48 Days to the Work You Love Revised Edition

Ralph Waldo Emerson talked about the concept of “divine discontent,” that state of knowing we are not really walking out God’s perfect plan for our lives. He continued to say that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The popular singing group Sixpence None the Richer has a recent CD titled Divine Discontent. It is a thematic expression of our justifiable dissatisfaction with things in this life that are causing dissonance or continued unrest.

Improper matching of our uniqueness and the work we perform each day is a large contributor to this “divine discontent.” Looking inward at your own uniqueness is a necessary starting point for finding proper career direction. Identifying our inner gifts and talents and using them effectively in our work are critical components of our spiritual well-being.

Therefore, looking to the government or corporations to provide a “job” is to reverse the process of finding your own vocation. A true vocation helps us grow as people while we meet our own needs and address the needs of those around us. To look for a job before looking deeply inward is likely to short-circuit the process of finding your calling.

You can structure your work around goals and meaningful relationships and your unique personality, dreams, and passions. Look inward to give shape to the work that is fitting for you, and the application will appear.

Expect change and workplace volatility to enhance your chances of creating meaningful work. It is often in the midst of change and challenges that we find our true direction.

Emerson adds, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.”

→The “Humus” in My Life

If you are a backyard gardener, you appreciate the value of humus—the decayed leaves and vegetable matter that feeds the roots of your plants. It’s interesting to note that the same root word for humus gives rise to the word humility, explaining that the “humiliating” events of my life, the events that leave “mud in my face,” may be the fertilizer in which something new and great can grow.

Fifteen years ago I crashed and burned in my business. Handshake relationships with the bank changed and my notes were called. I was forced into selling a health and fitness center at auction, resulting in owing more than $100,000 in personal debt. That “humiliating” experience refined my thinking and understanding of business. Today, I am free of bank debt and have a nontraditional business, an incredible sense of meaning and purpose in my work, and far more income than I did back in those days.

Remember, it’s usually in the midst of muck and mess that the conditions for rebirth are being created.

Looking inward first is the only realistic way to develop a proper direction outward. I tell people that 85 percent of the process of having the confidence of proper direction is to look inward. Fifteen percent is the application—résumés, interviews, etc. Our society teaches us to put the cart before the horse—to get a job and then make your life work. Wrong! To have real “success” you must understand yourself and plan your life first, then plan your work to embrace the life you want. The principles in 48 Days to the Work You Love are not just a process of rational analysis or a series of tests to define your abilities. Rather, the principles teach a process of learning to pay attention to what God has already revealed to you—people, events, and activities that evoke the strongest response in you. The process is more intuitive than logical, more art than science. Our hearts have to join our heads to find true life direction. Career testing has always been artificial and inadequate, looking primarily at abilities. Times of change are great opportunities to pay attention to your heart; to see recurring themes in what you enjoy and are drawn to.

“He who knows others is learned. He who knows himself is wise.” — Lao-Tse

The time spent looking at yourself will provide a 100 percent payback in terms of helping you create a proper direction. The more you know about yourself, the more confidence you can have about choosing the right work environment.

Yes, you must have the ability to do your job, but keep in mind that skill or ability alone will not necessarily lead to a sense of purpose and fulfillment. You may be an excellent dentist and yet be unfulfilled in doing dentistry. Many people have demonstrated the ability to do something well and yet are miserable in doing it day after day. Keep in mind that most career testing focuses on what you have the ability to do. By the time you reach the age of 25 to 30, you probably have the ability to do 150 to 200 different things. Having the ability is not enough reason to spend your time and energy doing something. It has to go beyond that alone.

Skill areas could include marketing, budgeting, computer programming, serving customers, accounting, supervising, counseling, training, writing, organizing, designing, etc. Pay attention to those skills that give you pleasure and joy when being used.

How do you relate to other people? In what kinds of environments are you most comfortable? Are you a people person, or are you more comfortable with projects and tasks? Are you expressive and visionary, or are you analytical, logical, and detailed? Do you like a predictable environment, or do you seek change, challenge, and variety? Clarification will help you identify the best working situation for yourself.

Unfortunately, success in a position can cause you to be promoted to a position that is not a good fit. The classic book The Peter Principle, by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, clarifies how people in our culture are often promoted out of where they function best to a position of incompetence. A bank teller who is loved by her customers may be promoted to branch manager where she has to manage the financial details. A great line worker may be promoted to shift boss, turning him into the disciplinarian with the guys who used to be his friends. A great salesman will be promoted to sales manager where he is expected to oversee the scheduling of the staff’s work schedule.

Knowing your strongest personality traits should allow you to stay true to those areas that are authentic and enjoyable.

