The Importance of Finding Work that You Love and How to Go About Achieving it:

A bit of translation to set the scene:

Firstly, job-hunting and career planning is counterintuitive! Meaning, the processes described in this article may go against your gut-feeling. The process of job-hunting is the opposite of how you might think successful job-hunters end-up in great work. 

How I met the Grandfather of Career Planning & Job-hunters:

I had the remarkably good fortune of crossing paths with Richard Nelson Bolles (who very sadly, recently passed-away)​, when he came to Brighton in UK back in 2000 to be a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Association of Career Professionals International (at that time called IACMP).

[Dick's life remembered in this wonderful obituary:
 www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/business/richard-bolles-dead-what-color-is-your-parachute.html?_r=0 ]

His speech was a triumph of observation and spoken right from the bottom of a very, very sincere, warm, giving and knowing heart. Something of a rarity in our modern world. Someone deeply experienced on life’s journey, proficient in acts of kindness and truly and utterly authentic. A man tuned-in to his heart, who possessed a compelling sense of purpose in his life.

How I ended-up on a life-changing workshop in Oregon’s high desert:

We struck-up a friendship and Dick invited me to his famous 'Life/Work Planning Workshop' in Bend, Oregon, US of A. It seemed far-fetched that I should go to the high desert of Oregon and spend an intense 2 weeks absorbing startling insightfulness from one of the World's most gifted teachers.

He made it difficult for me not to seize upon such a fabulous opportunity. And a few weeks later, there I was, soaking-up THE most incredible experience at the almost ethereally gorgeous Mount Bachelor Village Resort​; surrounded by serene pine forest and the bluest of skies in the universe.

From 9am to 9pm every day for a fortnight I was treated to a feast of learning, self-directed study and a feast of the senses like nothing I had known before or hitherto. My life was transformed forever and it has to be the richest singular experience along my 'personal development' journey.

Technicolour Masterful Teachings:

With remarkable inventiveness, he wrote on *black* flipchart paper using iridescent chalk which howled to the senses shimmering in a magical ultraviolet light. So striking were the images hovering amid the twilit conference centre, up there in that high desert, that they remain indelibly etched in my consciousness to this day. Each interactive 'lesson' was preceded and punctuated by moving soundtracks, thought-provoking films and a profound camaraderie that enriches me still.

Self-discovery, at this depth of dive, sparked profound shared learning opportunities that possessed a transforming power. Delegates struck-up life-long bonds with fellow participants who bared their innermost reflections in their quest for life missions and meaning-filled occupations.

Dick’s reputation had attracted a team of distinguished co-facilitators from all-over the world. Each one of them watchfully attending to the details, nurturing deftly and enabling as delegates wrestled to comprehend their future. Encouraging us through those inevitable stuck moments when the senses were drowning in the vortex of intense self-enlightenment. The whole event a catalyst with such a profound and lasting legacy. It is hard to believe I can recall the experience with such lucid intensity 15 years on.

Plan to go ‘Proactive’ because ‘Reactive’ drains the soul:

I detail such context because Dick’s methodology is still not recognised as being the definitive job-hunting formula to this day. Finding one’s true calling and best-suited occupation is the greatest investment of time a human can make. The dividend lasting a lifetime. Yet so many people are utterly deadbeat, downtrodden and stuck under the burden of empty, passionless and limiting work.

Read The Job-hunters & Career-changers Bible:

The whole point of my writing is that to the vast majority of citizens still, finding great, rewarding, restorative, joy-filled, purposeful, motivational, stimulating, contributory and uplifting work appears esoteric, untouchable, unattainable and far-fetched.

Furthermore, the vast majority of dissatisfied workers and people out of work, continue to hunt for work in the complete opposite way that hirers hunt for workers. If you are having difficulty visualising this *fact* of the labour market, please take a look at page 8 in the 2015 edition of Dick’s world-famous best-seller, ‘What Color Is Your Parachute?’ (click on link) and take a few minutes to drink in the wisdom contained in this pivotal page’s diagram.

So many people hunt for jobs in Reactive Mode. They waste their energy on applying to adverts, filling-in application forms, firing-off CVs and résumés, investing hours and hours signing-up to job boards and websites that – statistically – are so unlikely ever to bear fruit. Let alone sate their craving for a job that reflects their talents, gifts, experiences, career attributes, values and aspirations.

Finding Great and Meaningful Work doesn’t just happen:

It takes time, energy, sacrifice and conscientiousness to land yourself a rewarding career. In signing-off this post, all I ask is you take the time required to produce your self-inventory. Cultivate your ‘career language’. Populate your vocabulary with terms that best describe your skill-sets, talents, experiences and achievements to date. Audit your career-related achievement stories.

Gather all your personal information together into one place. Organise it. Extrapolate this data towards your future and pin-point precisely the job in the labour market which generates the brightest spark when dovetailed with your vocational DNA.

Once you have managed to choose your own path – and you are excited by it – radiate, disseminate, proliferate and transmit the process. Let your newfound enthusiasm infect your friends and family in order that they too can thrive, grow and take joy from their personal development.

Take joy from Work. Spread the word. Enhance the world.

Let’s get more people into great work.

It is a cause worth investing in.

Here is a great YouTube film of Dick explaining the concept of self-inventory: click here.

Reference: http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/

#WorkAesthetics

#CareerDovetail

#Vojo