48 Days to the Work You Love Revised Edition

Work should, in fact, be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of the work itself; and that man, made in God’s image, should make things, as God made them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing. . . . Work is the natural exercise and function of man—the creature who is made in the image of his Creator.

Pastor Jones sat in my office, slouched down in the big chair, struggling to relay the events of the last few days. After 19 years of faithful service as a pastor, he had been informed that his contract would not be renewed. No matter how gentle the delivery, the message screamed out at him—he had been fired. How could this happen to a man of God? A man who had committed his life to serving God in the most socially recognized path of service. The anger and sense of betrayal came exploding out as we began to explore his options for moving on.

The portrayal of the preceding years, however, relayed a series of red flags that had been ignored. Pastor Jones was now grossly overweight, having drowned some of his frustrations in eating. He was on medication for depression and was being treated for a bleeding ulcer. Were these not clear signs of a life out of balance? Doesn’t God use physical unrest as a method of telling us something is out of alignment? In questioning this gentle, godly man about his current life picture, I discovered his naive theological view. He simply thought that if he were committed to God, somehow everything would just work out. He said he was guilty of “sanctified ignorance.” This phrase jumped out at me and has haunted me ever since.

Sanctified ignorance is the belief that if we love God and have committed our lives to Him, everything will work out. And sanctified ignorance is immature theology. If you get up each morning with a clean slate, being open to whatever may happen that day, you will live a life of mediocrity. It is not the path of accomplishment, of excellence, of maximizing our impact and witness. The path of least resistance—just going where it seems easiest to go—creates very crooked streams and very frustrated Christians. The truly godly life is one of focused purpose, having, like Paul, defined the goal and created a plan for its accomplishment.

Knowing God’s will is not some passive guessing game. Rather it is taking what God has already revealed to us and developing a plan of action. And God’s revelation to us comes through our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits. Yes, we are submissive to God’s will, but God is not an angry taskmaster. He will not force you to be miserable day after day. The secret to creating a career that is both nurturing to the soul and the pocketbook is, as theologian Frederick Buechner said, to find where “your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” There you will find a job, a career, a business, and a life worth living. We cannot talk ourselves into doing something we do not inherently enjoy, no matter how spiritual that something may appear to those around us.

Pastor Bob had resented the resistance of his congregation for years. They seemed slow to act and only moderately supportive of his ideas for growth and change. Their resistance was reflected in their lack of financial support. He had 2 paper routes, requiring him to start each Sunday morning at 3:30 a.m., delivering papers for 3 hours before delivering his message. His wife was working a stressful job to add to their meager income. And yet all this was justified because he was “serving God.” His early interest in engineering had been discarded based on an influential person declaring that Bob was called to preach. Even with no affirmation in his work, he was still struggling to fulfill that expectation.

What a dismal picture! God does not call us to this kind of Christian living. Sanctified ignorance is no excuse for a life out of alignment, lacking joy, fulfillment, and a clear sense of accomplishment. If you are a street sweeper, then do it with joy. The Bible does not rank the godliness of occupations; only modern Christians do that. Look at how God has uniquely gifted you in your skills and abilities, personality traits, and values, dreams, and passions. It is in these that we find the authentic path designed for us for a purpose-driven life.

Each of the categories in the wheel below represents a portion of our lives. Rate yourself by shading in each section the degree to which you are reaching success in that category. (A score of 10 is great, while a score of 1 puts you at the center of the wheel and means you need some work.)

You know what an unbalanced wheel does. An unbalanced life does much the same. No one wants to be in the hospital with a heart attack even if you have $5 million in the bank. And no one wants to be in great physical shape but rejected by family and friends. You cannot justify success in one area at the expense of success in another. Make the decision now to have success in all 7 areas. Learn to recognize when you are making a withdrawal or a deposit physically, spiritually, relationally, etc. Without clearly defined goals in each of these areas, the activities of your life will reflect the desires of those around you.

Frequently in my life coaching, I notice that people are crippled in life because of indecision. Recently, a gentleman told me that he had been with his company for 17 years and that he had hated his job for 16 years and 11 months. My obvious question was, “Why are you still there?” But the fear of having to make a new decision was just too intimidating for him. Consequently, the indecision kept him going to a job he detested.

