Skip to content
YuCMS
Home Browse Courses Browse Assessments Blog Knowledge Partners About Partner Login
Courses / 42Courses / Design the life you love
4
42Courses

Design the life you love

9h
Enroll Now

Three promises you can rely on.

A CPD-accredited Mini MBA.

Proper credit for real progress. Signed, dated, and easy to track.

Checked and marked by humans.

A real person actually reads what you submit and replies, usually within 24 hours.

Built for your role.

Our AI reshapes each lesson around your day-to-day work, so you can apply it straight away.

About this course

Are there parts of your life you want to change, but you're not sure how to get started? Do you ever feel like you've got more inside you, but it's just not landing where it should?

If you said yes to both, you're definitely in the right place.

Honestly, it makes sense that so many of us want to feel more fulfilled and get more out of life.

The odd part is that we often spend very little time figuring out the best way to actually make it happen.

In this online course, Ayse Birsel, a designer and author with multiple awards under her belt, will guide you through designing a life you genuinely enjoy.

You'll work through straightforward exercises to get to the root of what's getting in your way, what energises you, and what you truly want from life, not just what you think you should want.

After you finish, you'll get your own personal life map.

Think of it as a plan you can follow to build the life you want. It's private, custom-made, and there's no cookie-cutter version. No two life maps look the same.

This well-tested approach uses the Deconstruction: Reconstruction' method and has helped thousands of people worldwide figure out the next steps they need to create the life they love.

And now, it's your turn.

Why learn from Ayse Birsel?

Ayse is an award-winning designer, author, and speaker, and she made Fast Company's list of the 100 Most Creative People. She also co-founded Birsel + Seck, an award-winning studio focused on design and innovation, and she supports brands including Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Herman Miller, GE, IKEA, Nike, and Toyota, among others. You can even find her work in MoMA's permanent collection.

She shares a weekly innovation post for Inc.com, and the same design thinking she used to create hundreds of award-winning products and systems for Fortune 500 companies is what she'll bring to help people of all backgrounds shape the life they love.

Key Features

  • Get clear on what's been holding you back
  • Work out what you actually want in life
  • No previous creative experience needed
  • Your content stays confidential and private
  • Our custom algorithm builds a personalised life map to keep you on track

Image

What you'll learn:

  • See things like a designer
  • Turn limits into chances
  • Look at your life from a fresher angle
  • Use design thinking to uncover what matters most to you
  • Reframe your point of view

Who's it for

Designed for people like you.

This is for:

  • People who want to figure out what comes next in life
  • People who feel stuck and unsure about their next step
  • Anyone craving a bit more clarity and direction

A quick look behind the curtain.

💡

Inside a lesson

Short, story-driven, and never tedious. Each lesson is about 15 minutes. You'll watch a video, read a piece of writing that actually has a point, and then answer a question to confirm the idea stuck.

💡

AI personalisation

Made for your role and what you're aiming for. Tell us what you do and what you'd like to improve. Every lesson is rewritten with practical takeaways for your specific work. The underlying frameworks and data stay put, while the examples become relevant to you.

💡

Real feedback

Support from a real human. A selection of questions are marked by someone on our team. If you need a nudge, you'll get one. If you're stuck, we're also ready to jump on a call.

💡

The certificate

A Mini MBA certificate you can keep. CPD-accredited with a signed, dated, and trackable finish. Learner completion is over 80%, while the industry average is usually nearer 10%.

42courses vs typical online courses.

Feature 42courses Typical platform
Marking & feedback by real people Within 24 hours Auto-quizzes only
Personalised by role & sector AI rewrites every lesson Same material for everyone
Taught by working practitioners The authors are active in the field Often academics or performers
Average completion rate Over 80% 5 to 15% (industry average)
CPD-accredited Mini MBA certificate Included in every course Sometimes
30-day money back, no questions If you're not satisfied, neither are we Usually only 7 days to refund

Questions you might be thinking about.

