Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
āYouāve got problems. Your friends have problems. Weāve all got problems.ā
This quote comes from Designing Your Life, a top-selling book written by professors of an extremely popular class at Stanford University.
In fact, according to one of the authors, āthe class took off because everyone has the problem and they need a good solution.ā The problem he was referring to here is none other than āfiguring out what to do with ourĀ lives.ā
I definitely have this problem, and as a result, I often find myself feelingĀ stuck.
I have dreams Iāve yet to realize, milestones Iāve yet to hit. I donāt know exactly what I want to be doing 5 years from now, but I do know I want to be doing a lotĀ more.
If I had to guess, this feeling of being weighted down, of not knowing what to do or how to pull ourselves out, is something many of us can relateĀ to.
The difference though, between those who can eventually achieve their goals and those who canāt, is what they do about thisĀ feeling.
The biggest takeaway from Designing Your Life is to ābuild your way forward.ā
Its philosophy is to approach life as how a designer would approach anĀ app.
You start with one (or a few) prototype. You iterate from there. What gets you the final product is not sitting on the couch for 24 hours thinking to yourself what would make the best user experience.
You draw mockups, you A/B test different ideas, and after several iterations, MAYBE you finally hit the desiredĀ traffic.
āDesigners try things. They test things out. They create prototype after prototype, failing often, until they find what works and what solves the problem.āāāāBill Burnett & DaveĀ Evans
Iāve found, through trial and error that the greatest remedy to this āfeeling stuckā is indeed simply getting off the couch and doĀ things.
Several examples in the book shared one theme, and they all resonated with me. Itās the theme where people are stuck in a job they donāt enjoy; every day they watch the clock moving and clock out ASAP. Yet, they feel like thereās nothing they canĀ do.
Iāve been thereĀ too.
My life has gone through a series of prototypes in the last fewĀ years.
It started with me abandoning my former life as a pre-med and quitting biology altogether.
Like the author of the book himself, Dave Evans, I studied biology and stuck with it for years because I had the misguided belief that it was my destiny to be a biomedical researcher. Both of my parents have a biology background and have been professors forĀ years.
When I finally decided to quit, I didnāt know software engineering was my calling. How could I have? Iāve never tried. But I did know I wasnāt happy doing research or being in academia. So I did something aboutĀ it.
My first job in tech out of the bootcamp was fun a few months. It got boring quickly because I spent most of my time working on small features. I wanted greater ownership of the codebase and projects much bigger in scope, and so I joined a smallerĀ startup.
I struggled with weight and self-image. I tried zumba, running, pilates, yoga, and many other forms of exercises. Though I liked them, I wasnāt passionate about them. I wasnāt able to keep any of them as something I would do at least 2ā3 times a week. Then, I tried pole dancing. And I found myĀ calling.
Yes, though there might still be many places Iāve yet to see, Iām nevertheless a lot further along on this road than I used to be. Iāve been sprinting ahead every day, at an accelerating rate.
The secret, or rather no secret at all, to feeling unstuck, is simply doingĀ things.
You donāt have to think for endless hours what to do or whatās the right thing to do. You just have to start with one idea, and iterate fromĀ there.
I know Iāve always liked to perform. Whether it is giving a tech presentation, a speech, or a dance show, Iāve always enjoyed being a performer.
I explored various dance groups in college, but I found I didnāt particularly enjoy group performances. Then, I started dancing at S Factor and performed in front of the instructor and other students at the end of each class. Yet I wanted more. I signed up to perform at a high-end exotic night club and found myself living a thrilling, though short-lived, double life. And now, Iām competing in various pole dancing competitions around theĀ US.
I find competitions incredibly energizing and fun. I love choreographing new routines, perfecting new tricks, and in the end, put on a show exceeding my own expectations.
It took several rounds of iteration to find this satisfying activity. I certainly did not come up with this idea sitting around thinking. I didĀ things.
The number one killer of productivity at work is the lack of clear and immediate action items. The same can be applied to the way we approachĀ life.
Having action items and following through them gives us energy and puts us in a state ofĀ flow.
Thereās no point spending extra weeks or months thinking through 100 different prototypes before testing any ofĀ them.
Get into a state ofĀ flow.
Stop thinking, and startĀ doing.
āLife design is an iterative process of prototypes and experimentation.ā
Iām Lily Chen, software engineer by day, writer and pole dancer byĀ night.
Lily Chen (@lilychendances) * Instagram photos and videos
On designing your way to a better future was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.