Designing What's Next Experience
You, Your Life, Your Future
with Howard Kaplan and Bill Burnett
Helping those in the second half of life find health,
happiness and emotional prosperity
- and getting them there.
Who is this for?
You’re in the second half of life and…
WHERE ARE YOU?
Are you wondering what's next?
Approaching retirement, and haven’t figured it out yet?
Maybe, you’re confused or you haven’t even gotten started?
Maybe you can’t get on the same page as your spouse or partner?
Or maybe this thing called ‘retirement’ just doesn’t feel right to you and you don’t know why or what to do about it?
Or are you in some kind of a midlife reflection?
Starting to question where you are going or heading??? This might be just a nagging feeling in the moment, but you know there’s something going on. With some luck, you could have as many as 50 years or more to go. What are your ‘What’s Nexts’ for the next year, 5 years, 10 years, even the rest of your life? Do you have a Personal Strategic Plan?
Are you regretfully retired ?
Retirement not living up to expectations?
Not sure what to do? How to make it better?
Do you even un-retire? You may even be in emotional pain. Who can help you? Where do you go?
How do you change the path you’re on? Remember,
it’s not about retirement - it’s about what’s next.
Designing health, happiness and emotional prosperity in the second half of life.
Who Are We?
I’m Howard Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Personal Strategic Design (CAPP, CDYL, CPM, CPA (retired), Harvard MBA, University of Michigan BBA).
In my financial planning work, I saw the trends in medical technologies and the possibilities in Health and Longevity that were on the way. Well, we are here now! I saw how this would change our thinking and feelings about the second half of l and for more and more the concept of retirement would be far less than optimal. This stage of life, what I refer to as the “Mature Life”, needed to be rethought, and reimagined. (See Team)
And in a deep look at the field of Retirement Planning, I found so much missing. Life is not solely about money and finances. In fact, we surveyed fifty and sixty-year-olds and asked if you could only have one, which would you choose, Health, Happiness, or Prosperity? The fifty-year-olds said Happiness and the sixty-year-olds said Health. Health and Happiness, the “Good Stuff”. But all that is missing from traditional retirement planning. It’s the focus of Designing What’s Next
Then I met Bill Burnett. He’s the former Executive Director of the undergraduate and graduate Design Program at Stanford University, Managing Director of the Life Design Institute (Singapore), and best-selling co-author of Designing Your Life, How to Build a Well-Lived Joyful Life (over 1 million DYL books sold worldwide to date).
The
DESIGNING WHAT’S NEXT
Experience
You, Your Life, Your Future
with Howard Kaplan and Bill Burnett
Helping those in the second half of life find
health, happiness and emotional prosperity - and getting them there.
Nov 14th, 15th, & 16th, 2025
(Virtual sessions daily from 12 – 5 pm ET; 9 am – 2 pm PT)
In this very special, exclusive, and limited program, we will help you:
Find the great possibilities and opportunities that lie in front of you through the advanced techniques of ideation and brainstorming.
-Discover a Life Design process that provides the structure for you to find what you love to do. Create real results you’ll be able to use now and for the rest of your life.
-Be part of a special peer group for you to share with and help you go deep in a Safe Space. (In past programs, many said that this was so valuable in getting deep and sharing insights and a wonderful part of the program they hadn’t expected!)
-Save time - seeing stuff now rather than 5 years down the road.
How long does it take to get results if you are doing this alone?
-Design your health and longevity using the 23 drivers of health to take advantage of developing med-tech so we get your health span to equal your lifespan.
-Get clarity on what to actually do around vision, value and roles to create success on purpose.
-Develop important relationships (both wide and deep) that underpins all of health, happiness and emotional prosperity.
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Find what you really want - not just what you think you want. When it is no longer just about financial prosperity, Emotional Prosperity becomes the real target.
-Experience aha moments, significant shifts in thinking, and major insights into Life Design, Personal Strategic Planning, Positive Psychology, Health and Longevity.
-……. And so much more!
The Investment
So, the most important investment now is in You, Your Life, and Your future. We all need some help when it comes to designing your future health, happiness and emotional prosperity - so you want the best.
Remember, your investment in the Designing What’s Next Experience may be tax deductible. Please check with your tax advisor.