A common response from Christians when confronted with any decision is, “I’ll need to pray about it.” While certainly admirable from a spiritual standpoint, I find this is often nothing but a socially acceptable method of making no decision. Days, weeks, and months go by with unresolved situations and choices. Again, it’s insanity to continue doing what you’ve always done and yet expect different results. Continuing indecision and hiding behind a spiritual smoke screen doesn’t lead to different results either.

The workplace today is filled with new and exciting opportunities. Even with an elevation in unemployment, companies are desperately seeking competent new workers. Twenty-four million Americans have made the decision to start their own businesses. But unhappiness and frustration at work continues even for Christians. There is little explanation for this outside of the lack of clear focus and crippling indecision.

Can you live with the results of your own inaction? Recognize that even making no decision is a decision.

A recent Harvard Business School study asked, “What are the top characteristics of high achievers?” Of course, the list of answers included intelligence, education, and attitude. But at the very top of the list, one characteristic stood out: speed of implementation—having the ability to act quickly. Eighty percent of decisions should be made immediately.

Jim Rohn speaks to this issue in his book Facing the Enemies Within: “Indecision is the greatest thief of opportunity.” Or what about this quote from D. L. Moody: “Every mistake I’ve made in my life, I made when I thought twice.”

The Bible adds its wisdom in James 1:6–8: “But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.”

Indecision is a crippling characteristic. Indecision in one area will carry its negative effects to other areas of life. I have seen parents who are unsure about selecting a school for their child become almost incapable of functioning for months, agonizing over this decision. I have seen frustrated workers who remain in toxic corporate cultures because they are unable to decide to move on. And I have witnessed self-owned businesses slowly fail as the owners feel unable to make the decision to stop their deepening hole.

My wife, Joanne, and I have used a concise process for the 41 years of our marriage. When confronted with a decision, we allow a 2-week maximum for arriving at a decision. Whether it is where to move, what kind of car to purchase, making a career or business decision, or how to handle a difficult relationship with a relative, we approach the process as follows:

Yes, this process must be bathed in prayer. But a daily walk with God should provide confidence in moving ahead quickly with most decisions.

You, too, can deal effectively with the challenge of making solid decisions. Don’t be indecisive and unstable in all your ways. Rather, walk in the strength, confidence, and boldness that come from decisive action.

Considerable evidence indicates that expectations of your future do, in fact, tend to create your future. Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho, head of the world’s largest church, says: “What you have in your heart becomes your experience.”

It seems reasonable then to spend some time determining specific, worthwhile expectations that will make your life more meaningful. Keep in mind that only about 8 percent of the general population can identify clear goals and only about 3 percent ever actually write those down. These are specific goals, not just the “I want a bigger house and a nicer car” variety. With this process, you can quickly put yourself into the 3 percent category, noting that those 3 percent ultimately accomplish more than the remaining 97 percent.

“With definite goals you release your own power, and things start happening.” — Zig Ziglar

Remember, in this career- and life-planning process you will be identifying your:

As you integrate these identified areas into realistic areas of opportunity well suited to you, you will consolidate them into goals. The following process will help you get an initial focus. You may feel you are being rushed or hurried. However, you will find that if you do not begin to make decisions, you will tend to procrastinate and your history will simply repeat itself. A quick decision is often the best decision and is certainly better than no decision. And you might want to be reminded that insanity is to keep doing what you’ve always done and expect different results.

Goals are not written in concrete terms but certainly give you a starting point and a destination. The important thing is that you are working on your goals; your life has meaning only when you are working toward goals through which you achieve your meaning. After all, success is the progressive realization of worthwhile goals.

→Master Gardener of Your Soul

Our minds are like gardens; they grow whatever we allow to take root.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits, which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny. (James Allen, As a Man Thinketh)

Control your own destiny by controlling what goes into your mind. The books you read, the thoughts you think, the television you watch, the conversations you participate in, the people you associate with, and the music you listen to combine to create your future. Are you sowing the seeds for the life you want 5 years from now?

