386: Why You Feel Empty Even When Life Looks Perfect | Bill Burnett + Dave Evans

Be Well by Kelly Leveque

Kelly Leveque

Nutrition, Education, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the reason so many of us feel exhausted, disconnected, and unfulfilled isn’t because we’re failing… but because we’ve been taught to live in the wrong mindset entirely? In this conversation, I sat down with Stanford professors and Designing Your Life authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans to unpack why modern life keeps us trapped in the “transactional world” and how to reconnect with meaning, presence, flow, and joy. We talk about burnout, motherhood, social media, AI anxiety, loneliness, relationships, and the simple mindset shifts that can completely change the way you experience your life. → Leave Us A Voice Message! Topics Discussed: → Why do successful people feel empty? → How do you enter a flow state? → What creates meaning in everyday life? → Why are people more lonely today? → How do you stop living reactively? Sponsored By: → Function | Check your health the way I do — 160+ lab tests a year for $365, plus the ability to dive deeper into your results with Function's trusted connections to platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. Join at https://functionhealth.com/bewellbykelly and use code BEWELL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. → Be Well By Kelly Protein Powder & Essentials | Get $10 off your order with PODCAST10 at https://bewellbykelly.com. → Timeline | Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now more accessible. Mitopure starts at $99, and listeners can get 20% off at: https://timeline.com/KELLY → Minnow | Shop minnow's new apré-ski capsule collection at https://shopminnow.com and enter code MEETMINNOW15 at checkout to receive 15% off your first order. → Fatty 15 | Fatty15 is on a mission to replenish your C15 levels and restore your long-term health. You can get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to https://fatty15.com/KELLY15 and using code KELLY15 at checkout. → LMNT | Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/Kelly. Find your favorite LMNT flavor, or share with a friend. Timestamps: → 00:00:00 - Introduction → 00:01:45 - Bill + Dave’s Origin Story → 00:05:15 - The “Transactional World” Mindset → 00:09:59 - The Lonely Generation → 00:16:44 - Designer Mindsets → 00:21:13 - Practicing Presence → 00:23:21 - Why Nature Changes Your Nervous System → 00:30:11 - The “Got To” Vs “Get To” Mindset → 00:35:05 - Trauma, Gratitude + Perspective Shifts → 00:41:32 - FOMO to JOMO → 00:47:25 - Building Your Personal Compass → 00:53:39 - How To Create A Coherent Life → 00:57:15 - Follow Your Arrow → 00:59:10 - The Root of Suffering → 01:03:55 - Radical Acceptance → 01:11:01 - Get More Out Of Your Life → 01:15:16 - Connecting With Others Further Listening: → Repressed Emotions, Anxiety + Why Self-Improvement Doesn’t Exist | Joe Hudson Check Out Bill + Dave: → https://designingyour.life/ Check Out Kelly: → Instagram → Youtube → Facebook

Transcript

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0:00.0	loneliest generation we've ever educated. These kids are lonely. They don't have communities.
0:04.6	They're on social media all the time, but it's not in a positive way.
0:08.3	If you spend all your time responding to extrinsic outside-in motivators,
0:12.1	then your capacity to respond and recognize the intrinsic motivators, love, compassion, beauty, joy, justice,
0:18.5	actually starts to attenuate.
0:19.6	If you don't practice the ability to access flow states or even should access relaxation
0:25.2	states or meditative states, we literally atrophy the ability to be a whole human being.
0:30.3	We're busy in a transactional world.
0:31.9	And then I'm like, okay, now I want to be the best mom ever.
0:34.7	And I feel like this guilt and shame around like, I'm missing it.
0:38.3	And what's the best part of any to-do list items? Cross it off. Because then it's done.
0:43.2	Because if I get everything done, then I get what I really want. I get to be dead.
0:51.4	You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Leveck.
0:56.7	Hey, everyone. welcome back to the Be Well by Kelly podcast.
0:59.8	I am so honored today to have Bill Burnett and Dave Evans on the show.
1:03.9	They are the authors of how to live a meaningful life, and they have come about it from a crazy background.
1:09.9	They are professors at the School of Engineering
1:12.7	and that is at Stanford and they have designed backgrounds. And what this book is all about
1:19.4	is designing the most meaningful life. And they talk about flow state. They talk about two
1:24.5	different worlds, the transactional world, which is all that busyness and obligation and the flow world where the meaning lies. And so in today's
1:31.7	conversation, we're going to talk about how to spend more time in that flow world, how to
1:35.6	design your perfect life. And I am just so honored to have you both on the show. Thanks for
	...

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