How do I find a job that I like?
How do I build a career that will make me a good living?
How do I balance my career with my relationships/family?
How can I make a difference in the world?
What can I do after graduation?
Should I leave my job?
If you are gearing up to graduate in the coming months or are considering a career adjustment, you may already be thinking about questions like these. What follows may help answer that “What’s next?” question.
A few years ago I came across Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ Stanford Life Design Lab.The Design Lab was developed to apply design principles to life and vocational considerations. As a Counseling Psychologist with practice, training, and interest in career and vocational counseling, I find the tenets of the Life Design process refreshing. Mostly, because they are action-focused; not ‘go submit 75 job applications’ type action, but rather, action designed to increase an understanding of who we are, create greater life satisfaction, and develop self-confidence.
Burnett and Evans posit that a well-designed life is a life that makes sense, a life where who you are, what you believe, and what you do all line up together. Not in a straight line, but rather as three points of a triangle. When these are interacting, they can lead to increased self-confidence, meaning, and greater satisfaction.
I am reminded of the Talking Heads song, This Must Be the Place. In it, they pose, “and you may ask yourself: Well, how did I get here?” Burnett and Evans would respond that you arrive after you begin to prototype. In the design world, a prototype is a product built to test ideas and changes until it resembles a final product. We need to take time to develop a passion, to learn what works for us. For the most part, passion comes after we’ve tried something, discover we like it (or don’t like it), and develop mastery - not before.
If this is not something you experience right now, that's absolutely O.K. What matters is that you are open to reflecting and gearing up for action to have that triangle feel more congruent.
At the foundation of their Design Your Life Lab, Burnett and Evans identify five mindsets that are crucial in their life design process. As a visual learner, I like to think of the drum on a cement truck, rotating and mixing these five mindsets together in order to pour out a solid, fortified foundation.
Curiosity
Curiosity makes everything new. It invites exploration. It’s a prerequisite for designing a life you want to live.
Bias toward action
When you develop a bias toward action, you are committed to building your way forward. As Annie Dillard famously penned, “how we spend our days, is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.”
Reframe
Reframing is essential to finding the right problems and the right solutions. This can be difficult at times to practice alone and therefore leads into the next mindset. Below are some examples of the power of reframing.
Dysfunctional Belief: Your degree determines your career.
Reframe: Three-quarters of all college grads don’t end up working in a career related to their majors.Dysfunctional Belief: If you are successful, you will be happy.
Reframe: True happiness comes from designing a life that works for you.Dysfunctional Belief: It’s too late.
Reframe: It’s never too late to design a life you love.
Radical Collaboration
Learn to ask for help. Recently, I spoke with a former Tesla Engineer about his role at the company. He shared how each department produces just a tiny fraction of the vehicle, yet through collaboration the vehicle emerges from the factory.
Awareness of the process
As the authors point out, the Slinky, Teflon, Play-Doh, Super Glue, and countless other designs emerged from a process, no matter how messy. Let go of the end goal and focus on your process.
Re-stating the problem
With these mindsets in place, the foundation is poured and now you are ready to re-state and reframe that “What’s next?” problem. But this time when you state the problem, place it in that freshly poured foundation. To do this, the problem needs to be articulated in an actionable way. If it is not actionable it is not a problem that you can work to solve.
As you reflect upon and articulate the problem you are seeking to solve, these resources may come in handy:
http://lifedesignlab.stanford.edu
If you are interested in seeking professional help you can learn about the Career Counseling and Assessment services that I offer at https://www.tomallenphd.com/clinical-specialties
Reference: Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life ; Authors, Bill Burnett, Dave Evans ; Publisher, Knopf Doubleday