1. Dominance (Driver)—Lion—Eagle: Takes charge, likes power and authority, confident, very direct, bold, determined, competitive.

2. Influencing (Expressive)—Otter—Peacock: Good talkers, outgoing, fun-loving, impulsive, creative, energetic, optimistic, variety-seeking, promoter.

3. Steadiness (Amiable)—Golden Retriever—Dove: Loyal, good listener, calm, enjoys routine, sympathetic, patient, understanding, reliable, avoids conflict.

4. Compliance (Analytical)—Beaver—Owl: Loves detail, very logical, diplomatic, factual, deliberate, controlled, inquisitive, predictable, resistant to change.

*You should be able to identify yourself from this list alone. If you are interested in a more in-depth report, see my “48 Days Career Profile” at: http://www.48days.com/workpersonality.php. This is a comprehensive 30- to 35-page profile (and we provide a discount code for your purchase).

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce

You’ll receive your full report immediately; including a list of suggested careers based on your personal style responses. As a bonus you’ll receive a “Biblical Character Match” and have access to an audio Step-by-Step Application Guide. This is the same profile I use as a starting point with all of my personal life coaching clients, and we have hundreds of churches and businesses who use these reports for team building and accurate job matching.

What is it that you find naturally enjoyable? If money were not important, what would you spend your time doing? When do you find the time just flying by? What are those recurring themes that keep coming up in your thinking? What did you enjoy as a child but perhaps have been told was unrealistic or impractical to focus on as a career?

This is a tough area for most people. There is a subtle spiritual myth that following our dreams is likely to be selfish, egotistical, and something God would frown on. That kind of thinking implies that God is totally outside of ourselves; we are simply physical robots separated from His mind and heart. However, we are created in God’s image and as such are creators ourselves. Why would God have created us to think imaginatively and to have vivid dreams only to then squelch those dreams for practicality? Consider the possibility that your dreams and desires are the voice of your soul, God’s voice within you, longing for expression through your faith and action. And as you move toward your values, dreams, and passions, you will move toward being more spiritual and more fully what God created you to be.

→Dreamers of the Day

In Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence says, “There are dreamers, but not all human beings dream equally. Some are dreamers of the night, who in the dusty recesses of their mind dream and wake in the morning to find it was just vanity. But the Dreamers of the Day are dangerous people because they act their dreams into reality with open eyes.”

In today’s sophisticated, technological world we often dismiss our dreams as the result of too much pizza or having too much on our minds when we went to bed. Don’t underestimate the value of your night dreams for problem solving and creative approaches to your situation. And by all means, keep dreaming during the day. Tap into those recurring thoughts and ideas that have followed you for years.

If you can’t dream it, it won’t happen. Success doesn’t sneak up on us. It starts as a dream that we combine with a clear plan of action. Become a Dreamer of the Day and watch your success soar.

I find many people have squandered their creative energies by investing largely in the hopes, dreams, plans, and expectations of others. Well-meaning parents, friends, teachers, and pastors may have exerted subtle control to obscure or confuse your own directions. I frequently find professionals in their 40s and 50s who are discovering that the life they are living is not their own. Wanting encouragement and support is quite natural, and we seek this first from our nuclear family, then from an ever-widening circle of friends and people of influence. Unfortunately, this encouragement seldom supports a really individualized path, but rather the broad applications of “doctor, dentist, teacher, lawyer, plumber, engineer,” etc. Caution is the common response to anything radically different, unique, or creative in application. Thus, after adding the fears of friends and family to a person’s own, the “safe” path is chosen. And there, caught between exciting dreams and the fear of failure, boring career paths are born.

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying ‘Amen’ to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

Thus, the most frequently stated challenge I hear is, “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.” This is often said as an embarrassing self-revelation from a 45-year-old, but it is a healthy and realistic starting point. It’s very difficult to see all the options clearly and have the necessary self-understanding at 18 to be able to ask the right questions, much less to be able to make the right choices. Creating proper life direction is an ongoing process—and yes, it can be intimidating and exhilarating at the same time. Value the life experience you have had. Even if unfulfilling and misdirected, it will help provide the clarity by which you can now make really good decisions.

→Your Self-Esteem Is Slipping

If there is one consistent killer of securing a new job or starting a new business, it’s the poor self-esteem of the seeking person.

Here are some telltale signs your self-esteem may be slipping:

• Managing time poorly: You miss appointments or are late for commitments.

• Slacking off on exercise: You take care of what you value, so this is a way of saying, “I don’t care about myself.”

• Dropping out of group involvement: You say you don’t have time this week for school committees, church meetings, study group, etc.

• Becoming a couch potato: You combine what is not urgent with what is unimportant through excessive TV and other pointless, unproductive pursuits.

