“Design Your Life”: Community Reflections

Thank you to everyone who read and responded to the September edition’s article on designing your dream life. We are publishing a few responses to the exercise below to continue inspiring everyone to give it a go. As a reminder, we invited folks to explore the benefits of risk-taking and vulnerability in accomplishing their big dreams by publicly publishing a reflection on their experience designing their dream life. Thanks to Kaylee, Sneha, Shivani, and Sam for sharing and experimenting. Returns accrue to those willing to think big and willing to be vulnerable enough to tell people about those big goals.

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Kaylee Cornelius, HBS MBA ‘28

By December 2026, I will complete three meaningful “firsts” (experiences designed to push me beyond my comfort zone and clarify what I want next). Ask me about it.

What surprised me most about this exercise was how coming to HBS brought back experiences I had pushed to the back burner after college: running a marathon, visiting all seven continents, and volunteering abroad. In a wonderful way, this community has brought those goals back to the forefront and given me opportunities to start crossing them off. By the time this is published in October, I hope to have voluntarily jumped out of a plane with some of my wonderful sectionmates. Shoutout Section C!

I realized I had been stalling on the things I wanted to do while completing the things I felt I should do, continually kicking the can down the road. I also discovered that the life I am building is centered around experiences, even if I am not sure I will ever have enough freedom to fit them all in. Perhaps that is simply part of being human. Maybe we create more possibilities than we can pursue at once.

I have not pursued these experiences sooner because the “adult” in me knows I have responsibilities. But which responsibilities truly belong to me, and which have I taken on but they really belong to someone else? No one is relying on me to make these choices except me.

Our community can help by asking what I am up to and whether I have tried anything new. I hope to do the same for others. Sometimes other people’s stories inspire us to take the next step ourselves.

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Sneha Sinha, HBS MBA ‘28

By December 2026, I will reach out to companies in Europe in my research towards recruiting for the sports/media space. Ask me about it.

Okay, trying to design my dream life and being vulnerable (HBS is really challenging me now). It is something I’ve thought about a lot, but I’ve never actually put it in writing. In the past, my biggest dream was to play professional tennis, but I have too many physical ailments and not enough talent for that. I love the heart of an athlete, and I’d love to be a sports commentator someday. Living in Europe has also sounded really appealing to me in the last year or so.

People in my tight circle encourage me to find my person and settle down post-HBS, but I just don’t feel ready for that yet. There’s so much I want to achieve for myself, but I don’t even know what that looks like. All I know at this moment is that I want to have a lifestyle where every day looks different. The hours I work, the kind of work I do, and the places I go; I’m not so sure about going back to a desk job. I want to write a book someday, but before I do that, I want to live the kind of life that people would want to read about.

Being the oldest kid in my immigrant family came with gratitude for my experiences thus far and guilt for the sacrifices my parents made to build our lives in the United States. My response then became to make the most of my opportunities and do everything that made them proud.  Coming to HBS has inspired me to put my wishes first too, and I’m going to strive for new experiences grounded in my interests.

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Shivani Dixit, HBS MBA ‘28

In the summer of 2015, the New York Times asked current college students to share words of wisdom with incoming students. This is what I submitted: "Don't compare yourself to other students. It is easy to feel lost, especially when it comes to academics. Remember that everyone has unique talents, and you have four years to cultivate yours."

After reading "Design a Life You Love," I found myself returning to what I wrote eleven years ago. I’ve started HBS feeling much as I did when I first arrived at college: uncertain, nervous, and a little lost, but also full of hope and excitement. We have the privilege of facing an abundance of choice alongside an intense scarcity of time, two forces fundamentally at odds with each other. When I think about my "direction," I sometimes feel directionless precisely because there are so many paths to pursue.

Debbie Millman's exercise asks us to be honest and vulnerable about what we truly want. For me, designing a life I love means staying present, trusting my gut, and trying things that feel true to myself, not just what I think I should be doing. In a few months' time, I hope to feel comfortable in every decision I make, rather than optimizing my time in a certain way because I think I'm supposed to.

I'm still designing that life, but I believe it starts with a framework that lets us take the time to develop our interests, personal or professional, and make choices that feel authentic. I’ll start by fully embracing the advice I once wrote for my peers at age 20, which somehow turned out to be a message to my future self.

I'm so looking forward to the next two years alongside the Class of 2028!

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Sam Bergman, HBS MBA ‘28

By October 26, I will have made productivity a routine, eliminate procrastination, and somehow not burn out. Ask me about it. 

In my previous working life (and most of my life, to be honest) I have been fortunate enough to achieve satisfactory feedback with much less than the total effort I could put forth. I've previously considered this to be a fortune, allowing me to spend lots of time on personal endeavors. Unfortunately though, this has also instilled in me a tendency to procrastinate and exert the minimum effort required in any given task. Work smarter, not harder has been the mantra. 

Hard work is what gets things done. No one ever made a widespread impact on others without working hard. I know I can accomplish much more if I redirect my extra capacity into something productive, but I've put this off because it requires a substantial lifestyle change that needs to be solidified into routine. This goal could easily slip with the new stress of HBS life, ease of accessing distractions, and the upcoming winter months where sunlight is scarce and motivation dwindles. Despite this, I'm eager to make the most of the opportunity I have at HBS to make this lifestyle change.

Support in the form of check-ins, co-working sessions, and questions like, "What have you been working on lately?" would be most welcome. Ask me about it!

Emily Counceller (MBA '28) is from Indianapolis, Indiana. She studied Economics at DePauw University before beginning her career at Eli Lilly and Company in commercial forecasting. Prior to HBS, she spent 5 years on Lilly’s corporate VC team. In her spare time, you can find her climbing rocks, yapping, sampling pastries, and hanging with her husband and cat.