Hope you’ve enjoyed your long weekend, I had a good time enjoying a day off having a great brunch, and then mountain biking with some friends. Relaxing for sure!
Speaking of my friends, it seems like I’ve had quite a few friends recently who were job searching for a variety of reasons. Some were let go, others are restless and a couple are just recent college graduates. In talking to them, I often feel for them because of the months of job searching I did before really starting a job.
Eventually, before each conversation ends I always recommend one book that I found very helpful to my career search which is 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller. While I was in the hunt, I had a friend recommend it to me and it was so beneficial because he takes you through active steps each chapter to figure out what type of work you want to do, and then steps in how to get there. While this type of advice can be pretty commonsense, when I was in my “I’m job seeking” mindframe it was tough to step outside of of my circumstances and see the forest for the trees as they say.
Dan’s book really helped me look past the jobs I thought I wanted, and encouraged me find out what I really enjoyed in life, what I was passionate about and then how I could tie that into a job. This assisted self-analysis allowed me to dive down into the pool of things I was passionate about. From that dive, I realized I wasn’t necessarily interested in selling widget A, I was far more interested in orchestrating what someone experienced from that widget. I found out that this (in some form) was called branding, and from that I was able to focus my additional education and learning towards branding. One thing lead to another, God moved in a major way and I’m now in a job I love, enjoying what I do, and I feel very fortunate to lead and work with a great team. (If you want to know more details about my job seeking, I’m happy to share email me - gavin@abunga.com)
This is only one example of what the book did for me and in today’s economy if you are job seeking or want to start doing something you’re passionate about rather than just working the 9-5 I’d suggest reading this book, or just start with his blog. The key is to take a step. Start today.
What are other books you’ve found helpful? Help others by sharing what you’ve learned.
-Gavin
Crazy Love 
Blink
Brand New World 
Who Moved My Cheese?
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