Design the Life You Love: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Meaningful Future

by Ayse Birsel

A joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you've always dreamed of, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer.

Life, just like a design problem, is full of constraints-time, money, age, location, and circumstances. You can’t have everything, so you have to be creative to make what you want and what you need co-exist. Design the Life You Love is a joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you’ve always wanted, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer. Through four steps that reveal hidden skills and wisdom, anyone can design a life they love!


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Design, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Art, Psychology

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2015

Reviews

[Stephanie (Reading is Better With Cupcakes) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, when I first got this book I was a little disappointed. For whatever reason I thought it was going to be different than what it actually is. I thought that it would be a bit more on the artsy/craftsy side of things to help me figure out how to build a meaningful future. And while it is this to a certain extent, I had wanted it to be more so.

However, once I got to looking at it closer, I do really like the concept of the book. The purpose of Design the Life You Love is to help you, the reader, look at your life and the things in your life differently. To have a more proactive approach to it. This book is more like a workbook than anything else.

Design the Life You Love is set up into differing sections: an introduction, warm up, deconstruction, point of view, reconstruction, expression, living the life, and the end is only the beginning. Each section works to guide you to the over all goal of the book - changing the way you think about your life. There are activities, sayings, and things to think about in each section. It is really quite cool.

I really like also that Design the Life You Love repeatedly tells you to use a sketchbook to continue on with certain activities once you run out of space in the book itself. It also has templates for you to follow for later. This really lends to letting you use this book over and over again. I think that is absolutely fantastic.

So while Design the Life You Love didn't end up being what I thought it was going to be, it is still a really great and useful book. If you are looking to find something to help you get a new outlook on your life and to help get you thinking proactively, you should really check it out.

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.


Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/

[Vicky Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good little book for a thought exercise or two about your life. Not enough substance to be a life-changer though.

[Resch Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*

I internally squealed...okay, and maybe a bit out-loud when this arrived in the mail and I was awarded a coveted spot on this blog tour. What a lot of you don't know is I am obsessed with planning and organizing, to the point where I will shamelessly admit my closet is color coated and sorted by sleeve length. I just love organizing and this workbook provided me with a way to re-think how I feel about things in my life. It was really about re-directing your thought process and almost converting me from a girl-half empty glass to a girl-half full glass.

Everytime you open the workbook you are to spend five minutes doodling, anything and everything that comes to your mind. I praised the Heavens that I was the only one to see my horrendous doodles but it was an excellent way to get the creative juices full. Then the book proceeds to break down your life. What are your priorities, where do you want to go. It really deconstructs and reconstructs your life. All while making me smile with the cute motivational messages and inspirational statements.

Design the Life You Love doesn't make you feel overwhelmed by the daunting task of re-focusing and re-prioritizing your life but breaks it down into something whimsical and fun. Granted you aren't going to see instantaneous results but life is a journey and Design the Life You Love is something you want for the trip!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a deep love for “fill in” books. You know—the kind where you fill out lists, or answer questions about yourself, or answer writing prompts? Those kind. Like the geek I am, it feels like homework…and I dig it.

So, when I saw this as an option on Blogging for Books, I was like, hell yeah. A fill in book. And not just any fill in book—a fill in book about my second favorite topic—goals and self improvement.

I had a few qualms when I initially flipped through this book—it seemed a little bit doodly and disorganized. Generally overwhelming. But, as with any book, it’s important to flip through page-by-page.

Though there are some fill in bits, most of it is random, doodled stuff. Overall, I didn’t feel that I got much out of the designing my life experience—at least, I didn’t reveal anything crazy or amazing.

I wasn’t terribly pleased with this book. The marketing is great on it—but it didn’t deliver.

L

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a designer, it discouraged me. Of course I'm more of a promotional (aspiring book cover) designer, so totally different thing.

It's a great way to look at life in a different or new life; but at the end most everything it's telling you isn't very new. This is not the self-help that will change your life.
Or at least it didn't change mine.

I will say that's because I don't think this book was meant for someone at my point in life. I do hope that one day it might help change my life if I need it.



I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

[Carmen Sisson · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you enjoy making mind maps or sketches when planning or problem-solving, you may like this.

But as a writer in the midst of a mid-life crisis, I found absolutely nothing of value in this book. I wanted information. Strategies. Thought-provoking questions. I am a chronic highlighter, and I did not highlight a single sentence in this.

