Episode

#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
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1:55:39
Published: Thu Jan 12 2017
Description

For some of you, this may be most important podcast episode you ever listen to. I don't say that lightly. It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my guest, who walks us through gripping stories, tactical details, humor, pain, and emotional redemption. We cover some sensitive and extremely important ground. Thank you, Debbie. Graphic Design USA has named Debbie Millman (@debbiemillman) "one of the most influential designers working today." She is also the founder and host of Design Matters, the world's first and longest-running podcast about design, where she's interviewed nearly 300 design luminaries and cultural commentators including Massimo Vignelli and Milton Glaser. Debbie's done it all. Her artwork has been exhibited around the world. She's designed everything from wrapping paper to beach towels, greeting cards to playing cards, notebooks to t-shirts, and Star Wars merchandise to global Burger King rebrands. Debbie is the President Emeritus of AIGA (one of only five women to hold the position in the organization's one-hundred-year history), the editorial and creative director of Print magazine, and the author of six books. In 2009, Debbie co-founded (with Steven Heller) the world's first masters program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, which has received international acclaim. We cover a lot in this discussion: how to recover from rejection, how to overcome personal crises of faith, class exercises from her most impactful mentors, and much more. Please enjoy (and reflect on) this wide-ranging conversation with Debbie Millman... Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients. FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more. Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter "Tim" in the "how did you hear about us" section. This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years and now has more than $2.5B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it's all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they'll show you -- for free -- exactly the portfolio they'd put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim. ***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapters
Tim Ferriss introduces his email newsletter, Five Bullet Friday, which he sends out every Friday with five bullet points of the coolest things he found that week to millions of subscribers worldwide.
00:00 - 01:02 (01:02)
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Email Newsletter
Summary

Tim Ferriss introduces his email newsletter, Five Bullet Friday, which he sends out every Friday with five bullet points of the coolest things he found that week to millions of subscribers worldwide.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss deconstructs world class performers to share their habits, routines and decision making processes.
01:02 - 06:27 (05:25)
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Tim Ferriss
Summary

Tim Ferriss deconstructs world class performers to share their habits, routines and decision making processes.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A story of a childhood memory and a Jewish tradition leads to a conversation about the meaning behind advertising and the effectiveness of its various forms.
06:27 - 12:14 (05:47)
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Advertising
Summary

A story of a childhood memory and a Jewish tradition leads to a conversation about the meaning behind advertising and the effectiveness of its various forms.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A SUNY Albany alumni recounts how she found her passion for designing newspapers during her time as the editor of the arts and features section of the student newspaper.
12:14 - 20:46 (08:32)
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College, Newspaper Design
Summary

A SUNY Albany alumni recounts how she found her passion for designing newspapers during her time as the editor of the arts and features section of the student newspaper.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A person discusses how their first rejection greatly impacted them and how it affected their future attempts in getting their work approved.
20:46 - 28:42 (07:56)
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Rejection
Summary

A person discusses how their first rejection greatly impacted them and how it affected their future attempts in getting their work approved.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares his experience of rejections and how changing perspectives on the situation helped him move on positively.
28:42 - 36:03 (07:21)
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Overcoming Rejection
Summary

The speaker shares his experience of rejections and how changing perspectives on the situation helped him move on positively. He emphasizes that it is important to understand the perception of the person who is rejecting in order to deal with it better.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast episode delves into the importance of financial independence in empowering women who have experienced trauma.
36:03 - 47:53 (11:50)
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Financial literacy
Summary

This podcast episode delves into the importance of financial independence in empowering women who have experienced trauma. The speaker shares her own story and stresses the significance of financial literacy and self-sufficiency.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
This episode features Judy Jackson speaking about the power of empathy in her branding work, as well as in her work with Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation, which supports survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.
47:53 - 55:37 (07:44)
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Empathy
Summary

