How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

This review examines Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’s How to Live a Meaningful Life, which applies design thinking principles to the everyday pursuit of meaning, fulfillment, and impact. Rather than treating meaning as a single answer to be discovered, the authors present it as an evolving process shaped through individual moments and intentional choices. They organize meaning-making around four components: wonder, flow, coherence, and community. Personal stories, client examples, and structured “Try Stuff” exercises encourage readers to reflect, experiment, and revise their approaches as their lives and circumstances change. The reviewer particularly values the book’s attention to life stages, post-pandemic challenges, social comparison, and the role of formative communities in supporting more authentic and meaningful lives. Although some material overlaps with the authors’ earlier publications, the book offers a practical and accessible framework for contemporary readers. It also has substantial classroom value for courses addressing personal change, resilience, career development, human resource management, and leadership, where its exercises can support reflection on values, beliefs, and purposeful action.