The “Risk is on us” Guarantee:
If after the first 2 days of the program you decide that this is not for you, just let us know and we will refund you the money you paid for this experience in full.
We will contact you to set up an interview call.
This is a no-deposit application and there is no obligation when you apply.
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We are only accepting 12 participants currently, and I hope you are one of them.
We can’t wait to see what comes up for you! Wishing you the very best and looking forward to talking!
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Howard Kaplan and Bill Burnett
Trusted by many people
See what our client's tell about us
I can't share this with many of my friends because they look at you and say 'What are you doing? You're insane!' And I'm not, though, so it's exciting to be part of a group of people who understand where I'm at, and sharing this is really fun - you have people who are cheering you on.
Andrea V
I gained clarity around the decision as to whether or not to sell my business and the impetus to move forward.
But most of all, the program highlighted for me the value of my friendships and social relationships.
Felicity H
I felt overstretched in so many areas of my life, and so many limiting beliefs.
You guys helped me embrace that and not reject that - embrace who I am."
"Bill is very good at giving me space to process stuff, and then you combine that with his design thinking, and it's kind of magical. Howard is more of the trainer type, the consultant - he explains a lot but speaks with a lot of empathy. I trust him. The combination of brainpower and experience is amazing. It makes for a great team. And being able to work over the long term is really valuable.
Diana O
STILL NOT SURE?
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve been doing retirement planning for years, why is this different?
Traditional retirement planning for most is about money and finances led by financial services professionals. Designing What’s Next focuses on the Non-Financial. What we call The “Good Stuff”; Health, Happiness, and Emotional Prosperity. For many, Money is the Means, but Health, Happiness, and Emotional Prosperity are the True End! And, most financial people can’t and won’t do this with their clients. Most wouldn’t even know how.
Are you saying no one should retire?
Not at all, to each their own! But our research has been showing a decline in happiness of traditional retirements. What we call a “1950s retirement”. It seems for everyone we talk to where it’s all about grandkids, golf, or drinking at the club every day, there’s someone else who feels something is missing, it doesn’t feel right, and/or it’s just not enough. Designing What’s Next™ is all about a customized approach to help you find out what you really want out of and in your life!
I’m not retiring for 10 years or more. Why should I work on this now?
Many will say “I wish I knew then what I know now”. We don’t want you to be one of them. You don’t start doing this 10 minutes before you retire. The sooner the better. This is the difference between being Proactive vs. Reactive! Designing What’s Next™ will serve you for the rest of your life and wherever you are at present! Remember, it’s not about retirement, It’s all about What’s Next!
Is this a course that anyone can take?
This is not an online course and this is not open to the general public. This is only by very special invitation for a select handful of people. Bill and I have very busy schedules and wonderful lives and Designing What’s Next™ is a passion project for us and the program has been designed for maximum impact for those we work with. We hope you can be one of them!
I view myself as a left-brain analytical type. I don’t get this design stuff.
That was me, Howard Kaplan, as left-brain as you can get. Two business schools (BBA and MBA), a CPA, and running a financial practice. In fact, the thought of design made me uncomfortable. But I took the plunge, and it uncovered the true me. We all can do this with the proper help and guidance. Tapping into both the left and right brain. The only thing I regret was not discovering this much earlier in life, but this didn’t exist. Now it does for you!
Will I figure everything out in 3 days?
No, that’s too trivial a view of what a big deal this all is. This takes effort and it’s more about Beginnings. Everyone is different. The human condition. But that is why the program doesn’t end in 3 days. Far too many times people go to programs for a weekend and love it, are all excited, and then on Monday they get back to their lives; Inertia sets in, and nothing of significance changes. That’s why we stick with you! 3 meetings with Bill and me and group follow-up sessions to help you on this important journey.
Virtual is so fatiguing?
Well first off, the plus side is no travel and no leaving home for more meetings. But we get it! We do all we can to keep you engaged. We do everything to manage the group, so everyone is all in, having fun, working effectively, and getting as much as possible out of the experience. We built this to save you a whole lot of time, as we know that has become the most important currency for all of us. That’s why we can only do this with relatively small groups, so we can pay real attention to you!
What if I can’t make these dates?
Still apply now, so we can talk (this will be worthwhile for you!). We will put you on our waiting list to be first notified when we announce our next dates and before they fill up. So Apply!
