Episode · The Rich Roll Podcast · 2026-03-16
Books mentioned on Stanford Professors Bill Burnett & Dave Evans On How To Design A Meaningful Life
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans created perhaps the most popular course at Stanford, "Designing Your Life," and co-authored the book "How to Live a Meaningful Life." This conversation explores the intersection of product design and personal development.
Bill Burnett discussed Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Awakened Brain by Dr. Lisa Miller, and Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Dave Evans discussed The Creative Act by Rick Rubin.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E.
Discussed“Victor Frankl's Man Search for Meaning invented a whole new school of psychology called logootherapy, defining that the fundamental definition of the human person is a meaning maker.”
Where to get it
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Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits by James Clear is a widely acclaimed guide to habit formation and personal development that provides actionable strategies for building good behaviors and breaking bad ones through incremental changes.
Discussed“You know, the things like, uh, you know, James Clear's um, you know, atomic habits like small changes are how you make big changes.”
Where to get it
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The Awakened Brain
The Awakened Brain by Dr.
Discussed“Dr. Lisa Miller at Columbia calls it the awakened brain and the achieving brain.”
Where to get it
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Flow
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a psychological masterpiece that explores the state of optimal experience, immersion, and deep engagement where challenges perfectly match an individual's skill level, resulting in profound fulfillment and distorted perceptions of time.
Discussed“So in flow, we said, well, flow is the original book is flow, the psychology of optimal experience.”
Where to get it
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The Creative Act
The Creative Act: A Way of Being is a guide to harnessing artistic perspective and spiritual approaches to creativity by legendary music producer Rick Rubin.
Discussed“Rick Rubin, the record producer, wrote the book on the creative act. He talks about, you know, we just channel this stuff from, you know, he he would call flow creativity.”
Where to get it
