walk it yourself.

Personality Profile Resonance (MBTI & DISC)

• MBTI: This framework is a gift for Intuitive (N) and Perceiving (P) types like the ENFP ("The Campaigner") and INTP ("The Logician"). These types thrive on brainstorming, exploring possibilities, and keeping their options open. The non-linear, experimental nature of Life Design feels natural and exciting to them. It can also be hugely beneficial for Judging (J) types who feel stuck because they can't find the "perfect" plan.

• DISC: Life Design strongly appeals to the high Influence (i) profile. The emphasis on brainstorming, collaboration, and having conversations aligns perfectly with their talkative and people-oriented nature. The high Dominance (D) profile might initially resist the "messiness," but can embrace it once they see it as a faster, more effective way to get actionable data and results.

Final Thoughts

Designing Your Life takes the fear and pressure out of career change. It reframes it as a creative adventure where you get to be the curious, playful, and innovative hero of your own story.

• Who It's For: The "stuck" professional, the career changer, and anyone facing a major life transition. It's for people who feel they have too many ideas—or no ideas at all—about what to do next.

• Further Reading: Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans.