Most people aren’t born knowing what to do with their lives

Burnett & Evans offer a toolkit for designing a life you love

Joanne McHugh

Jun 10, 2025

Cover of the book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans — Click the cover image to go to Bookshop.org, where you can select a local bookstore to support. Your online order will be filled directly by their distributor, and the full profit from your purchase will be sent to your bookstore of choice.

Only about 20% of young people between 12 and 26 have a clear vision of where they want to go, what they want to accomplish in life, and why. Only 27% of college grads end up in a career related to their majors. Two-thirds of workers are unhappy with their jobs. And 15% actually hate their work.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans teach students at Stanford how to apply the principles of design thinking to the problem of designing your life. They’ve written a book so you don’t have to go to Stanford to have a well-designed life.

“When we were faced with the problem of helping our students leave college and enter the world as productive and happy people—to figure out just what the hell to do with the life in front of them—we knew design thinking would be the best way to solve this particular problem,” said Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

Designing Your Life can help you address: How do I find a job that I like or maybe even love? How do I build a career that will make me a good living? How do I balance my career with my family? How can I make a difference in the world?

According to Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, ”Many people operate under the dysfunctional belief that they just need to find out what they’re passionate about. Then once they know, everything will fall magically into place.”

“We believe people actually need to take time to develop a passion. And the research shows that, for most people, passion comes after they try something, discover they like it, and develop mastery—not before…Passion is the result of a good life design, not the cause,” said Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

“Most people do not have that one thing they are passionate about—that singular motivator that drives all of their life decisions and infuses every waking moment with a sense of purpose and meaning,” said Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

“It has been our experience, in office hour after office hour, that people waste a lot of time working on the wrong problem. If they are lucky, they will fail miserably quickly and get forced by circumstance into working on better problems. If they are unlucky and smart, they’ll succeed—we call it the success disaster—and wake up ten years later wondering how the hell they got to wherever they are, and why they are so unhappy,” said Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

“We can’t give you insights, change your perspective, and provide you with nonstop ‘aha’ moments, all in ten easy steps. What we can tell you is that if you actually use the tools and do the life design exercises, you will generate the insights you need to have,” said Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

The Things Your Mom Should Have Told You Book of the Month is Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

In the olden days, moms used to clip articles from newspapers for their kids if they thought it was something they needed to know. I’m keeping an eye out for things that you might have missed that may be helpful to you.

This week’s clips:

How can we find hope when so much seems uncertain? Psychologist Jamil Zaki provides practical guidance in The Sunday Paper about how to ease your mind.

What happens to friendships when money gets in the way? Money doesn’t just change what you can afford — it can change who you feel close to. Philly Mag explores what happens to friendships with financial disparities

What little habit might provide the biggest boost to your happiness? Gretchen Rubin, who studies happiness for a living, has designed an 8-question quiz that will give you a hint about where to start.

Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Most people aren’t born knowing what to do with their lives

Burnett & Evans offer a toolkit for designing a life you love

This week’s clips:

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