Reading Material III

 

48 Days to the Work you Love

While the title might indicate that this is a guide to finding a new job, that's actually not what this book is about!  This book is actually more of a process to help you find out who you can be.  Once you've learnt this about yourself and made this discovery then you can actually understand why you are in a job you hate!

Dan Miller will help you see clear patterns which will help you in making your future job and career decisions and along the way, help you find the work that you really do love!  The book does a good job of giving you purpose for finding work that has both passion and meaning.

Starting off Dan Miller covers whether or not work and play can co-exist and why doing both is not a bad thing to actually enjoy your work (i.e. not just to pay the bills and "work to live NOT live to work").  Then he covers the fact that the current work environment is not that of our parents or grand-parents universe - the fact that most employees change jobs every 3-4 years with (hopefully) a significant pay increase by undertaking this move!  We are currently in a shift from a production based job market to a knowledge based market with a concurrent increase in the speed of technological change.

As Miller explains, "everyone lives on the edge of job obsolescence and the threshold of career opportunity" and he provides some very interesting statistics to the current job market. 

•  Fewer than 1% of job seekers find work by responding to an internet ad
• During an interview, your answer to any question should be no longer than 60 seconds
• The best times to have an interview are Tues-Thurs between 8-10am
• 2,322 of 2,756 managers rank enthusiasm as #1 in what they want in applicants
• Today people are paid for their productivity, not their time, not their seniority
• IQ contributes only about 20% to the factors that predict success
• 69% of businesses today cost less than $10,000 to start; and 24% cost $0
• The most successful people got there not by being in the most lucrative industry, but by doing work they loved

Dan Miller goes on to describe that to truly achieve success you must create goals.  Write these down (including short and long term goals) and then break each goal down into it component parts to determine what you need to do to achieve each one.  These goals should NOT just be career based, but should also cover your personal life.  The seven areas of life he recommends to make goals in are:

1. Finances
2. Physical
3. Personal Development
4. Family
5. Spiritual
6. Social
7. Career

Finally there is some really good templates and reading material with regards to resumes and interviewing as well as how to best conduct your job search.  The job seeking advice is not just a “How to Interview” or “How to get your resume noticed” but rather goes into defining what work is and how to face this current job market that is constantly changing. 

Doctor Who - The End of Time

As always, I try to emphasize reading (or in this case watching) something unrelated to work.  Its important to relax and let your mind wind down and for the fans of SciFi and Fantasy, Doctor Who is a "classic" of the oldest school and the re imaging of the show by Russel T. Davies has definitely brought it into the 20th century in a big way. 
 

 This is the last episode (in 2 parts) with the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and it is a moving finale to the character he has made his own.  With some significant changes in store for "The Doctor" iin the coming season, this episode is essential viewing for any true SciFi buff.

You may find these related posts of interest:

Reading Material II 

Reading Material