Well Designed Life: 10 Lessons in Brain Science & Design Thinking for a Mindful, Healthy, & Purposeful Life

by Kyra Bobinet MD MPH

"I know what I should do...I just don't know why I don't do it."

This phrase captures a universal human experience--we can't always get ourselves to do what we know is best for us. In Well Designed Life, you will learn that the solution to this stumbling block resides in coupling two brain science and design thinking. Brain and behavior sciences have exploded in recent years. This catalyzes new insights into why we do what we do--and how we can change. Meanwhile, major advances in consumer technology, service industries, and public health are rapidly changing how we live. This boom of innovation has been fueled by a creative approach to solving problems called design thinking. We are living in the age of design--and designers are the new rock stars.

Dr. Kyra Bobinet brings together over 25 years of successfully designing interventions, products, and experiences that change lives--to empower you as the designer of your life. Dr. Bobinet has gathered her top ten key concepts from psychology, behavior and neuroscience and shows you how to apply each of them to changing your health, relationships, and well-being. Bobinet insists that the success or failure of changing our lives hinges on both understanding what's going on inside our head and applying the flexible mindset of a designer.

She writes, "Designing behavior is equal parts art and science. Steve Jobs once said, "Design is not just what it looks like or feels like. Design is how it works." Adopting the mindset of a designer puts you in the driver's seat of making life work. Grounding yourself in the science of how we see the world and how our brain responds helps you design behaviors that work--in real life, for real people. This is 100 percent about you acting on what you always wished you would do. It's about stepping out of any areas of helplessness and into creative self-direction.

You have a design your life or let it design you!

Infused with relatable narratives that are at once witty and gripping, professional and personal, Bobinet takes you on a journey through the origins of your self-image, motivations, decisions, and unconscious behaviors--leaving you with the keys to free yourself from your conditioning and lead a well-designed life.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Health, Personal Development

414 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2015

Reviews

[Emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an easy and fun introduction to Mindfulness and pop neuroscience, as it applies to goal development. I say development, because the central theme of this book is the establishment of an evolving attitude about one's goals and the structures used to succeed at them. Chock full of anecdotes and underlying brain processes, "Well Designed Life" is a tool-box book, intending to equip the reader with some daily shifts in perspective and fundamental knowledge about how our brains work to aid us--or dismay us. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for some quick tips on how to break out of the cycle of unreasonable goal setting, failure, giving up, and then more unreasonable goal setting.

The prose is companionable, and deals with difficult neuroscience topics in an easy-going and easy-to-read manner. If you are looking for a text-book, this is not it. Think of it more as a coffee date with a life coach who happens to have advanced degrees in neuroscience. This style makes it accessible to everyone, even if it leaves out some of the biological psychology details that I love so much. I understand that not everyone wants to learn how the limbic system works, but many people would benefit from knowing how the limbic system affects daily goal-setting behavior.

[Mike Nyberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really learned a tremendous amount from this book. One I will keep and reference in the future. Highly recommended to anyone whether they are looking to make big or small changes in their life.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one's a keeper! I will be referring back to it because it's ACTUALLY helpful information on how to create behavior change in yourself.

There are no easy fixes here - this methodology requires persistent effort based on science and psychology. The information is presented clearly in layman's terms. The book provides a couple of workbook pages at the end of each chapter to help you apply what you have just learned to your own life, which also helps you remember the material better.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, I'm sending my daughter and niece a copy! I used to have discipline and motivation but somewhere along the way I lost it, this book explains the human brain and how we sabotage our lives when we try too hard with good intentions. Great ideas to be kind to yourself and succeed,

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t particularly impressed by Well Designed Life. I read self-help and personal development books fairly regularly, and there wasn’t much here that felt new or original. The book blends some light brain science with practical tips and real-life examples around habit formation, motivation, and behavior change — all familiar territory if you’ve read similar works.
The Past Self / Future Self idea resonated with me since I already use that concept in my own coaching practice. The 2x2 framework, however, was new to me and probably the most interesting takeaway from the book. Overall, it’s an easy read and could be useful for someone newer to this type of material, but for seasoned readers of self-help, it’s likely to feel repetitive.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Game changer.