It's especially worthless as an ebook, because it's mostly blank pages for you to draw upon and childlike drawings from her own journal and those of people in her workshops.

I'm sorry, but I can't think of anyone who would actually benefit from this "book."

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lovely technique for the more visual, artistic, or creative among us. Kind of trendy with the cooking "deconstruct-reconstruct" theme and spoke mapping.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, light. Some good exercises...

[Samaire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished reading it - but now I have to DO it.

[Miguel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A self-help book disguised as a design book. Not really a life changing one. I had bigger expectations.

[Liisa Aavik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun, therapeutic and helpful! I have recommended it to several friends already.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Goodread’s description for the 2 star rating puts it best, “it was ok”.

Doesn’t contain much in the way of concrete, actionationable advice or steps. Does contain a bunch of soft exercises for thinking about your future in different ways.

If you’re a person who needs to know why you’re doing each exercise, and whether it’s leading to something, probably stay away from this book as it’s just going to frustrate you. There are a lot of exercises like, “Create a vision map of the Life You Love” that the author never really explains why you should do and aren’t built upon or referenced ever again. I can’t help but feel like the author tries the throw-everything-at-the-wall-in-the-hope-that-something-sticks method: “Create a vision map. Now create a vision letter. Write a poem to express your life design. Now write a haiku to express your life design...” But to be fair, the vision letter (or at least what I turned the vision letter exercise into), was one of the things that stuck on the wall for me. It helped me think through my life plan and reason about the best next steps. There was something about putting pen to paper, or my case finger to keyboard, that helps--perhaps the slower pace required to express your thoughts eloquently in writing compared rapid thought process of thinking through the same idea.

To give you an idea of what you’ll find in this book, here’s a picture from the “Expression” chapter and the accompanying explanation of the picture:
Picture: one + one = unique
Explanation: “The sum of all the steps leads to expression, but a great expression is more than the sum of its parts. Expression of the life you love defines who you are and the life you want to live. It is the pursuit of a life well lived.”
As you can see, though the flowery language (and sometimes seemingly unrelated pictures) may be thought-provoking, the book isn’t always helpful or even always make sense. Who knows, perhaps it might appeal to a more artsy person.

I was hoping this book would be a step-by-step guide to identifying and creating your ideal life where each subsequent step builds upon the former eventually creating an impressive plan. This book is not that. That book I have not found. If you have, please please please let me know in the comments. Even though this book wasn’t what I was hoping it’d be, or even really what it declared itself to be (a guide to creating your ideal life through applying design philosophy) it was probably still helpful for me to have read it. It may be a good place to start your journey of creating the life you want by getting the thought process started.

[Mike Tomasello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely only get this as a paperback, not as an ebook. As an ebook it would be 1 star.

It depends...if you consider yourself a creative or want to be more creative, this might be a 5 star book for you.

I will say I have read a lot of similar books out there in the topic and many of them are not that good. This one does have value a d gave me some insights.

For me, it out me way out of my comfort zone. I definitely got some value out of the book. It helped me realize I had constructed my life in the wrong way and why it wasn't working for me. However, it didn't really ask any questions to help me probe my mind about what was important to me.

This book has you look at your life like a designer thru deconstruction, reimagining, and reconstruction.

The last 1/4 of the book most of the exercises were repeated exercises from earlier in the book in case you wanted to do them "yet again" even though there was already space to do them twice in the beginning.

It's uniquely designed with high quality paper and lots of unique drawings and with lots of creative exercises.

If you're a creative Or want to be, probably 5 stars.
However for me, I felt like I could have gotten insights much faster from a different methodology.

[Icteolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bu kitap kimlere hitap edebilir derseniz
*Mesela önlerinde koca bir gelecek duran lise ve üniversite öğrencilerine
*Tasarım ve inovasyon yaklaşımına ilgisi olan ve bunun somut örnek ve yöntemlerini araştırıp, daha çok öğrenmek isteyen herkese
*Üniversiteden mezun olup nerede olmak istediğine karar veremeyenlere
*İş değiştirmeyi planlayan ya da iş kurmayı hedefleyenlere
*Çocukları yuvadan uçmuş olup emekli olmak üzere olanlara ve bundan sonra nasıl bir yol izleyeceğini bilemeyenlere
*Yaşamında bir dönüm noktasında olup, bir sonraki evreyi yepyeni bir şekilde düşünmek isteyen herkese

