About the Life Design Catalyst Academy
The "Why"
“Our job in this lifetime is not to fit into some mold that others have determined is best for us. Our job is to find out who we already are – and become it.” - Steven Pressfield
“Your purpose in life is to become the best version of yourself and profoundly serve others in order to make the world a better place."
The Life Design Catalyst Academy was created in April 2020 as an online version of the Life Design Catalyst Program in the School of Health and Human Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The LDC Program at UNCG consists of two 1-credit, first-year experience courses: "HHS125: Design Your Life I - What Could I Do With My Life" and "HHS135: Design Your Life II - Redesign a Life You'll Love," as well as a 3-credit course, "Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship," which has evolved into a "Developing a Side Hustle" course - based on Chris Guillebeau's book, "Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days." The LDC Academy is an expanded version of these three courses...and a whole lot more!
The Academy consists of Modules, Projects, and additional Resources to design your best life. The foundation of the LDC Academy are the four Modules (Courses), together known as the Growth Year Bundle:
The Life Design Catalyst Academy facilitates the growth process by empowering students, faculty, and staff in higher education to optimize their lives by using their gifts to express the best version of themselves in service to something bigger than themselves in order to make the world a better place. It’s an approach that views the exploration of Purpose (“Who am I meant to be?”), Meaning (“Why do I matter?”), Mission (“What am I here to do?”), and Vision (“Where do I want to go?”) as the foundation for student development and ultimately, student success.
The Academy integrates academic advising, academic/success coaching, career exploration, personal development, contemplative practices, holistic health and well-being, and developing the entrepreneurial spirit/mindset as a foundation for the college experience – especially for first-year students.
The Academy embraces the "The Catalyst Spirit” (also known as the "Entrepreneurial Spirit"), where the Facilitators and students: (1) become deeply engaged in and committed to meaningful work and purposeful, passionate goals; (2) are intentional and persistent in all activities by taking calculated risks to create substantial value and generate significant results despite adversity, obstacles, and failure; and (3) step out of our comfort zone to use curiosity, creativity, imagination, and resourcefulness to design and plan a better life and a better future for ourselves and for others.
Recognize that the Life Design Catalyst Academy is focused more on student development than student performance. Practices focused on performance typically addresses and fixes specific problems or challenges. It’s about putting out the fires on everyday stuff. Practices focused on development turns the focus from the issue at hand to the person dealing with the issue. It’s about moving forward to learn, grow, and improve, rather than fixing a problem. Both are necessary, but it’s important to know that LDC work primarily concentrates on development, not performance.
LDC Academy Beliefs/Principles:
If you'd like to learn more about how we work with students in the Life Design Catalyst Academy and our plans for the future, please check out the links below for more in-depth information:
Articles/Papers
Data/Research
Poster/Project Examples
Course Syllabi
"Required" Readings
These are our "must reads" for anyone interested in or pursuing Life Design Catalyst work: