Good Faith Dave Evans: Designing and Living a Meaningful Life Now
Mar 5, 2026
Dave Evans, co-founder of the Stanford Life Design Lab and author on applying design thinking to life, offers a fresh take on meaning. He discusses design moves like radical acceptance, the balance of flow, rethinking impact-driven striving, grief made real, and practical starter practices to live with more presence and coherence now.
55:37
Impact Chasing Keeps People Out Of The Present
- People stuck chasing large-impact goals live in the "not yet" and miss present meaning available now.
- Evans reframes meaning as present-moment participation in the kingdom rather than only producing measurable impact.
Design Thinking Solves Wicked Life Problems
- Design thinking fits meaning work because it builds forward through prototyping when problems are wicked and context-sensitive.
- Life design uses small experiments to learn what brings more presence, joy, and flow.
Start With Radical Acceptance Then Empathize
- Start with radical acceptance: accept precisely where you are before designing for more meaning.
- Then practice empathy to find the workable question and design experiences that increase day-to-day meaning.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Dave's life-design journey and origins
02:24 • 4min
The 'already and not yet' meaning gap
06:02 • 3min
Pitfalls of an impact-driven mindset
08:58 • 4min
Design thinking: definition and fit for meaning
13:06 • 5min
Design moves toward everyday meaning
18:09 • 3min
Radical acceptance illustrated by grief
21:10 • 7min
Flow: definition and psychological basis
28:36 • 4min
Practices to access flow and moments
32:08 • 5min
Flow and work: finding meaning in roles
37:19 • 3min
Ad break
40:22 • 2min
Compatibility with Christian worldview
42:09 • 6min
Meaning in the second half of life
48:01 • 3min
Practical starters: Get-to, wonder, coherency
51:19 • 5min
Outro
56:21 • 1min
#123
• Mentioned in 155 episodes
Flow
The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
In this classic work, Csikszentmihalyi investigates 'optimal experience' and reveals that true happiness and satisfaction can be achieved through a state of consciousness called 'flow.
' During flow, individuals experience complete concentration on the task, clarity of goals, and immediate feedback.
The book demonstrates how this positive state can be controlled and how it can improve the quality of life by unlocking meaning, creativity, and peak performance.
#344
• Mentioned in 80 episodes
Designing your life
How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
Dave Evans
Bill Burnett
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans apply the principles of design thinking to help readers design and build a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling.
The authors, who are also educators at Stanford University, emphasize the importance of prototyping, experimentation, and iteration in life design.
They provide practical exercises and tools to help readers navigate life's challenges and create a future that aligns with their values and aspirations.
The book is based on their highly successful course at Stanford and has been widely praised for its empowering and practical approach to life design.
#1083
• Mentioned in 35 episodes
Falling Upward
A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Richard Rohr
In 'Falling Upward,' Richard Rohr divides human life into two halves.
The first half is about building a life, achieving success, and establishing an identity.
The second half, often misunderstood as a period of decline, is actually a journey of spiritual growth, contentment, and deeper understanding.
Rohr argues that spiritual maturity is achieved not by avoiding failures and sufferings but by embracing them as necessary steps towards true self-discovery and union with God. The book offers practical guidance on transitioning from the outer tasks of the first half of life to the inner tasks of the second half, emphasizing the importance of integrity, love, and non-dualistic thinking.
#862
• Mentioned in 41 episodes
The Design of Everyday Things
Revised and Expanded Edition
Don Norman
In this book, Don Norman discusses how design should be centered around the user's needs, emphasizing the importance of visibility, natural relationships between controls and functions, and the intelligent use of constraints.
He argues that poor design, rather than user ineptness, is often the cause of frustration with everyday objects.
The book covers various aspects of design, including affordances, signifiers, and the seven stages of action, providing a comprehensive guide to creating user-friendly products.
#7718
• Mentioned in 6 episodes
Designing Your New Work Life
How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work
Dave Evans
Bill Burnett
In 'Designing Your New Work Life', Bill Burnett and Dave Evans provide practical tools and design ideas to help individuals adapt to the changing work landscape, optimize their workspaces, and launch new career chapters.
The book emphasizes the use of design thinking to thrive in times of disruption and create a meaningful work life.
#4151
• Mentioned in 12 episodes
How to Live a Meaningful Life
Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day
Dave Evans
Bill Burnett
In 'How to Live a Meaningful Life', Bill Burnett and Dave Evans build on their revolutionary life design framework to address the profound challenge of creating a life rich with meaning and purpose.
Drawing on the latest research, the book identifies four key areas where meaning can be reliably found: wonder, coherency, flow, and community.
It introduces five essential design mindsets, including radical acceptance and creating your world, and offers practical exercises and tools to help readers design a life that feels fully alive rather than merely fulfilled.
The authors emphasize shifting focus from the elusive goal of fulfillment to embracing a life of meaning, accessible to everyone regardless of life stage.
What Does Radical Acceptance Look Like in Real Life?
In this Good Faith Podcast episode, Curtis Chang sits down with Dave Evans (co-founder of the Stanford Life Design Lab) to tear up the "find your purpose" script and explore how design thinking, faith, and radical acceptance can lead to real meaning—especially through grief and uncertainty. Expect sharp insights, honest stories, and practical tools to build a life with more presence, flow, and authenticity starting now. Dave and Curtis dig into faith and the tension of the "already and not yet" as they look at the ideas in Dave's latest book, How to Live a Meaningful Life.
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03:05 - Dave Evans' Journey & the Origins of Life Design
09:54 - Are there Pitfalls When Pursuing Impact and Transactional Mindset?
18:08 - Design Moves for Greater Meaning
22:05 - Radical Acceptance Illustrated by Personal Loss
28:06 - Why Is the Concept of Flow Important?
39:37 - Compatibility of Design Thinking and Christian Worldview
41:06 - Four Areas of Human Experience for Meaning
45:34 - Meaning in the Second Half of Life
48:59 - Getting Started: Practical First Steps
Scriptures:
- Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (ESV)
- Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (ESV)
- John 10:10 (ESV)
- Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)
- Romans 12:2 (ESV)
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 (ESV)
- Luke 17:20–21 (ESV)
- Mark 8:18 (ESV)
Mentioned in This Episode:
- Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day
- What is Radical Acceptance?
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
- Lisa Miller's lecture The Awakened Brain
- Jill Bolte Taylor's TED Talk: My Stroke of Insight
- More about Jean Vanier and L'Arche
- Richard Rohr's Falling Upward
- Veritas Forum: Dallas Willard
- Stanford's Life Design Lab
- What is Design thinking? (pdf)
- Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things
More from Dave Evans:
- Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
- Dave Evans + Bill Burnett's Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work
- Dave Evans Praxis Mentor page
- Check out: Designing Your Life website
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.