Designing Your Life

How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

By: Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

Narrated by: Bill Burnett, Dave Evans

#1 New York Times Bestseller

At last, a book that shows you how to build—design—a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage

Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home—at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve.

In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.

Includes a bonus PDF of worksheets, journal exercises, illustrations, and more


"Designing Your Life walks readers through the process of building a satisfying, meaningful life by approaching the challenge the way a designer would. Experimentation. Wayfinding. Prototyping. Constant iteration. You should read the book. Everyone else will."
—Daniel Pink, bestselling author of Drive

“This [is] the career book of the next decade and . . . the go-to book that is read as a rite of passage whenever someone is ready to create a life they love.”
—David Kelley, Founder of IDEO

“An empowering book based on their popular class of the same name at Stanford University . . . Perhaps the book’s most important lesson is that the only failure is settling for a life that makes one unhappy. With useful fact-finding exercises, an empathetic tone, and sensible advice, this book will easily earn a place among career-finding classics.”
—Publishers Weekly

Critic reviews

“Life has questions. They have answers…Learn how to find a fulfilling career…learn how to better navigate life’s big moment decisions and kill your ‘wicked problems dead.”
—The New York Times

“The prototype for a happy life…Burnett and Evans show how to apply Stanford’s famous design principles to finding your place in the world, as a recent graduate or mid-career.”
—NPR’s Brian Lehrer

“Designing Your Life walks readers through the process of building a satisfying, meaningful life by approaching the challenge the way a designer would. Experimentation. Wayfinding. Prototyping. Constant iteration. You should read the book. Everyone else will.”
—Daniel Pink, bestselling author of Drive

“This [is] the career book of the next decade and . . . the go-to book that is read as a rite of passage whenever someone is ready to create a life they love.”
—David Kelley, Founder of IDEO

“An empowering book based on their popular class of the same name at Stanford University . . . Perhaps the book’s most important lesson is that the only failure is settling for a life that makes one unhappy. With useful fact-finding exercises, an empathetic tone, and sensible advice, this book will easily earn a place among career-finding classics.”
—Publishers Weekly

I didn't want to like this book!

As I begin reading this book for the second time, it is well worth the read. The exercises are spot on and great guide for me.. This is a must read for EVERYONE. Talk about the things they never teach you in school. Now they do!

Best program for life design

I’ve used many different methods for mapping out my career and this is one of the best. Highly recommended

Excellent Read

I would recommend this to anyone making a career change or deciding which school to attend. Their focus on reframing problems and clarifying thinking was clear, easy to follow and very useful.

Just when I needed it

Awesome book. Listened straight through once now will read and do the action activities. Thought provoking and concise enough to be a realistic tool.

Life Design

Helpful ways to think about career and life. Work shouldn't be drudgery. This book helps guide you to figuring out how to make positive changes.

Really helps to choose what to do next

This methodology helps in the choosing process, helps to find new alternatives, and to go out of being stuck and start testing ideas. Also helpful to refine and evaluate a ongoing lifestyle.

good stuff

Offers good insights and strategies.

feel sometimes it takes the long way around by offering such lengthy stories. however I can't say I know how to write about the topic better.

Good info, I am just spoiled by other books that engage me more.

Well Written and Fun

First of all, we should all be so lucky to have an ”Audible” voice like these two! They were never hard to listen to, and their little quips were very fun as well. This is obviously not going to be for everyone, but it should give each listener a few things to think about when it comes to their career—even life! I enjoyed the activities as well. I look forward to using them. I have already referred to friends, family, and will refer to students I work with as an Adviser.

Bien narrado, contenido relevante y enriquecedor

Vi varios comentarios diciendo que era un libro que hablaba de cosas obvias y diría que sí. Pero cuando veo y analizo la vida de familiares, amigos y colegas veo que cometen errores obvio o están en situaciones que tienen una mejor solución a la que plantean y es cuando creo que necesitaba este libro. En particular me parecen valiosos los ejercicios personales que recomienda y el tener presentes los diversos sesgos que tenemos en nuestra visión de vida. Sin duda un simple pero gran libro que dará o devolverá la razón de vivir.

Good Guidance

this book offers good guidance and perhaps a new way of thinking about your life plan. I was already a believer and am living the life I want. But did enjoy the reframing ideas and the prototyping philosophy. Those were new to me.