Designing Your Life - Part 1
Books to Inspire Creativity is the name of my new online book club, and I have noticed so many more details about the creative process since beginning the first selection. We are starting with the book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
I chose this book for a few specific reasons:
If I was going to teach a college course on creativity, I would want to set the stage with information about what creativity can look like in many different circumstances and formats. This book does a great job of using real-life examples to show what being creative can mean in an individual’s life
I felt like it was important to establish the idea of “design thinking” because it will come into play in every creative endeavor in our lives. It will also help us get more out of the other works I hope to include in future book club selections.
Getting your personal and work life in balance gives you more time to be creative. It also helps you realize that it requires creativity to make your personal and work life successful.
Understanding more about yourself and your everyday life, can help you become a more creative and happy person!
One of my favorite quotes from this book is: “True happiness comes from designing a life that works for you.” This book will teach you how to think like a designer:
Curiosity - When you are curious, you explore, play, try, and learn.
Bias to action - Be someone who takes action and tries new things. Be able to fail in order to grow.
Reframing - Examine your biases and reframe your dysfunctional beliefs. Be open to new approaches.
Awareness -Understand that the creative process is a journey. Sometimes your mistakes might lead to a great result.
Radical Collaboration - It’s ok (and actually wonderful) to ask others for help. Be inspired by others and use that inspiration in your own creativity.
It’s ok to remember that you don’t have to have one big passion or a specific creative calling. It’s ok to try out lots of ideas and ways of doing things. That’s creativity! Start with a “beginner’s mind.”
When you start chapter one, you are going to wonder if this is only a career book. It’s not. But looking through the lens of trying to decide what to do with the rest of your life is a great way to learn the concepts of this book. It’s all about finding the problem and then solving the problem. That’s always part of the creative process. It can literally be as simple as having a problem of a blank page and trying to solve what should go on that page.
Keep that in mind as you read this chapter. I also recommend taking an inventory of where you are at in each of the four areas of life the authors suggest to gauge:
Health
Work
Play
Love
This will give you a good check-in with yourself and help you decide where to spend your energy. For me, I know I want to spend more time on play so I’m glad to have that at the forefront of my mind as I study this book.
Action Items:
If you haven’t already started this book, I would encourage you to read the introduction before you begin. It will help you understand why and how you should read this book.
When you get to chapter one, take some time to think about the four areas of your life and figure out if there are any imbalances that might be impacting your creativity.
While you read chapter two, think about your “life compass” and take assessments of your “lifeview” and “workview”.
You may want to consider keeping a notebook or journal nearby as you read. I like to make highlights and notes in my Kindle app. If you really want to utlilize these ideas, you might enjoy the workbook by the authors. Totally optional, of course.
Are you reading the book? I’d love to know what you think of it so far.
Amazon affiliate links used for book and bookclub.
