<aside> <img src="/icons/star_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/star_lightgray.svg" width="40px" />
</aside>
In 2020, I came across the book "Life Design Class at Stanford University" and was drawn to the idea of using design thinking to find my purpose in life and experiment to create more possibilities. I enlisted my best friend to join me in a three-month-long, one-on-one exploration of the exercises in the book. We pondered questions like "Who am I?" and "What am I better at or more energized to do?" to gain a better understanding of ourselves and our outlook on life and work.
Reading this book changed my perspective on career and life. Previously, I believed that career planning had to be done during school, and I should set a career goal and a 5-10 year plan. This mindset put a lot of pressure on me to act a certain way. However, after reading this book, I realized that life is designed, and career can be created. There are too many changes in the world and ourselves to always have a "sure thing." Instead, we must experiment and try things out based on self-awareness, similar to the iteration process of product design. This shift in thinking allowed me to adjust my direction more lightly.
Through our discussions, I discovered that I aspired to a state of work and life that is "flexible and free to move." Inspired by the book's approach of "prototype test," I abandoned my perfectionist tendencies of overthinking and not taking action, and instead adopted a new approach of thinking as I go. I took advantage of the opportunity to work remotely and spent five months in Dali, the gathering place of digital nomads, to experiment with digital nomadic life.
This experiment helped me gain a clearer understanding of my goals and gave me the courage to carry out the next design of my life. During my time in Dali, I met many young people who were also confused about where to go in life. After sharing my experience with them, they were inspired to take action and start their own explorations.
As a result, I have decided to share my exploration with others to help them with their own self-awareness, self-discovery, and self-actualization.
<aside> <img src="/icons/book_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/book_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> About the Book
</aside>
<aside> <img src="/icons/steering-wheel_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/steering-wheel_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> About my system
</aside>
<aside> <img src="/icons/directional-sign_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/directional-sign_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> More explorations
</aside>