Life Designer with Jingyu Chen
Capturing once in a lifetime moment and each encounter is one of a kind and unique. Life designer is looking to genuine and meaningful human connection, and telling candid human stories. In each episode, I will interview an amazing talent coming from all around the world across all different industries. They are artists, creatives, professionals, entrepreneurs, slash everything, and they are all on their journey to pursue their mission with a passion. It's their story-telling about how they become their own life designers! Please feel free to visit my website to find more information: https://www.lifedesignerwithjingyuchen.com/
I am also running my solo podcast ‘Jing Lens’ -- my lifestyle diary . Here I share daily hustle and grind, small joys from my travel and hobbies, exercise routine, self-care practice, and reflection on my personal growth, etc., I consider Jing Lens as my dynamic diary to document and capture evolving and ( hopefully elevating) journey of my lifestyle. Lifestyle is a bit overkill buzzword today but I have always been drawn to this word, spending years and years searching and building my lifestyle. I guess I finally reach this self-validation point to feel may be able to to share some mindset and practice from an ordinary person’s life to provide one possible form of wholesome and joyful living.
Both podcasts are located in my website. My website is like my container where I put my heart and soul to curate . Please feel free to visit my website to check in both podcasts if you are interested. Thank you so much for listening to my podcasts!
Life Designer with Jingyu Chen
How Do You Want to Live Your Life: Inspired by the Eponymous Japanese Animated Film 君たちはどう生きるか
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In this episode, I reflect on the question: How do you want to live your life? Inspired by the Japanese animated film 君たちはどう生きるか, I share a personal exploration of life design—shaped by epigenetics, identity, attention, and deliberate systems that support a meaningful life. Through years of self-reflection and building my podcast Life Designer, I arrived at a clear blueprint: a life of longevity and vitality, infused with intellectuality, beauty, and humanity. Ultimately, this episode explores what it means to become an agile architect of life: building systems aligned with vision, values, and identity while adapting, iterating, and evolving as life changes.
Timestamps
0:00 – 19:05 | Chapter 1: My Blueprint of Being a Life Designer
Genetic or Epigenetic—My Verdict is, and Always Will Be Epigenetic
I reflect on the debate between genetics and epigenetics. Growing up in a rigid academic system, early struggles with mathematics shaped my sense of natural limits. Instead of seeing genetics as destiny, epigenetics offers a more empowering view: acknowledging innate wiring while intentionally focusing on areas that align with strengths and curiosity.
How I Want to Live my Life – Unequivocal Clarity
Through reflection, I arrived at a clear vision inspired by 君たちはどう生きるか. I imagine a life immersed in reading, writing, piano, exercise, and creative work, close to nature, focused on longevity, vitality, intellectual depth, and aesthetic experience.
Why Intellectuality, Beauty, and Connection
Intellectuality fuels thinking, writing, and podcasting. Beauty shapes perception through architecture and design. Connection ties these pursuits together, fostering meaningful conversations and reinforcing both ideas and human resonance.
Aligning My System with Vision, Values, and Identity
I built a life-design formula of habits, attention training, brain rewiring, and environment—guided by vision, values, and identity. Daily practices like exercise, reading, writing, and creative work serve my ultimate goals, while values are reflected in how I allocate time, energy, and resources.
Identity At the Core
Identity emerges through self-deconstruction and deliberate reconstruction. Defined by chosen qualities—gravitas, composure, self-agency—it anchors every system and decision in my life.
19:05 – 43:58 | Chapter 2: A New Experiment Inaugurated — Becoming an Agile Architect of Life
During the Christmas and New Year break, I ran a personal experiment: freed from a nine-to-five schedule, how would my ideal life look?
Intention Woven Into the DNA of My System — Guiding How I Structure My Day and Curate My Cultural Diet
Intention shapes daily architecture. Morning peak hours go to deep intellectual engagement, often with long-form podcasts during walks. My “cultural diet” ensures the ideas and media I consume align with my intellectual and creative goals, avoiding algorithm-driven distraction.
Cultivating Exquisite Attention — Shaping Focus and Sustaining Flow Through Reading and Piano
Reading and piano serve as dual attention training: reading stretches comprehension, piano demands sustained focus. Together, they cultivate “exquisite attention,” strengthening concentration while counteracting modern dopamine-driven distraction.
Infrastructure and Agility — Designing Habits That Adapt, Endure, and Elevate
Environmental infrastructure supports habits. Experimenting with an infrared gym during a routine disruption highlighted the need for agile systems—adapting environments, tools, and structures to maintain consistency while evolving.
43:58 – 47:43 | Chapter 3: Living as a Life Designer—Integration, Agility, and Embodied Action.