Many make the mistake of thinking that their lives are going to work out as planned. It never does. What would happen if you treated your life like a startup?

The guest for this weeks show, Dr. Anna Akbari, discusses her book, “Startup Your Life: Hustle And Hack Your Way To Happiness.”

As an entrepreneur, Anna Akbari learned that one of the best things about startups is their ability to “pivot” quickly — basically a euphemism for failing and trying again. She quickly found that personal success is no different.

Anne had the unfortunate timing of finishing college just as the job market went into one of worst downturns anyone has seen. Any plans she had were out the window and her new plans would require her to prototype, test, fail, pivot and try again. Just like a startup.

In her book, she shares the lessons that entrepreneurs learn through the school of hard knocks and applies them to ways you can and should look at your life.

In this weeks show on how to treat your life like a startup, we discuss:

* Her early years and the decision at a young age that show would be a Dr.

* Her college experience of searching for what she wanted to be.

* The expectations that if you follow the rules of going to school, work hard and get good grades — then you would be successful.

* What happens when the expectation can't be met?

* The lessons learned from failure.

* How startup thinking can be applied to education.

Two Pieces of Advice From the Book:

* Life VC: Just as startups have venture capitalists, you need life VC's. These are the people who come alongside and who invest in your life. These are not the coaches and mentors you may have but people who invest in your life by being there.

* Make Time For Fun: Get away and have fun. Use that time away to recharge yourself so that you can make the next milestone.

About Anna Akbari:

Anna is a sociologist, entrepreneur, and writer. She is the founder of Sociology of Style, an image and life coaching company, and a partner in HVCK, a Silicon Valley innovation consultancy. A former instructor at New York University and Parsons School of Design, she is a frequent speaker and media personality and has written for and been featured by Forbes, CNN, The Atlantic, The Economist, Financial Times, TED, Bulletproof Executive, TIME, and dozens more.

How to follow Anna:

* Anna's website

* Ann's book, Startup Your Life: Hustle And Hack Your Way To Happiness on Amazon

* Anna on twitter

* Anna on LinkedIn