Every month, I travel from New Jersey to Brooklyn to offer workshops on “designing a life you love.” I open every workshop with a single question: “What do you want to change about your life?”
At every workshop, I get pretty much the same answer. It goes something like this:
I completely understand how they feel. Four years ago, I felt much the same way. By objective standards, everything was good.
I had earned my Ph.D., and everyone agreed that I was destined for a coveted university professorship. But I felt penned in. I wanted more.
More what? I did not know.
How to get it? I had no idea.
In that moment, I decided to break away from the path I’d been on for more than ten years. I left the promise of tenure behind and became an educational consultant in a school design company.
For more than three years, I’ve worked alongside educators to change their schools for the better.
I’ve combined my expertise as a cognitive psychologist with a crash course in design thinking, improvement science, and change management. This was a potent combination—schools were improving and so was I.
I started to use those ideas in my own life and I’ve been AMAZED at the results.
I wanted to exercise more (actually, I wanted to exercise at all), and last year I did a half marathon and a triathlon. I wanted to dig myself out of debt – and I’ve paid off almost all of my credit cards (one more to go!).
I wanted to be a writer, and I got my first paid writing job last month. I don’t feel penned in anymore. I feel energized, excited, and honored to live the life I’ve created.
I want you to feel that way, too.
I’ve combed through my workshops to get you started and have hand-picked three of my best brainstorming exercises. These three steps
life
feelings
self improvement
