Life as a Design Problem
Stanford professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans apply design thinking to life planning in their Designing Your Life framework. Design thinking rejects the idea that there is one 'right' life waiting to be discovered and instead embraces prototyping, iteration, and multiple viable paths. The process starts with a workview (what is work for?) and a lifeview (what gives life meaning?), then assesses current engagement, energy, and alignment across four dimensions: work, play, love, and health. Most people optimize for one dimension while neglecting others — the executive who succeeds at work but has no relationships, or the caretaker who gives everything to others but neglects their own health. Life design seeks integration, not balance — a life where the dimensions reinforce rather than compete with each other.