For your purpose in life to be fulfilled, you must set goals in multiple areas. Success is not just career-related or financial; family, physical, and spiritual areas are equally important aspects of achievement. They are part of the same whole. This is the whole-person concept of the 48 Days to the Work You Love approach.

Time is the only resource you can never recapture. Are you spending or investing your time? Remember: A goal is a dream with a timeframe on it.

1. Am I missing anything in my life right now that’s important to me? __ YES __ NO

3. I am well organized, know how to focus on my top priorities, and get a lot done every day. __ YES __ NO

4. I have a written, strategic plan for my work and personal life with time lines and quantifiable measurements. __ YES __ NO

5. I have ample time for my family and social relationships and feel good about the balance I have achieved. __ YES __ NO

8. My life reflects my spiritual values and I am growing, maturing, and gaining wisdom in this area. __ YES __ NO

9. I studied and developed the new, creative ideas I had in the past year. __ YES __ NO

→Living My Dreams

Recently in life coaching a young man, I heard him say, “My fear is that I will discover what I love doing but by then be too old to enjoy a full life of living it out.” Wow, what an approach-avoidance conflict. Remember those from your introductory psychology classes? You want a cookie but know that if you reach for it your hand will get slapped.

What about this above stated fear? When do you cross the line age-wise where it just makes sense not to want or know about a better life, but more appealing to only exist and wait for the grave? Is it 35, 50, or 70? I’ve had 27-year-olds who are fearful that they’ve missed the window of opportunity for a life well lived. If your dream was to play quarterback in the Super Bowl, that may be true, but for most of us, living out our dreams is not 1 event.

Look for recurring themes in things that get your attention. Is it art, music, children, the elderly, cars, caring and nurturing, birds, reading, flying? Don’t think that your dream needs to be new and revolutionary. We all know someone like Susie who sells seashells by the seashore, but most lives of fulfillment may look ordinary to an observer. We find that even those who end up extremely wealthy are not necessarily doing something rare; rather the critical element is that they are doing something they truly enjoy.

Be confident you can live out your dreams. Don’t settle for less!

Any stage in life can be an exciting time with many opportunities or a dreary time of confusion and entrapment. You may not be able to change your circumstances, but you can decide that the circumstances won’t dominate you. You do have choices.

Something magical happens when you write down your goals. I have seen people transform their levels of success almost instantly simply as a result of getting clearly defined and written goals.

“Begin to weave and God will give the thread.” — German proverb

So spend some time determining specific, worthwhile expectations that will make your life more meaningful. If you don’t have a written plan for your life, it may feel like you’re driving a car without having your hands on the wheel.

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first under-4-minute mile in recorded history. Doctors said it could not be done—that the human heart would explode with such exertion. Six weeks later an Australian runner duplicated that feat. Approximately 1 year later, 8 college runners at 1 track meet all broke the 4-minute mile. What changed? Did humans suddenly evolve to be faster than ever before in history? Not likely. What did happen is that the level of expectation changed. What was believed to be impossible was proven to be possible. Most of us operate under clear beliefs about what we are able to accomplish. If those beliefs are changed, the results change as well.

Zig Ziglar has a famous story about flea training: If you put fleas in a jar with a lid on it, they will desperately pop up against that lid in an attempt to escape for about 20 minutes. Then, while fully convinced they cannot get out of the top of that jar, you can remove the lid. With a perfectly clear path to freedom, those little fleas will starve to death in that jar. They tried escaping once and they believe they have no other option. I find many people living their lives within boundaries that exist only in their minds.

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” — Stephen Covey

Are you a goal setter? Do you typically set goals at the first of the year? If not, why not? Goals give you a starting point and a destination. It is the easiest way to give meaningful direction to your life, which releases you to effectively use your talents.

Identify 5-year goals then work backward to what you need to do today to make deposits in where you want to be 5 years from now. Be specific, creating quantifiable benchmarks to track your deposits of success. Saying you want to be a better mommy, have a better job, or learn a new language is admirable, but without listing steps of measurable, specific goals, you will not move toward any specific action. Then another year will pass without any real change.

If you can plan out for 5 years from now, you will likely be amazed at how doors start opening. People who cannot see 5 years out ultimately end up feeling like victims of circumstances. They feel like they are being pushed along the railroad of life with a locomotive right behind them.

