The Mel Robbins Podcast How to Design Your Life in 1 Hour
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Feb 23, 2026 
Dave Evans, Stanford professor and Life Design Lab co-founder, and Bill Burnett, Stanford design professor and course co-creator, share practical life-design tools. They explore designing multiple possible lives, prototyping low-risk experiments, the Odyssey Plan and wild-card ideas, and exercises to clarify priorities. Short, actionable conversation about expanding possibilities and taking small steps toward a meaningful future.
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You're Bigger Than One Lifetime
- There is more personhood in you than one lifetime can express; plan multiple lives across your single lifespan.
- Recognizing multiple 'lives' reduces pressure to find one perfect path and encourages exploration.
The Chiropractor Who Found A Next Life
- A 57-year chiropractor realized he wouldn't die doing the same job and wrote down the 'something else' he wanted.
- The exercise revealed latent desires he already had but had hidden from himself.
Dave's Promise To Be A Painter
- Dave kept a promise to his 18-year-old self and maintained a painting studio where painting yields a 'marvelous state of mind.'
- He treats art as an essential personal practice rather than a public success metric.
