Stop living someone else’s blueprint. Author your own.
You don’t need another burst of motivation. You deserve a way to understand the life you’ve built, discover what matters to you, and start designing what comes next.
Created by Dennis Estes · Personal Lifestyle Architect · Author of I Dō Canon
Most self-help asks you to do more. We ask who designed what you’re already doing.
A new habit, a new goal, or a better morning routine may help. But what happens when the underlying structure of your life was shaped by expectations you never stopped to examine?
You may love much of the life you’ve built and still feel that something is missing. The Academy doesn’t ask you to discard what matters. It gives you a way to look at what was inherited, what was chosen, what still serves you, and what you now want to design for yourself.
This is the difference.
Not: A motivational high that fades by Monday.
Not: Someone else’s definition of success.
Not: A personality label telling you who you are.
Instead: A reflective starting point, practical learning tools, and the freedom to create and practice your own Personal Lifestyle Blueprint.
See what’s been shaping your life.
Notice the influences, assumptions, roles, and decisions behind your current reality.
Examine the architecture.
Use the Five Keys, informed by Ikigai, to understand what fits and what asks for attention.
Create your blueprint.
Decide what to preserve, strengthen, change, or create. The ownership stays with you.
Practice your decisions.
Turn insight into lived action through reflection, experimentation, and follow-through.
Not six unrelated downloads.
One coordinated way forward.
Move from understanding what shaped your life to creating a practical design for what comes next—at your pace, with resources you can revisit.
One-time purchase · Digital resources · Designed for self-guided use
Live by Design eBook
The philosophy and practical ideas behind consciously designing your life, including the Five Keys and their connection to Ikigai. October 2026 Edition.
Personal Lifestyle Blueprint Workbook
Work through the Assess → Design → Act sequence. Explore five life patterns in a distinct 75-point exercise, then write a blueprint that reflects your choices.
90-Day Design Journal
Not a conventional gratitude journal. Six design prompts and regular reflection help you notice what you choose, what changes, and what you want to carry forward.
Language Library
Make the methodology usable in everyday life. Explore the language of intentional design, the Five Keys, and the underlying purpose of the work.
Scorecard Guide
Keep a paper reference for the fifteen-question Five Keys assessment and its calibrated interpretation. The interactive version remains a free starting option.
Balance Wheel
Take a fresh 0–100% look at the five areas of your life. See what stands out and choose your own starting Key—without treating a low score as an order.
One purchase. Tools you can return to.
Secure checkout and digital delivery through Curios. Listed price $47 USD; a processing fee and applicable taxes may be added at checkout.
Why I created Live by Design Academy.
I’m Dennis Estes. My work draws on decades of building businesses, mentoring people, teaching martial arts, and seeing the many ways that identity, expectations, and circumstance shape the decisions we make.
My work with a Japanese company introduced me to five pillars of health. Alongside the philosophy of Ikigai—a reason for being—those influences helped shape the Five Keys that are central to Live by Design Academy.
Across five continents and more than 40 years of professional experience, I’ve seen a recurring pattern: people can be deeply capable, responsible, and outwardly successful without having consciously chosen the life they’re maintaining. This Academy exists to turn that recognition into practical authorship.
I won’t tell you what your life should look like. The blueprint belongs to you.
Curious? Begin free.
Two distinct interactive experiences. Both invite you to see your life more clearly. Neither is a prerequisite for purchasing the Foundation Bundle.
Who Designed Your Life?
Explore how roles, expectations, conditioning, and experiences may have shaped your life—sometimes before you were old enough to choose. A starting point for recognition.
Explore WDYL →Scorecard + Balance Wheel
Answer fifteen questions across the Five Keys and see your results immediately. Continue to the Balance Wheel with an email address; your marketing choice remains separate and optional.
Begin the Personal Design Baseline →Free interactive experience · Opens in Base44.The deeper work behind the practical tools.
I am also the author of I Dō Canon: Life by Design, a six-volume exploration of awareness, identity, choice, and the Way of Conscious Intent.
The Canon invites deeper examination of how a life comes to be. The Academy offers practical resources for designing and living what comes next. You can begin with either; they are complementary, not interchangeable.
Explore I Dō Canon →
Before you begin
Is this another motivational self-help program?
No. It is a self-guided learning sequence built around examining existing life patterns, consciously creating a blueprint, and practicing chosen changes. Motivation may help; it is not the method.
Do I have to complete the free Scorecard first?
No. The interactive reflection is a useful entry point but not a purchase requirement. Printable companions are also included in the bundle, and you need not repeat an assessment you have already completed.
What exactly do I receive for $47?
The ratified digital eBook, Blueprint Workbook, 90-Day Design Journal, Language Library, printable Scorecard Guide, printable Balance Wheel, and README First. This is a one-time digital purchase, not a coaching subscription.
Do you decide which part of my life needs fixing?
No. The Five Keys help you examine areas of life. Lower scores may offer useful clues, but you choose where to begin and what to preserve, strengthen, change, or create.
How do I access the files after purchase?
After purchase, Curios sends an order confirmation and provides access to your digital files through your Curios account and library. The seven PDFs can be viewed or downloaded.
You’ve already built a life. Now decide what comes next.
Start with a free reflection, or explore the tools that help you turn awareness into your own Personal Lifestyle Blueprint.