1. Financial: income and investments (if you can’t dream it, it won’t happen). “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires” (Ps. 37:4).

If you can’t dream it, it won’t happen! Nothing is unrealistic if you have a clear plan.

Don’t let failure cripple you. “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Prov. 24:10 KJV).

“He who cannot endure the bad will not live to see the good.” — Old Yiddish proverb

Do you know that physical exercise is a cleansing process that can dramatically increase your creativity?

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23).

“The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is, on the contrary, born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else—we are the busiest people in the world.” — Eric Hoffer

Your success, financial and otherwise, will never far exceed your personal development. Start doing something that you’ve put off because of the risk of failure.

How many books will you read this year? It is said that if you read 3 books on any subject, you will be an expert in that topic.

Take time for personal development, which is the inhaling part of healthy personal breathing—if you do nothing but exhale, you’ll turn blue and pass out. Peter Drucker says, “Knowledge by definition makes itself obsolete.” The only thing that will allow you to be a leader in today’s environment is to be a continuous learner. Don’t end your education when you finish high school, college, etc. Why do you think the ceremony is called commencement?

(Speaking of time, join the Automobile University—if you drive 25,000 miles a year at an average speed of 46 mph, you will spend about the same amount of time in your car as an average college student spends in the classroom. The question then is, What are you doing with that time? You can listen to CDs and podcasts and transform your success.)

What gifts do you have that you have not been using? Is there some potential for full achievement that needs to be unlocked?

“Never rest on your achievements; always nurture your potential.” — Denis Waitley

4. Family: relationship to others, development of children, location of household.

In a speech to graduates of Wellesley College, Barbara Bush said, “Whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children and you must hug your children and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.”

The second law of thermodynamics is things left to themselves tend to deteriorate. Great relationships don’t just happen—they come as the result of making deposits toward the “success” you want.

What is the kind and length of vacation you will take this year? What is your goal for free time with family and friends?

You may try taking the time you normally spend watching a favorite TV show and spend that time instead with your spouse, a child, or a friend.

To be a “better” mom, dad, or parent, define what “better” means. You may decide to spend 20 minutes each night with your child or 1 Saturday morning a month doing what the child wants to do. Or how about scheduling 1 overnight event with your spouse every quarter of the year?

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” — Benjamin Disraeli

Are you comfortable taking steps of faith, or are you more comfortable with what you have already seen?

Change old attitudes. Discard past negatives. Ask for forgiveness. Make things right with people whom you need to forgive or who need to forgive you.

Choose someone you could care for or be a mentor to, and then make the effort to work on this relationship starting today.

3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

“Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God” (Eccles. 5:19 NIV).

Your career should be a reflection of the LIFE you want; it is an outcome of knowing what you want in the other 6 areas. Once you decide on the life you want, it becomes obvious what kind of work embraces that. We want to help you plan your work around the life you want.

These 7 areas are integrally connected. They can rise up together or spiral down together. That’s why if someone has lost a job, I may recommend that as a first step he goes for a brisk 3-mile walk each morning. Then spend more time with his spouse and play with his children and volunteer in his church and community. Making immediate deposits of “success” in those areas will speed his success in the struggle.

When a person loses a job, we know the first area to be impacted negatively will be career. The next immediate one effected is financial. With those two in trouble, family relationships are likely to be strained, causing personal development and self-esteem to crumble. Naturally, he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to hang out with the guys right then (social). With all of this negative stress on Monday morning, rather than being out beating the streets, the poor guy is sitting on the couch eating Pringles and watching Oprah. So physically he begins going to pot—and of course in all of this he wonders, “Why is God angry with me?” (spiritual).

“It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but work and desire are invincible.” — Thomas R. Gaines

That’s not an uncommon scenario. So how can you reverse or prevent that downward cycle? Several years ago I saw a young man who had lost $3.2 million in 18 months. It was money inherited from his grandmother; unfortunately, he made some bad business investments and got cleaned out. So career-wise and financially he was in the tank. I had him start going to the YMCA each morning. This kept his mind occupied, his energy focused and away from the Pringles and television. He got in such good shape, you could bounce quarters off this guy’s stomach. I truly believe that the energy and vitality that exploded out of his physical well-being positioned him to very quickly bounce back in the initial areas of lack—which he did.

