The Art of Work: A proven path to discovering what you were meant to do
I just recently discovered this book, so it was not part of my personal journey of finding my joyful work, it certainly is one to be considered if you are in the early stages of such a journey.
The author outlines some pretty specific steps to take if you are wondering what in the world might be your calling, the work you were meant to do as he puts it.
His seven stages of discovering that calling are:
- Awareness – listen to your life
- Apprenticeship – learn from others
- Practice – put in intentional effort
- Discovery – finding our calling takes time
- Profession – which he frames up as the ability to learn and pivot from failures and obstacles
- Mastery – our calling is likely more than just our work, often reflected in the life we live
- Legacy – our calling is the person we become and the legacy we leave
That gives you a high-level look of his approach, which leans more towards us having a more organic path to our calling, where our experiences and responses to those experiences are our signposts, we just need to figure out how to read them.
This approach is more philosophical than a lot of other career development books, but he also includes some exercises at the end of the book. This works great for his style of writing, letting the real-life examples and stories really sink in with their powerful moments of transformation. And then the exercises are available for those who’d like to dig deeper into his different stages.
As I’ve been researching and practicing career development & coaching over the past several years, I’m seeing a few aspects in this book I agree with and a few I don’t.
What I don’t agree with is his take that we have A calling, that there’s work we’re MEANT to do. There’s a loftiness to this approach which can often feel intimidating and rigid. That we have this ONE elusive target to hit and we’d better find it. And not only find it, but then hit the bullseye of it. And if we don’t, we’re destined to be out of sorts with The Universe and completely miss our purpose.
In my experience, I see our work as an expression of who we are. The more we know ourselves and our vision/purpose, the more options we actually have for the work which brings us joy and fullfillment. That there’s not just one type of work for us which can lead to a fulfilling career.
Those of us who have pivoted in our careers might’ve felt called to do one type of work in the early stage of our career and now feel called to do another. It does not mean one was more or less meaningful than the other.
What I DO love in this book, is how the author really encourages the reader to pursue that call to be authentic, to be our best, true self in how we live our lives and do our work. Here’s an example of that found on page 170:
Every day you and I face a choice: to either pursue our authentic selves or a shadow of the real thing. We either do what is expected of us, or we listen to that voice of intuition deep inside promising something more significant. And as we pick up our hammers and scalpels, as we sit down in front of our laptops or climb onboard the bus for another toour, as we endeavor to do meaningful work in the world, we are becoming ourselves. We are, as Viktor Frankl wrote, looking for a reason to be happy. Fulfillment isn’t just for the elite few who find a purpose in life; it’s for everyone. And that potential exists in each and every one of us. You have everything you need to be your whole self; it’s already in you. now you just have to become it.
And that’s my top takeaway from The Art Of Work – what he points to in his Mastery stage – that when we use our full life, not just our work life, to express our talents we truly create a deeply impactful, meaningful life.
I’d love to hear your takeaways from The Art Of Work and especially whether you think our calling wears one outfit for the whole journey or can wear different outfits along the way.