This episode features Judy Jackson speaking about the power of empathy in her branding work, as well as in her work with Mariska Hargitay's Joyful Heart Foundation, which supports survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker reminisces about a difficult experience from a previous job and reflects on the significance of the objects we choose to surround ourselves with.
55:37 - 1:03:25 (07:48)
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Personal growth
Summary

The speaker reminisces about a difficult experience from a previous job and reflects on the significance of the objects we choose to surround ourselves with.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
A former judge in a design competition shares her experience of discrimination in the industry, recounting her interaction with a fellow juror who refused to award any mass-market packaging designs.
1:03:25 - 1:07:46 (04:21)
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Design
Summary

A former judge in a design competition shares her experience of discrimination in the industry, recounting her interaction with a fellow juror who refused to award any mass-market packaging designs.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast episode discusses how the Speak Up community called out AIGA for their inclusion of Debbie Millman as a juror in their prestigious design competition, and how it sparked conversations about diversity and inclusion in the design industry.
1:07:46 - 1:12:14 (04:28)
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Design
Summary

This podcast episode discusses how the Speak Up community called out AIGA for their inclusion of Debbie Millman as a juror in their prestigious design competition, and how it sparked conversations about diversity and inclusion in the design industry.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker shares a story of feeling like a misfit trying to change the world through graphic design criticism and online conversations.
1:12:14 - 1:20:25 (08:11)
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Graphic Design
Summary

The speaker shares a story of feeling like a misfit trying to change the world through graphic design criticism and online conversations. They mention their obsession with Print magazine, having visited the site up to 20 times a day.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Debbie Millman talks about starting her podcast, Design Matters, as a way to engage with people about graphic design without any commercial value.
1:20:25 - 1:27:32 (07:07)
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Graphic Design
Summary

Debbie Millman talks about starting her podcast, Design Matters, as a way to engage with people about graphic design without any commercial value. She discusses transitioning the show from discussing why design matters to how creative people design their lives.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The host discusses the benefits and importance of long-term planning with her students, reflecting on how it can provide direction and help predict future success.
1:27:32 - 1:34:35 (07:03)
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Long-term Planning
Summary

The host discusses the benefits and importance of long-term planning with her students, reflecting on how it can provide direction and help predict future success. She also expresses gratitude for a professor who has been a mentor and role model in her life.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Debbie Millman talks about the power of dreaming big and how visualizing your future can help make it a reality, based on the letters she receives from students who did her exercise.
1:34:35 - 1:37:54 (03:19)
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Personal Growth
Summary

Debbie Millman talks about the power of dreaming big and how visualizing your future can help make it a reality, based on the letters she receives from students who did her exercise.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The mindset of constantly upping the ante and never being satisfied with what one has can be a never-ending trap, leading to an inability to make decisions and ultimately, reach true happiness.
1:37:54 - 1:49:55 (12:01)
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Mindset
Summary

The mindset of constantly upping the ante and never being satisfied with what one has can be a never-ending trap, leading to an inability to make decisions and ultimately, reach true happiness.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The small details in investing like automatic tax loss harvesting, portfolio rebalancing, and dividend reinvestment can lead to large amounts of money over time.
1:49:55 - 1:53:58 (04:03)
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Investing
Summary

The small details in investing like automatic tax loss harvesting, portfolio rebalancing, and dividend reinvestment can lead to large amounts of money over time. Additionally, Wealthfront is a popular and innovative investing service led by tech experts and investors that offers a 25% return on assets above $15,000.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
FreshBooks is offering a 30-day unrestricted free trial for its cloud accounting software that simplifies invoicing, expense tracking and payment processing for self-employed professionals.
1:53:58 - 1:55:24 (01:26)
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Freelancers
Summary

FreshBooks is offering a 30-day unrestricted free trial for its cloud accounting software that simplifies invoicing, expense tracking and payment processing for self-employed professionals. The all-new FreshBooks platform is designed to provide speed, simplicity and ease of use to freelancers worldwide.

Episode
#214: How to Design a Life - Debbie Millman
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show