There's about eight hours of learning altogether, broken into lessons that take roughly 15 minutes each. Most people finish in around two weeks, but you can go at your own pace. No strict deadline either, and you can pause whenever life or work gets in the way.
Not at all. We begin with the basics and then build from there. The course offers a new way to look at the topic, using insights from some of the strongest minds in the space. So whether you're just starting out or you've been around the block, you'll get something useful.
Each lesson ends with a short question to check you've understood. In every course, selected questions are marked manually by our team. If something needs clarification, a real person comes back with notes to help you move forward. And if you ever want to talk it through, you can also hop on a call.
You've got 30 days after you enrol to request a full refund. No forms, no awkward exit interview, no email ping-pong. Refund requests are answered within 24 hours, and often sooner. If you're not happy, we make it right.
The books cover the theory. This course focuses on how to use it, with guidance that's tailored to your role and goals. You'll leave with practical takeaways for every lesson, and they'll be specific to you.
Yes. People who've completed it have used it across tech, healthcare, retail, banking, government, charities, and education. Because each lesson is personalised to your role and goals, the examples and exercises adjust to your situation instead of staying generic.
Yes, usually. Most learning and development budgets can cover it comfortably. If you need a VAT-friendly invoice, just get in touch at groundcontrol@42courses.com. For teams with 10 or more learners, check the Team plans section.
It's a CPD-accredited certificate, recognised across the UK and internationally for continuing professional development. You get a version personalised with your name, signed and dated, and it's trackable too. Add it to your LinkedIn, your CV, your performance review, your fridge, whatever helps you keep track.

Tools You'll Explore

Ayse Birsel

Ayse Birsel

Ayse Birsel is an award-winning designer, author, and educator. She was recently named by Fast Company as one of the world's most creative people, and she appears on the Thinkers50 Radar list, which highlights management thinkers likely to shape the future of organisations. She splits her time between New York and Istanbul with her husband, Bibi Seck, and their three children, who keep influencing her approach to life design. Twitter: @aysebirselseck LinkedIn: Ayse Birsel

Birsel + Seck

Birsel + Seck

Birsel + Seck is a design studio based in New York, co-founded by Ayse Birsel and her husband, Bibi Seck. They've worked with major brands like Amazon, Harvard Business Review, Nike, Tiffany & Co, Nissan, Converse, and more. Their goal is to bring simplicity, system thinking, and a human-centered approach to the tough challenges of life, work, experiences, products, and business. Website: birselplusseck.com

What we'll cover, in order.

Why design the life you love?

Learn about design thinking, how design principles can apply to life, and how this process can help you live the life you want to.
Why design the life you love?
Why am I designing my life?
How to think like a designer
My Process
Let's warm up

Deconstruction

Practice deconstructing the elements of your life so that you can identify all of its current parts and pieces.
What is deconstruction?
The four quadrants
Too much and too little

Point of view

Learn techniques to look at your life from another perspective to see what you truly value and what really matters to you.
Thinking about life from a different perspective
Heroes
Your true hero
The power of metaphors
Metaphor for your life
Insights
How to get from today to tomorrow

Reconstruction

With your new perspective identified, learn how to put the parts and pieces of your life back together in a way that reflects the life you want to live.
What is reconstruction?
Putting it all together

Expression

Learn how to give form to the design of the life you love in a way that will help you share and test it out with others.
Expression
Letter to your future self

Live the life you love

Learn some design principles that you can apply to living the life you love, and experience the big reveal of the life map you've designed.
Design principles to apply to life
Let's retrace our steps

Certification Process

1

Complete all the classes

Attend classes, ask questions, and finish your homework. We check your activity and support your learning journey every step of the way.

2

Get the Summary Notes

Receive high-quality supporting documents, summary notes, and recommended readings. Ensure you have access to all tools and resources.

3

Complete 100% Impact

Complete the final assessment to validate your learning. Earn your certificate and share your achievement with your professional network!

Design the life you love
Free
Enroll for Free

This Course Includes:

Level Access
9h of Content
Certificate of Completion
English

Get Certified

Add value to your profile

Certificate Preview
Official Certificate

Keep the momentum going

Discover more courses to boost your career.

Browse all courses →
Financial Wellness: Take Control Of Your Company Finances To Guarantee Your Business Longevity Course
C
Coggno

Financial Wellness: Take Control Of Your Company Finances To Guarantee Your Business Longevity Course

4.8 (1.2k reviews)
₹2,283
Business Writing
A
Alpha Academy

Business Writing

4.8 (1.2k reviews)
Free
Health Care Certificate
A
Alpha Academy

Health Care Certificate

4.8 (1.2k reviews)
Free
Bank Secrecy Act for Managers
C
Coggno

Bank Secrecy Act for Managers

4.8 (1.2k reviews)
₹1,903