Many of us often we feel frustrated and disappointed because we expect of ourselves:
- To know where we should be going;
- To have already figured out what what our Purpose in Life should be;
- To have set a Destination for ourselves;
- To know what kind of work/profession/career we should have;
It's also a kind of a social and cultural conditioning because many successful figures tell us that we should already know what you should do in and with your life.
While it's true that some people have figured out at an early age what they want to do with their life for the majority of us it's a foggy area.
In the first chapter of the Book Designing your Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans propose that we Start first with where we are in our lives at this moment in time.
They say that Problem Finding + Problem Solving = Successful Life.
Many of us are focused primary with Solving the Problems. But many of the Life's Problems aren't set in stone. More likely they are a matter or Perception / Definition. So before we start with Solving a Problem we should ask ourselves if we are Working on solving the Right Problem.
You may end up being miserable by solving the wrong problem. For instance you might get busy to solve the problem of how to be a successful manager. And after spending several years and other resources you might find that you hate being a successful manager.
Designing your Life is mindset is useful especially for a Messy or Wicked kind of a Problems:
- Are complex, social problems that are constantly changing.
- A problem you don't even know you're working on before you solve it.
- Don't have one right answer—in fact, they may not have any “right”.
- Problems that can't be understood by analysis or solved with equations.
- Problems that aren’t well-defined.
- Are clusters of interrelated or interdependent problems, or systems of problems;
- Have an evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints – no definitive statement of the problem.
Another type of Problems in Design Thinking are Gravity problems. Gravity Problems are not real problems. You can check if you have a Gravity Problem by asking yourself if you can act on it. Can I do something about it? If it is not actionable, it is not a problem. It's a circumstance, a situations, something outside your control.
An important aspect in Life Design is Acceptance. It is said that you cannot solve a problem that you are not willing to solve.
You should take a step back and look at the problematic situation with the Responsibility Lenses. Define the problem in such a way that you focus on those aspects that you can do something about. Otherwise you might end up paralyzed if you only expect that external circumstances or other people must change in order for you problem to be solved.
Dysfunctional Belief : I should already know where I'm going
Reframe: You can't know where you are going until you know where you are
The Authors recommend that we should start by Assessing 4 main areas of you life and give a score from (0-10 or 0-5). The Four Areas are:
- Health: are you well in mind, body, spirit;
- Work: things you do regardless of whether you get paid or not;
- Love: affection, community, eroticism. sense of connection with parents, kids, lovers, colleagues;
- Play: What brings you joy purely in the doing?
So ask your self How's it going? Awareness and curiosity are the design mindsets you need to begin building your way forward.
This self analysis is done in order for the us to get a sense of what aspects of their life need the most (or least) attention.
To summarize the 2 main ideas could be:
- Instead of staying frustrated that you don't have a clear direction in life start by tacking stock of where you are at this point in your life;
- Before you start working / solving on a problem spend some time to define and select on what problem you'll direct your attention, energy, time and other resources.
