Choose a trail to explore
Define what you want to improve.
In what area could your life improve most? Directing your energy and effort is essential to designing or improving your life.
✳️✳️✳️
In the previous life design phase, you took a clear look at where you stand across the key areas of your life. You noted what’s going well, what isn’t, and gave each area a score from 1 to 10. That snapshot is useful. But clarity on its own doesn’t create change. To design and build a fulfilling, meaningful life, you also need direction. Otherwise, it’s hard to know where to put your energy.
In this phase, you’ll choose the life area you want to improve. From there, you’ll define and validate a design goal, then translate that goal into a design question. That question will shape what comes next in the life design process.
Choosing a trail to explore is like picking which path to follow next.
1️⃣ Choose the life area you want to improve
You rated each life area from 1 to 10 and noted what is working and what could be better. Review that material again before moving on. It will help you make a more deliberate choice.
As you look back at your ratings and notes, consider the following questions:
🤔 Which life area matters most to improve right now?
🤔 What would change for you if this area improved?
Some hints to keep in mind
👉 This choice is not permanent. You are selecting a focus for now, not locking in a life direction.
👉 You might choose to start with the life area that scored lowest, or with the area that feels least aligned with your values and sense of purpose. Either approach is valid.
👉 Consider your current time, energy, and external constraints. An area can matter deeply and still not be the right place to focus at this moment.
👉 Aim for a balance that is healthy for you. Make sure you take sufficient care of your body, your mind, and your important relationships. Neglecting these for too long can have serious consequences later on.
👉 There is no such thing as a perfect or permanent balance between life areas. The mix that works for you will change over time. A single student in their twenties will have a very different balance than a married employee in their fifties.
👉 Life areas are interconnected. Improving one area often has positive effects elsewhere. For example, improving your physical health can boost your emotional wellbeing, give you more energy at work, and strengthen your relationships.
👉 Focus on one life area at a time. Trying to change everything at once is a fast path to overwhelm. Prioritize what matters most right now. You can always turn your attention to other areas later.
🖊️ Review your life area tables and ratings, then write a quick statement answering the questions above.
Use this format:
I want to improve the life area of <chosen life area> because I expect <what will change if this area improves>.
2️⃣ Determine your design goal
Your design goal is the objective you want to achieve to improve the life area you chose. It points you in a clear direction, shows what you want to work toward, and guides where to focus your attention. Align your efforts with this goal as best you can, and adjust along the way if you need to explore a different direction.
Some examples of design goals
Good design goals are directional (they guide your focus), aspirational (they inspire you to improve), and tied to a life area (they relate to the area you’ve chosen to work on). Here are some examples to inspire your own:
👉 I want to exercise enough and eat healthy every day.
👉 I want to experience less stress and more balance in my life.
👉 I want to improve my sex life.
👉 I want to choose a study that suits my strengths and interests.
👉 I want to find work that fits my personal values and pays enough.
👉 After retirement, I want to use my skills to help others.
👉 I want to build stronger relationships with family and friends.
👉 I want to explore my creativity through writing, music, or art.
👉 I want to feel more financially secure and manage my money wisely.
Choose the right design goal
Choosing the right design goal matters because it shapes what you work on and what you learn. When a goal does not fit, you still learn something, but you also spend time and energy moving in a direction that may not serve you. People often pursue goals influenced by external expectations rather than by what matters to them. They may follow a career path their parents value, only to discover it does not resonate with their own desires. Others commit to goals that conflict with their values. Some spend years striving for a high-paying job and learn, often the hard way, that long hours and constant stress do not lead to fulfillment. Each of these experiences still offers insight. The key is to notice what you are learning and to adjust your direction before too much time passes.
Determine your design goal
Answer the following question to determine your design goal
🤔 What goal do I want to achieve to improve the life area I’ve chosen?
Some hints and tips that you may want to take into account
👉 In a well-designed life, what you do aligns with your purpose and values. Your design goal should reflect both.
👉 Review your completed life area table for this area. Is there an item that feels especially important to address?
👉 What changes do you want to make? What problem do you want to solve? What unfulfilled need, desire, or value do you want to satisfy?
👉 State what you want to achieve, not what you want to avoid. Telling a taxi driver you don’t want to go to the airport is not very helpful.
👉 Ask yourself why you want to achieve this goal. What benefits will it bring you or others? How will it help you build a richer, fuller, more meaningful life?
👉 Could this goal positively or negatively affect other areas of your life?
👉 Discuss your design goal with your life design team (optional) or with people who may be affected by it.
👉 Imagine you are advising a friend in the same situation. What would you suggest?
🖊️ Determine your design goal and write it down. Use this simple format:
I want to <what you want to achieve>.
3️⃣ Validate your design goal
Don’t run with your design goal yet. A weak goal can lock you into the wrong solution or keep you stuck. Check it first.
🤔 Is it meaningful?
A goal only works if it targets what matters to you.
For details, see Is the design goal meaningful?
🤔 Is it actionable?
A goal only works if you can move forward with it.
For details, see Is the design goal actionable?
🖊️ If this validation changes your goal, strike out or delete the old one and write the new goal as:
I want to <what you want to achieve>.
4️⃣ Formulate your design question
You now have a validated design goal in the format: I want to <what you want to achieve>.
Turn it into a design question: How can I <what you want to achieve>?
Your design question will guide the next phase, where you generate many options to reach it. For example, the goal “I want to exercise enough and eat healthy every day” leads to the question “How can I exercise enough and eat healthy every day?”
🖊️ Write your design question in the format: How can I <what you want to achieve>?
5️⃣ Keep your results
Hold on to your final design goal and design question. You’ll need them for the next phases of the life design process and for future reference.
🎉👏🎈
By selecting the life area to improve and defining your design goal, you are ready to generate many solution options using your design question.
References
Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