Having read a lot of self improvement books, I can say that this one is one of the best. It contains a new (to me) approach to how our minds work, and how to restructure or design our lives for greater freedom and happiness. It is well organized and compelling. Having read it on Kindle, I am now going back to reread it in paperback. I felt I was underlining the whole book.
I recommend this book to anyone who has tried lots of strategies to improve their daily habits, and has gotten discouraged with repeated failure. I am inspired and I think you will be too!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so approachable and fairly easy to read. I had previously read a book on life design so I did not think I would learn much. Boy, was I wrong! I received many insights from this book and now see a better way to achieve behavioral change and to actually make those changes stick. A lot of science is also referenced to back this up.

Highly recommended to anyone trying to change something about themselves, or are just curious about why those New Year resolutions never seem to stick.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent synthesis of the research on changing habits. Each chapter is a bit of a mini-book on a subject. At its heart she is trying to help people who say they want to get better at X (e.g. lose weight, stop drinking, spend more time with kids) but seem stuck figure out how to do it. Useful advice all around.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new and insightful word

I am a change management consultant. I studied how to change people. I learned many formulas about change. But this book teaches me one word that can help change. It is not another formula but an attitude, an activity: design.
I love this word and this book shares quite a bit of information about what to watch out when we design our future life

[Brooke Salaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing earth shaking here. Basically look at screw ups as iterations in your design plan and move to the next one. A design flaw does not mean failure, just because a tool works for one person doesn't mean it will for you, designs need to be constantly tweaked and re-evaluated. Mildly interesting and maybe I'll have flashbacks later that will appear useful.

[Karla Seyb-Stockton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to get through my resistance to seeing ‘designing’ as anything beyond a fancy way of saying deciding or planning. Eventually I had to admit it’s usefulness when put in the context of relapse. The need to update an out of date design makes sense.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this book, and not because it was a boring read. On the contrary, it felt as if every chapter needed its own deliberation.
A very reasonable self help, or brain hack, book. Highly recommended!

[Theresa Gienapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good food for thought. I like the idea that we are always iterating - adapting, adjusting what works well for our current health and exercise needs.

[Annie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent, real, great examples, easy to read (makes sense).

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful primer on various aspects of why our brains work against us with habit changes and offers exercises to help your better self plan around those obstacles.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend anyone who ever wanted to change a habit or ways of thinking to read this book. The exercises at the end of each chapter make it personal and drive home the wisdom of the process to whatever it is that you want to work. I really appreciated the delve into the different sides to our brains, slow brain and fast brain, and especially that it's really not about that finite resource of willpower. When we 'muck it up,' it's not because we're but rather the design needs tweaking. With that, I really loved the fact that she encourages self-compassion at every roadblock, that to expect that roadblocks will happen, and treating yourself with the same love and high regard as you would a cherished friend, spouse, or family member.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway! And boy, am I glad I did. Going in, I hoped that The Well Designed Life would help me in a business sense. It did do that and so much more. Kyra Bobinet does an excellent job of educating her audience on what it means to be a designer. She offers great insight through scientific explanation which allows the reader to clearly visualize and understand the reasons behind why we act the way we do. But this book isn't just fact and advice. The author shares an enormous amount of real life anecdotes that allow the reader to relate to the scientific explanations and realize how they fit into their life in particular. On top of that, Kyra's tone is friendly and relatable. She even offers examples from her own life,some of which were likely very difficult to share. Additionally, she is encouraging and kind, never allowing the reader to blame themselves too harshly. I am thrilled to have won this book and to be able to incorporate the author's ideas into my life. This is one I'll be telling people about.

[Tiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great points on the intersection of design, habit formation, and mindfulness

This book is a very insightful summary and exposition of a new and emerging trend: using design principles and design thinking to change behavior and "redesign" a lifestyle. I work in the same field and found this book uniquely balanced between contemplative musings, personal and professional anecdotes, and illustrative stories. I believe in a few years this approach will go mainstream and have a tremendous impact on health, productivity, and satisfaction in general.

[Lisa Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

really liked the brain science behind this design principles. A nice supplement to the Evans and Burnett Designing your Life book. Some examples didn't resonate with me, but they author writes with an honesty I appreciate. I really like the concept that at some point all designs fail and those aren't the failure of the designer, they just mean it's time to adjust.

[Senona Macias · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author had some really great stories, but it was kind of hard to keep up with her. Sometimes things went above my head and I didn't understand everything. All in all it was good just wish it was not so over my head.

[Douna · Rating 4 out of 5]

refreshing perspective, changing habits using design thinking concepts

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lite on new concept s but a good read