Designing Your Life

“Dysfunctional Beliefs”

Text inserts accented with blue lines appear throughout the book, like blueberries in a muffin. Each pull quote shows a Dysfunctional Belief and its antidote, called a “Reframe.” Most people fall prey to such misguided beliefs. Once you attach yourself to the wrong belief, avoiding living it out – to your detriment – is difficult. By placing these inserts throughout – sometimes to support a point in a specific section and sometimes not – the authors create a running theme: Don’t assume that how you regard yourself manifests your best interests. You may be clinging to a false belief about yourself that restricts your options and undermines your contentment.

Among the commonsense blessings of this approach is how powerfully you can banish long-held, unhelpful ideas by using the authors’ Reframes. Examples abound. One pervasive Dysfunctional Belief is that success brings happiness. The Reframe holds that “designing a life that works for you” is what brings true, lasting joy. You may dysfunctionally believe something is wrong with you if you can’t map out your ambitions and life’s path. Reframe that idea by realizing that you can’t conceive of a destination until you understand your present location. A Dysfunctional Belief may lead you to think you should pursue your ideal, perfect life, strategize how to achieve it and act on that strategy. A sensible Reframe suggests that your life might hold the possibility of “multiple great designs,” and you can pick one for now and let it be a bridge to the next. When job searching, your Dysfunctional Belief might be that you must find a job. Reframe that, instead, to focus on fulfilling a “hiring manager’s need” to find a perfect person for a vacant position.