In 1988 I experienced a major disaster myself. I had leveraged one business into the next and was in a vulnerable position when some banking regulations changed. I ended up losing everything we had financially. Notice I did not say we crashed and burned or that I failed at everything I did, but I did lose all our money. We lost our custom-built house, our cars, and anything else of value that the IRS could track down. I knew I was fertilized for negative thinking to take root and grow quickly.

I borrowed a car from a friend. It was a Mercury Zephyr station wagon. The windows didn’t work, the radio didn’t play, and it used a quart of oil about every 100 miles. But I carried a little portable cassette player with me and started listening to cassettes. I listened to everything I could get my hands on that was positive, pure, clean, and inspirational. I was in the car much of the day and I dedicated at least 2 hours daily to the listening process. I filled all my waking time with positives, leaving little room for the negatives. And I began to experience success in some new areas. I took a job in commissioned sales, experiencing lots of daily rejection but with the quickest income plan I could find.

Those 2 hours daily had such a profound effect on my thinking and success that I have never discontinued it. I discovered the power of the first hour of the day, what Henry Ward Beecher called “the rudder of the day—the golden hour.”

Be very careful how you start your morning. You are planting the seeds for what the day will hold. If you get up late, grab a cup of coffee and a cigarette, fume at the idiots in traffic in your rush to work, and drop down exhausted at your desk at 8:10, you have set the tone for your day. Everything will feel like pressure, and your best efforts will be greatly diluted.

However, if you get up leisurely after a completely restful night’s sleep, you can choose a different beginning. I have not used an alarm clock for the last 25 years because I go to bed at a reasonable time and have clearly in my mind when I want to start the next day. I get up, spend 30 minutes in meditative and devotional reading, and then go to my workout area. While working out physically, I take advantage of my extensive audio library, so that I fill that 45 minutes with physical exertion combined with mental input and expansion. The motivation of Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Kenneth Blanchard, Jay Abraham, and Denis Waitley; the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato; the theology of Robert Schuller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and John Maxwell are the first input into my brain each morning. I never read the paper first thing in the morning, no matter how important it may seem to know the news. The news is filled with rape, murder, pestilence, and heartache, and that is not the input I want in my brain. Later in the day, I can scan the news for anything related to my areas of interest and quickly sort through what I need. But I carefully protect that first hour of the day, making sure that all input is positive, creative, and inspirational. Many of my most creative ideas have come from this protected time of the day, often when I am in a full sweat. By 9:00 a.m. I am invigorated, motivated, and ready to face anything the day may bring.

→“Our Careers Kept Us Apart”

I rarely purchase the sensational magazines in the grocery checkout lane but once made an exception. The front cover of US Weekly had the headline “Tom and Nicole Separate—‘Our Careers Kept Us Apart.’” Give me a break! Do they have to keep their work schedules to make the mortgage payment? No, this is just an extreme example of misplaced priorities! Here’s a quote from the article: “Citing the difficulties inherent in divergent careers which constantly keep them apart, they concluded that an amicable separation seemed best for both of them at this time.” Yeah, explain that to the 8- and 6-year-old children. “Kids, Mommy and Daddy think having a great career is more important than being a family.”

With all the options today, it is critical to define your own priorities. If you simply respond to circumstances, any obstacle will send you in a new direction. Circumstances should not determine our choices. Priorities can guide us through the inevitable changes that will come our way. Careers are tools for successful lives, but nothing more than one piece of a successful life.

From the beginning of this chapter, remember Pastor Jones with his sanctified ignorance? He is redesigning his life as well. The years of moving off track cannot be recaptured completely, but he can redirect to capture the value of his remaining years. He is working in an engineering firm with many opportunities to share his faith and values. His income has increased dramatically, reducing the stress and resentment of his wife and children. He is on a stringent program to reduce his weight and is experiencing the immediate satisfaction of the tiny steps of success. Godly insight and action are replacing his years of sanctified ignorance.

1. Are you a goal setter? Do you typically set goals at the first of the year? If not, why not?

5. What was your father’s or mother’s attitude toward work and how has that affected you?