Life Design

What is Life Design at U of A's Fulbright College?  Life design is a problem-solving approach for crafting your career and life. These are the questions that life design can help you answer:  What do I want to do after college? Where do I see myself in 5 years?  I changed my mind about my major/career.  What else can I do?MindSets


The environment most conducive to uncovering answers that lie deep within each of us is created by incorporating these mindsets:

Curiosity makes everything new. It invites exploration. It allows you to learn more. Life designers don’t judge ideas right away or rush to solutions. Instead they say “tell me more..” and ask questions to learn what works or doesn’t. Don’t assume you know what a career is like without exploring it.

Many of the best ideas are going to come from other people. People with different experiences will have different perspectives. Ask for help.

When feeling stuck, try to look at it from a different perspective. Don’t panic. Be open to innovation.

People can’t support you if they don’t know what you’re about. People have short attention spans, so hooking them through story and engaging people emotionally is important. We’re planting seeds in others when we tell our story. Tell your story.

Start where you are because that is where valuable ideas and insight reside. There are no mistakes- because you can only move forward. Also, be aware of what’s going on with you internally. Are you rushing to a solution rather than exploring all potential ideas first? Are you blocked or stuck? Are you energized by certain activities and drained by others. Reflection is key.

Life designers try stuff. They test out ideas, failing often until they find what works and what solves the problem. Designers embrace change. They are not attached to one particular outcome. You won’t grow if you don’t try stuff.

 

Life Design Process:

Make observations about yourself and the world around you. (empathy)

Identify problems you'd like to solve in the world. (define)

Brainstorm lots of ways to work on those problems. (ideate)

Try out easy, low risk ways to try out some of these solutions through involvement on and off campus. (prototype)

Test a potential solution by participating in an internship/job/research project, etc. (test)

Cycle back to making observations about yourself and the world... (accept and empathy)