[...]... is necessary to risk some degree of vulnerability in order to get a better handle on your skills Chapter 3, Finding Your Passions What tasks do you really enjoy? How do you figure this out? What does passion have to do with career success? Can you really create a productive career doing something you love? Should you follow your passions now, or wait until you have made some money? How do your talents... actions he might take, in addition to his job choice, that would allow him to continue to pursue his ultimate dream Midcareer: Stuck in No-Man’s-Land A day later, a forty-one-year-old sales manager from the Midwest came to visit me in Boston A mutual friend had asked me to talk with him After we briefly got acquainted, he asked if he could shut my office door He then sat back down on my couch and made a... I couldn’t do it, and I was embarrassed to admit this fear to my peers or bosses I went so far as to turn down promotions, knowing that if I took a bigger job, I would have to address large audiences regularly I finally worked up the courage to confess this fear to a close associate As a result of this discussion, I began to work on developing techniques for learning to speak effectively to a crowd... will help you to experience a much greater level of satisfaction and fulfillment in your life and career CHAPTER ONE What You’re Really Meant to Do Getting Started What is your definition of success? What steps will you take to achieve your aspirations? One of the best aspects of my job is having the opportunity to talk with business people, nonprofit leaders, and students who want to discuss sensitive... discusses how to match your strengths, weaknesses, passions, and understanding of who you are, with being effective in your current or a prospective job It explores the importance of doing enough analysis and inquiry to identify the three most important tasks that are critical to your job Do you know what they are? Can you write them down? Do you enjoy those tasks? Do you spend time on them? Do you gear... strongly argue that these outcomes are ultimately more likely to occur if you follow this path Rather, this book is about creating a sustainable path to personal growth and fulfillment The book is organized into eight chapters based on the framework shown in figure I-1 The chapters are as follows: FIGURE I-1 Chapter 1, What You’re Really Meant to Do In this chapter I lay out the premise for reaching your... thought much about these questions, and we agreed he’d need to consider them more after he left my office We discussed what success meant to him, as opposed to what it meant to his friends, family, and those around him I asked him who else he had discussed these issues with “Nobody,” he replied I told him that I could understand being reluctant to confide in one’s coworkers, and maybe even in certain... go to college and the kinds of jobs I would be able to get after college To the extent that I thought about it, I figured I would eventually focus on what I wanted and who I was—but, for now, if I wanted to take the next step up the ladder, I needed to excel at what I was doing Later, when it came time to pick a job and career, I asked my parents and friends for advice I didn’t fully understand what. .. a bit to make a point, I do think that many of us are trained to dream of success in terms of benchmarks, accomplishments, and milestones At the same time, we are trained to fear the stigma of failing to achieve these critical metrics Many of us are encouraged to focus more on extrinsic motivators—those that can be manifested visibly (money, status, title, etc.)— as opposed to intrinsic motivators,... supposed to know all the answers, and they feel deeply insecure and uncomfortable if they don’t They feel embarrassed to acknowledge they don’t know what they should be doing or that they need to improve and learn Some people don’t feel comfortable admitting they have made a mistake or have changed their minds Some people see it as a sign of weakness to ask for advice Others simply have shut down their . addition to his job choice, that would allow him to continue to pursue his ultimate dream. Midcareer: Stuck in No-Man’s-Land A day later, a forty-one-year-old sales manager from the Midwest came to. necessary to risk some degree of vulnerability in order to get a better handle on your skills. Chapter 3, Finding Your Passions. What tasks do you really enjoy? How do you figure this out? What does. inquiry to identify the three most important tasks that are critical to your job. Do you know what they are? Can you write them down? Do you enjoy those tasks? Do you spend time on them? Do you