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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I started this with much anticipation but it ended up giving the same advice every job search book does.
Read this to see if it would work for my Career Prep for Writing class. I think I'm going to adopt it...and maybe work through it myself!
I attended an Innovation Boot Camp that utilized DT and rapid ethnographic assessment last March that I ADORED. During the camp, the instructors referred us to this book if we were interested in applying DT in our everyday lives. My friend who was at the camp with me bought the book and lent it to me a few months back...and I just now got around to reading it.
Overall, I liked the concept behind the book. I found some of the exercises to be useful, especially as I am in the process of applying to jobs and figuring out what my next step is. Nevertheless, I think the title is a little misleading; the book is almost entirely about your career, rather than your life (and I personally do not want to be identified solely by my career). I found some of the examples to be a little long-winded and often found myself skimming until I reached the point or the exercise (and while the author’s intent was for you to do the exercises as you went, I’ve decided to wait until completion to actually try them). I agree with many reviewers that the information presented in the book isn’t necessarily new or groundbreaking, but these days, does any “self-help” type book have that much new information? I think the strength of the book is the breakdown of the DT process and how to apply it to a concept rather than an object, but the major weakness lies in the authors’ lack of self-awareness in terms of their own privilege. Not everyone has the time, resources, personal capacity, or support to design their life as they wish it were; most of us are just trying to make it.
Moreover, I liked it enough, but definitely wish it had been shorter and had just gotten to the point more. If you want to skip the reading and try the exercises, they have templates available on their website: www.designyour.life
Overall, I liked the concept behind the book. I found some of the exercises to be useful, especially as I am in the process of applying to jobs and figuring out what my next step is. Nevertheless, I think the title is a little misleading; the book is almost entirely about your career, rather than your life (and I personally do not want to be identified solely by my career). I found some of the examples to be a little long-winded and often found myself skimming until I reached the point or the exercise (and while the author’s intent was for you to do the exercises as you went, I’ve decided to wait until completion to actually try them). I agree with many reviewers that the information presented in the book isn’t necessarily new or groundbreaking, but these days, does any “self-help” type book have that much new information? I think the strength of the book is the breakdown of the DT process and how to apply it to a concept rather than an object, but the major weakness lies in the authors’ lack of self-awareness in terms of their own privilege. Not everyone has the time, resources, personal capacity, or support to design their life as they wish it were; most of us are just trying to make it.
Moreover, I liked it enough, but definitely wish it had been shorter and had just gotten to the point more. If you want to skip the reading and try the exercises, they have templates available on their website: www.designyour.life
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Super insightful and actionable - come back to this one!
I'm not a great fan of self-help books, but I'm glad I read this one. Burnett and Evan have generous spirits; they take a number of important ideas and put them together in an optimistic and practical way. This is one of my favorite statements in the book: "Life is not an outcome; it's more like a dance. Life design is just a really good set of dance moves." (page 184)
And here's a link to a list of interesting ideas I collected as I read:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQrtkcLuhT9s9leYRQuilM4QgKFvgSx9nAzrW7p_mbk/edit?usp=sharing
And here's a link to a list of interesting ideas I collected as I read:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQrtkcLuhT9s9leYRQuilM4QgKFvgSx9nAzrW7p_mbk/edit?usp=sharing
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Effective for job-hunters and for people seeking encouragement to just start doing things with their life and talking to others. Less holistic than the title implies. Contained corporate buzzords & unnecessary positive references to Stanford & idealized case studies & oversimplified advice and consequently may come off as disingenuous. Still contains useful exercises to gauge your current satisfaction with your life.
Notes:
> “A well-designed life is a life that is generative—it is constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving, and there is always the possibility of surprise. You get out of it more than you put in. There is a lot more than “lather, rinse, repeat” in a well-designed life.”
> Your five most important mindsets (**design tools!**) are (1) curiosity, (2) bias to action, (3) reframing, (4) awareness, and (5) radical collaboration.
> Integrity, learning quickly (focus on the utility of failing fast and getting data to improve yourself), high intrinsic motivation: your best attributes.
> Your perfect fantasies will paralyze you! Always generate and trim your options.
> “I won’t always know where I’m going—but I can always know whether I’m going in the right direction.”
- I resonate with falling into the trap of questioning 'why' I am doing things (with the underlying belief that if I do 'responsible' work and become successful I should be happy).
- Another issue: people assume that accomplishing 'landmarks' of their life guarantee their path (eg. science-centered college course; must enter the academe).
- Sometimes I also think that it's too late to change my habits-- but I should recognize my agency in designing a life that works for me.
Notes:
> “A well-designed life is a life that is generative—it is constantly creative, productive, changing, evolving, and there is always the possibility of surprise. You get out of it more than you put in. There is a lot more than “lather, rinse, repeat” in a well-designed life.”
> Your five most important mindsets (**design tools!**) are (1) curiosity, (2) bias to action, (3) reframing, (4) awareness, and (5) radical collaboration.
> Integrity, learning quickly (focus on the utility of failing fast and getting data to improve yourself), high intrinsic motivation: your best attributes.
> Your perfect fantasies will paralyze you! Always generate and trim your options.
> “I won’t always know where I’m going—but I can always know whether I’m going in the right direction.”
- I resonate with falling into the trap of questioning 'why' I am doing things (with the underlying belief that if I do 'responsible' work and become successful I should be happy).
- Another issue: people assume that accomplishing 'landmarks' of their life guarantee their path (eg. science-centered college course; must enter the academe).
- Sometimes I also think that it's too late to change my habits-- but I should recognize my agency in designing a life that works for me.
This book is an amazing life guide. It helps you understand the goals that make you feel fulfilled and the things you'd like to achieve. Then it explains how life is a journey, how what we want to achieve gives us a compass to guide us to what we want to be. All the detours we take along the way really just help us learn to course correct better to still get to our destination.