Sadece okumakla kalınamayacak, hayal edip, tekrar tekrar düşünmeye zorlayacak, yaşamınızı kafanızda yeniden canlandırmanız gerekecek, gelecek için tahmin ve öngörülerde bulunmanızı sağlayacak bu kitabı kendinize iyi bir şey hediye etmek isterseniz alın okuyun derim. Anlamlı bir gelecek yaratma konusunda hem İzmirli hem ODTÜ ‘lü hem de kıymetli bir tasarımcı olan Ayşe Birsel’in bu kitabındaki önerileri size de ilham verebilir.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting exercises, if not particularly original. Essentially, this is a book about developing a personal vision and planning how to make it happen. If you like thinking about your life and planning how to make it better, you will probably enjoy this book. That said, if you are the type of person who likes planning and self-improvement, most of the exercises the author suggests are things you can probably come up with by yourself or on the Internet somewhere. I enjoyed it, but not all of the exercises felt particularly relevant to my life. Some of the exercises I had already done; some of them I can do more efficiently than the method the author describes. It was okay, but not life-changing for me. You are not me, however; maybe you'll love it and it will be exactly what you're looking for. If you don't want to spend time looking for strategies for developing a personal vision on the Internet, this book might be right up your alley.

[Adrian Burlacu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book. It gives plenty of tips on how to use your strengths for your own benefit, how to determine what are the most important things in your life, which aspects of your life you should focus on and how to find out what you value most.

I didn't find the book mindblowing, though. And I would have preferred the book to have some success stories: for example, how did a painter manage to use the pieces of advice in this book and realized he needs to paint horses or something which he truly enjoys. Or how did someone manage to find out the perfect family-work balance by using this book. Because if there's no success story, maybe they're just theoretical tips with no real effects over your life.

I honestly think this book can be very helpful for some people. But for me it was just a nice read and provided some fun and intriguing exercises in knowing myself. That's why I will give it 3 stars.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read For Sustainable Personal Growth and Global Team Building

I absolutely love this book. I am an Executive managing teams based in multiple countries. I am always looking for a book I can use for Team Building across cultures and disciplines. What I love most about this book is the focus on designing and drawing the concepts and goals. This visual language translates everywhere and I have found that drawing situations and solutions is a very effective way of achieving continuous improvement on a global level. The steps of DECONSTRUCTION, POINT OF VIEW, RECONSTRUCTION, EXPRESSION and LIVING weave a clear path for you to Design the Life You Love. I am excited about sharing this process with my global teams.

I am in pursuit of a life well lived and this book will be my guide. I plan to revert back to this book often as I continuously review my life choices, reflect on the direction I am headed, and evaluate the people I bring along with me.

[Vika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not personally aware that my life needed to be re-designed somewhat until I randomly picked up a copy of the “Design The Life You Love” book by Ayse Birsel from my local library. I opened the book and about 4 hours later I was done with it – yes, all 255 pages of that book. Probably the fastest book I have ever read… however, noting that not all pages actually have text on them. If truth be told, most of the pages do not have much text on them at all. Instead the book is full of wonderful pictures, doodles, quotes from famous people, and practical exercises that will help you design the life that you love.

Did the book help me? Yes, it did and that is why I published a post on the book! Visit https://wellvika.com/index.php/2020/0...

[Caro Raciti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a very cute, little playful book, with a variety of activities to help you Dream, Imagine, Visualize, Define the life you LOVE, through deconstruction and reconstruction method! I designated a notebook just for the activities and to take my notes and loved the practice exercises. I will be prototyping very soon and hopefully will be able to redesign an even more amazing life than my current one, which is pretty good but we can always improve as life is a continuos process and it will eventually end. While we have the gift of TIME and the NOW, this books help us refocus and have a more tactile plan of how we envision our near future! Thanks for the books list towards the end! I will continue my learning journey!

[Sezen Türker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hayatımda bir şeyleri değiştirmek istediğimde ama onun ne olduğundan emin olamadığımda başvurduğum kitap. Yetişkinler için boyama kitabı gibi. Çiziyorsunuz, yazıyorsunuz, boyuyorsunuz. Sonra bütün çelişkileriniz karşınızda duruyor. Kesinlikle alıp her gün bir kaç dakika üzerinde çalışmak bile harika farkındalıklar yaratabilir.