• Letting relationships deteriorate: You withdraw from nurturing friendships and personal relationships.

Low self-esteem is a common initial outcome of job loss. The cycle is usually one of anger, resentment, unforgiveness, guilt, depression. Depression implies “pressing down energy that wants to be expressed.” Depression then leads to more inactivity. Anything that will take you outside of yourself will begin to lessen the cycle. Find a way to be of service and reverse the steps listed above.

Frequently, in working on career direction with someone, I realize that person is trying to be in sales when he is skilled in accounting or trying to excel in teaching when she is more gifted in playing music. Why is it that we try to make ourselves something that God has not designed for us? Part of the pressure is that we rank the value of certain jobs or abilities. Would you rather be an average doctor or an excellent carpenter? Would you rather be a mediocre teacher or an outstanding landscaper? I believe we need to carefully identify the special gifts God has given each of us and then be excellent in the use of those gifts.

Let me use a story to illustrate the pressure many of you feel to perform in ways you may not be equipped for. It begins in school.

Once upon a time, all the animals in a special advanced animal kingdom became very excited about the new school that was being formed for all the animal children. Modern administrators organized the school and adopted a curriculum of activities consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying.

All the animal parents flocked to the school, eager to enroll their children in this new progressive school. After all, they wanted the very best for their offspring. Mr. and Mrs. Duck enrolled their son, Davy Duck, and expected great things from him because he was an excellent swimmer. In fact, he was better than the instructor. However, Davy had been in school only one week when the administrators discovered that he was quite poor in running, jumping, and climbing trees. So they made him stay after school and practice those skills. Finally, Davy’s webbed feet became so badly worn from climbing trees that he then was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in this school, so no one worried about this except Davy Duck, who really loved swimming.

Now, Ronnie Rabbit was at the top of the class in running but ended up having a nervous breakdown because of having to do so much extra work in swimming. And Sammy Squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed cramps from overexertion and got a C in climbing and a D in running.

Ernie Eagle was a problem child and was frequently disciplined. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the trees, but he did not follow the procedures for climbing and insisted on getting to the top of the tree using his own method. He was not a good team player and often went off on his own. His teachers could not understand his desire to see new things and reprimanded him for daydreaming in the classroom. Ultimately he was put on Ritalin to try to make him a better student.

At the end of the year, Freddie the goldfish could swim exceedingly well and could also run, climb, and fly a little. Freddie had the highest overall score and was voted valedictorian of the class.

The neighborhood dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and fetching to the curriculum. They had noticed the emotional strain on the other students and were considering starting a school of their own.

How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else’s area of ability. It is better to focus on your uniqueness and do that with excellence than to end up with mediocrity in several areas. Use this rule of thumb for organizing your work strategy:

The fulfilling path is usually discovered right under a person’s nose. Normally there are recurring themes in life—moments of recognizing being “connected” or “in the zone.” In the great old movie Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddle is told by his sister to forget his passion for running and to return to the worthy family missionary ministry. I still get goose bumps when I hear Eric reply, “God made me fast, and when I run I feel His pleasure.” Don’t ignore your true passions even if the normal applications do not seem to line up with “practical” career paths or produce “realistic” income. A little time spent looking at yourself will provide a big payback in terms of selecting and structuring an opportunity around your unique strengths.

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters—one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” — John F. Kennedy

The integration will be critical and will lead you to recognize clear and consistent patterns, identifying areas of opportunity for career application. Look for the unusual application of your uniqueness. If I say “school teacher,” the first thing that comes to mind may be a metro school classroom with 32 kids in the classroom; however, you could be a teacher working for IBM, living in London, England. All you need is one unique application of what integrates your (1) skills and abilities, (2) personality tendencies, and (3) values, dreams, and passions. This is a very individualized process. There is no cookie-cutter plan for everyone, even if there are similarities in background, age, and education.

→Risk—Danger or Opportunity?

I frequently hear someone say he would not want to try a new job, a new sport, a new car, or a different route to the office because of the “risk” involved. Certainly, we hear this especially when a person is considering a new career or changing positions. Why leave the predictable for the unpredictable? And yet, that may be the core of the issue. If you go to Las Vegas and put the deed to your house down on a roll of the dice, that’s gambling—risking with no reasonable control or plan. However, if you are in a negative work environment and you have checked out your options and are moving to a solid organization with a higher income, how can that be called “risk”? Risk implies jumping off a cliff with no idea what is at the bottom. In business or career moves, we greatly reduce risk by having a careful plan of action. Call it “seizing an opportunity” rather than “risk.” Sometimes the greatest risk is not taking one.

