Before the pandemic, we hosted all of our events and workshops in-person. And like you, we've had to adapt. One of the silver linings of this year is prototyping a virtual Coaching Certification and launching a new Designing Your Life...
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Taught by Kathy Davies, Managing Director of the Stanford Life Design Lab and Susan Burnett, certified DYL Master Instructor and longtime business executive, this innovative digital solution gives you the opportunity to learn and practice ideas and tools contained in the NYT bestselling Designing Your Life, How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life in a life design community.
You will participate in 3 highly interactive virtual workshops where we will work together real-time to reframe dysfunctional beliefs, explore the social and personal narratives that shape us, and dig into design tools to increase your creativity and confidence. We will use breakout discussions, and online ideation tools to share and collaborate. We will heighten a mindful awareness of where you are now, use design tools for balance and energy and improvements, practice ways to frame problems and get unstuck, gain insights into honing your decision making, and design three possible future paths – Odyssey Plans – for your life.
Between virtual workshops, the DYL app will support your journey with additional material and tools, space for reflection, and social features to share and gain insights from your community.
The following items are included in the experience
- 3 highly interactive zoom sessions where you will talk with other participants about your life and life design tools. (details below)
- Enrollment in the DYL Life Design App, specifically designed to support your one month experience with daily learning and action. (2 two week paths – details below.)
- Digital workbook of worksheets to support your assessments and reflections.
- A 1.5 hour post retreat call with the instructors and fellow participants for follow-up and coaching.
Please note that the virtual journey requires the use of technology, so before you sign up for the experience, be sure you have:
- A laptop or desktop computer that will allow you to connect to Zoom with a microphone, camera, speaker, trackpad or mouse and keyboard. Note that we will also use MIRO, an online ideation platform, which does not work well on phone or ipad, so a laptop is necessary.
- A phone that will allow you to download the DYL app.
- An internet connection of sufficient speed and stability to allow you to join a Zoom meeting with your video on.
Session Details:
- Live Session 1 – Start Where You Are: Kick off your DYL experience. Meet the instructors and your community, share your goals, commit to the norms for an effective life design community. You will be introduced to design thinking and the life design framework and start the conversation about the narratives that drive your life design. Practice the unique way we will work together using digital tools, accessing the DYL app, and building community with MIRO and Zoom collaboration.
- DYL App Path 1 – Start Where You Are: Reflect on why you work and map past and present work roles to identify what satisfies you and what doesn’t. Reflect on your life’s purpose and if what you do, who you are, and what you believe are coherent. Assess your own balance and energy.
- Live Session 2 – Getting Unstuck: Dig into balance and energy and how to get unstuck. Practice framing and reframing, and how to further think like a designer. Consider how all your assessments inform 3 versions of your future.
- DYL App Path – Get Unstuck: Consider your own discernment process and how you make decisions. Use your compass and your own discernment to refine your 3 visions of your future.
- Live Session 3 – Design Your Future: Rejoin the community to share your assessments, versions of the future, and insights gained in the previous weeks. Together use generative listening and idea boards to design tangible ways to move forward and realize your future dreams. Leave with an action plan and accountability.
- OPTIONAL: Live Session 4 – Discovery and Support: Get the support you need to continue your life design practice. Discover the science of change to set yourself up for success when you are making small or large life changes. Celebrate progress, share obstacles and get insight into how others have handled similar challenges. This session is optional.
We look forward to meeting you and to engaging in this journey together!
About Us
Kathy Davies
Designing Your Life Workshop Leader
I am the Managing Director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University, where I teach Product Design, Mechanical Engineering, and “Designing Your Life”. I have 15 years of experience developing electromechanical and software products, and proudly hold five patents. I consult with Silicon Valley companies, teach design thinking, conduct ethnographic research, and develop product strategies and concepts. My experience includes roles as Sr. Product Manager at Arena Solutions, Sr. Manager of Technical Programs at D2M, Inc, Manager of Mechanical Engineering at nLighten Technologies and Mechanical Engineer at Cardica. I am the co- creator of “Designing Your Life for Women” and a passionate advocate for design thinking as a methodology to empower social change.
Susan Burnett
Designing Your Life Workshop Leader
I have dedicated the last 35 years of my career to catalyzing individual and business transformation and growth. I have held executive positions at Hewlett Packard, Gap Inc., Deloitte, Yahoo! and BTS, where I have led large scale business changes, cultural renewal, employee engagement, leadership development, and global marketing services in the computer systems industry. I am an adjunct professor at Antioch University, teaching Women and Leadership, and I’ve taught Designing Your Life at Stanford, in companies and women’s retreats. I am a regular speaker, consultant, and author on leadership development. My Odyssey Plan for the next five years is all about empowering women to change the world!
Andrea Ciafardini
Instructor and Owner Holistic Connections
As the founder of Holistic Connections, Inc., I have designed and taught healing workshops on forgiveness, emotional health, and all aspects of Kundalini Yoga. Through my training with some of the most highly skilled teachers on conscious living, including Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, PhD, of the Kundalini Yoga tradition and Leslie Hershberger, M.A., of the Enneagram of the Narrative Tradition, I’ve learned how to enable true healing to occur. My practice areas include: the Yoga of Authentic Relationships, Mind and Meditation, Stress and Vitality, Somatic Experiencing, the Enneagram, and the Emotional Polarity Technique. I enjoy my role in the Designing Your Life for Women workshop where we create a space for participants to unwind, and reveal a deeper awareness of themselves.
FAQs
Who goes to the Designing Your Life for Women (DYLW) workshops?
You will find women of all ages, backgrounds and career experiences participating in this workshop. Their common goal is to design a life and career with more joy, purpose and fulfillment. And they are usually at some kind of crossroads in their life, like starting their first job, or making a mid-career change, or deciding whether to leave or re-enter the workforce or designing their retirement. The diverse group of women really brings different perspectives which make the collaboration and community work so well.
Why do women choose the DYLW retreat?
Many women who come to our workshops have read Designing Your Life – How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life and want to do the exercises and new designs for their life in collaboration with others. It’s especially effective to be in a room with women you don’t know, as they have no history or preconceptions about you, and they have no stake in your decisions, unlike family and friends. So they can hear you and propose possibilities for you in a new and refreshing way.
Do you have to read the book to get the most out of the retreat?
Women have told us it’s helpful to read the book in advance, and others have said they like doing the workshop first and then read the book. It’s a personal learning preference, not a requirement to read the book in advance of attending the retreat.
Do you provide any special discounts?
Yes, we provide a 10% discount for alumnae friends and family. Your favorite alum will give you the promotion code. We also provide a 50% discount to students and veterans, as well as a few scholarships. Please contact catherine@designingyour.life for more information.
What’s the refund policy?
We do not refund your money if you cancel, so please make sure you are able to make the date you have selected. If something unforeseen happens, please contact Kathy Davies at kathy.h.davies@gmail.com about your situation, and we will see if we can transfer your registration to another workshop if one is available.
Still have questions?
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