“Yaşam da tasarım sorunu gibi kısıtlamalarla doludur: zaman, para, yaş, konum, koşullar vb. Her şeye sahip olamazsınız. Daha fazlasını istiyorsanız, ihtiyaçlarınızın ve isteklerinizin bir arada nasıl var olmasını sağlayabileceğiniz konusunda yaratıcı olmanız gerekir. Bu da tasarımcı gibi düşünmeyi gerektirir.”

[Karen Mathis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ayse Birsel was interviewed by Marshall Goldsmith. She is the author of this a fun little book of exercises that takes you through a new creative building process. You've heard of thinking out of the box... usually a creative process. Well, this little book helps you deconstruct almost any situation and prompts ways to reconstruct to match what will work for you in ways you may have never discovered. It outlines a clever and accurate innovative process. I enjoyed it and still use it as a resource for journaling for personal situations. I also refer to it from time to time when designing solutions as well as fashion.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Challenge 2017: a book with a red spine

A ideia passada pela autora é bem interessante, mas não funcionou muito comigo. Talvez eu ainda precise ler esse livro mais algumas vezes no decorrer da minha vida pra entender realmente tudo que ela sentiu ao criar esse processo. Apesar de ser o tipo de reflexão que se deve fazer sozinho, acho que talvez poderia ter sido mais interessante pra mim se tivesse discutido em grupo, ou assistido uma palestra sobre o que é dito nos capítulos. De toda forma, recomendo a leitura! Vale a pena tentar.

[Jefferey Spivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a workbook, so you'll only get out what you put in. That being said, I think this is a helpful and creative way to explore your life, whether you think you have it all together or you're at rock bottom. It's a way to think critically about the state of your life without all the seriousness. I tend to naturally think about my life in lists, so I didn't have a lot of A-HA moments here, but overall, I found it very motivating and thought-provoking. I'm sure I'll revisit this book quite a bit in the months and years to come.

[Seda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book to look at. There is not much to "read". It's actually a little too simple to be a book about "designing your life".

The author unfortunately boasts about her accomplishments and how she used the principles (not really principles either, rather ideas) she presents in the book to design her life.

I agree with one of the other reviewers that this is geared more towards high school kids or early college students as a introduction to pondering about your goals in life. It's definitely not cut for an adult who thinks about these things on a deeper level.

Cute book.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great workbook and exercises

This is definitely more of a workbook than a reading book, if that makes sense. Pick it up ready to think about your life. Some of the exercises I found more effective than others but they all helped bring a little perspective until by the end, almost like magic, I had a new understanding of what was important to me in life. Simple and fun too, only took an hour or two to do it all, though I recommend spacing things out over a few days so you have time to think deeply about the questions.

[Anna Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Designed a life I love

When I bought this book, I thought to myself, ya okay, I'll give it a go. As I began to work through it, I began to realize that i was seeing my life from a positive place. Ayse Birsel's book challenges you, but you do things at your own pace. Whoa and behold!! The paradigms of your thinking begin to shift and change in a good way. This is a book that i will be able to use again and again!

[Nick Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this type of book, and I loved this book! Very well laid out, and it takes you through her process methodically and with flair. Lots of room for writing, drawing, and organizing your thoughts. I would take this book on a self-retreat and spend 3 days just absorbing it's contents, and doing the exercises in it. You will return, refreshed, organized, and ready for your newly planned life!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started to read this but found the exercises a bit childish so I just skimmed the pages of the book. I didn't really see how any of the exercises would be motivational to me. There appeared to be a lot of drawing/sketching which I gather was aimed to spark creativity in the brain. However, it was not my "cup of tea" and really didn't finish the book.

[Sinduja Krishna Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a very short read. Most of the work goes into how you use the book. At my late 20s I am not too happy with the book but if a younger teenage version of me had her hands on this book, she might have enjoyed it. For that reason alone I give it three stars. It’s for someone who is either starting self help or reading for that matter.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book shared several creative ways to look at life differently, deconstruct it, and put it back together in a way that you want. Although there is not a lot of text and content, if done right, it can take days, weeks and multiple iterations for you to get something meaningful out of it. "What you put in is what you get out" applies perfectly to this book.