Frequently, someone asks me, “Does my work have anything to do with a fulfilling life?” Or “Should I really expect to enjoy my work?”

These questions imply, “Is it just selfish to expect to enjoy my work? Isn’t it just part of life to have to work and probably not to enjoy it?” Many of us grew up with a strong American work ethic—we were expected to work on farms or in factories or other labor-intensive businesses without questioning whether it was something we enjoyed. It was our duty. But look at what has happened by adopting that frame of reference. We began to take less pride in the work we were doing, looking forward only to getting to the weekend.

This attitude about work has undermined our American society. We do the work because we have to. Thus, we are satisfied with shoddy work, treat customers like impositions, and look for excuses to stay home. Consequently, even as Christians, we have developed a dualistic lifestyle, being Christians on Sunday—concerned about integrity, character, kindness, and goodness—but then the rest of the week, well, that’s just work. This compartmentalization won’t fly biblically.

“Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you. So carve your name on hearts and not on marble.” — C. H. Spurgeon

The Bible makes no separation of the different areas of our lives—everything is spiritual. “I will praise the Lord at all times” (Ps. 34:1 NLT).

The Bible gives dignity to any work. Any skill God has given you can be used for ministry. Jesus was a stone mason/carpenter. Paul worked with leather goods, and the disciples were fishermen.

Never separate your work from your worship. See what you do during the week as a form of ministry. If you are unable to see your work this way, then you really need to look at changing it. Use the gifts God has given you as a form of ministry just as completely as if you were on the mission field in Africa.

Remember, if you’re not in full-time service doing what God has called you to do, for whom are you working?

→“My Boss Is Satan’s Offspring”

As usual, the rich life stories I hear from people in transition offer colorful phrases. This one came from a young lady in her pre-coaching form: “My company is going in a strictly money-motivated direction, and my manager may very well be Satan’s offspring.” She further validated her suspicions with lots of examples that certainly convinced me she was accurate.

For your own discernment, here’s how to tell if your boss is Satan’s offspring. See if these issues are evident in your working environment.

• no morality left

• hatred and fighting

• jealously and anger

• constant effort to get the best for only himself

• complaints and criticisms of everyone except those in the boss’s little group

• envy, drunkenness, wild parties

This list is actually a mixture of this lady’s stories and another source I refer to frequently. If it sounds a little familiar, you might want to check the list yourself in Galatians 5:19–21.

Fortunately, we also have a list of what to expect with a godly boss:

• love

• peace

• kindness

• faithfulness

• self-control

• joy

• patience

• goodness

• gentleness

Not too difficult to tell your boss’s allegiance, is it?

What special abilities do you have? Frequently, I meet with someone to look at career direction and he says, “I can do anything I put my mind to.” In essence, he is saying, “Just give me a job.” Do you know how unappealing that attitude is to potential employers?

Employers don’t want generalists; they want people who know what their uniqueness is and are looking for opportunities that will allow them to use that uniqueness. Zig Ziglar talks about people whom he calls “wandering generalities,” or people who haven’t really determined their special abilities.

In a job situation you may be able to learn the skills required, but will that alone give you a sense of accomplishment or meaning? No. You can learn to type, knit, shoot arrows, or do brain surgery, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be happy doing that. What special abilities has God given you? What special desires has He put in your heart? How do you like to relate to people? Do you enjoy lots of people-contact, or are you more task-oriented? Do you like to create, innovate, and go where no one has gone before, or do you prefer to be part of an established team?

These are all legitimate questions, and it is in the blending of all of these that you can find fulfillment in a job. Rest assured, over the long-term no one is really content just getting a paycheck, no matter how substantial that may be. In addition to the paycheck, we all want a sense of meaning, a feeling of accomplishment to what we do. And what we do vocationally is important; the way we spend 40 to 50 hours a week is no small matter. Our work must be a fulfillment of our unique ministry; otherwise, we are wasting a lot of our time and energy.

The challenge is to develop a clear focus. If you are just looking for a job, that’s what you’ll get, just a job. I screen hundreds of résumés for companies, and as soon as I detect that the person will do anything, that résumé goes to the bottom of the pile. It’s the person who has a clear sense of how God has gifted her with unique skills, abilities, desires, values, and passions who gets called in for an interview.

Don’t be misdirected even if you are presented with something that appears more godly, like going overseas or getting involved with a youth ministry or a home for unwed mothers. If God has not gifted you in the things required there, you will be miserable and so will those around you.

Remember 1 Peter 4:10—“Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God.” Be thankful for your uniqueness, and get out there and use it for God’s glory.

5. Are you more analytical, detailed, and logical, or are you one to see the big picture and respond with emotion and enthusiasm?