Designing Your Life: How Stanford Professors Apply Design Thinking to Careers
Discover Stanford professors Bill Burnett & Dave Evans’ Designing Your Life. Learn how Odyssey Plans, prototyping, and design thinking build a fulfilling career.
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Books & Ideas
Books, philosophies, and ideas worth exploring.
106 articles availableA place to begin
Explore Books & Ideas with intention
Books and ideas give us language for experiences we have not fully named yet. This collection brings together thoughtful book guides, philosophy, essays and stories that invite you to slow down, question familiar assumptions and carry a useful idea into everyday life.
- 01Begin with one idea
Choose a guide that speaks to a question you are already living with.
- 02Pause and reflect
Notice the sentence, argument or story that stays with you.
- 03Put it into practice
Write down one small way the idea could shape a decision this week.
Explore the topics
Find a perspective that meets you where you are
A reflection for this week
“What idea have you encountered recently that changed the way you see something ordinary?”
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Wheel of Life
Use a visual check-in to see which parts of life deserve more attention.
Common questions
Helpful context before you begin
What kind of books are covered here?
You will find approachable guides to ideas, book summaries, philosophy, biographies and essays that connect reading with real life.
Are summaries a replacement for reading the book?
No. They are a thoughtful starting point: a way to understand the central ideas and decide whether a book deserves your deeper attention.
How can I retain more from what I read?
Keep one note after each reading session: the idea, why it matters to you and one place you might apply it.
106 articles
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker: The Science of Rest and Cognitive Health
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The Art of Living by Epictetus: A Stoic Blueprint for Inner Tranquility
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The Comfort Crisis: Embracing Discomfort to Reclaim Your Health
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Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
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When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Discover Carol Dweck’s landmark research from Mindset. Learn the difference between a Fixed and Growth Mindset, how to praise effort, and embrace failure.
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
Discover the cognitive science from Make It Stick. Learn why highlighting and rereading fail, and how retrieval practice and spaced repetition build mastery.