48 Days to the Work and Life You Love

Find It—or Create It

Dan Miller

• Publisher: 48 Days Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781683503798
• eBook ISBN: 9781642799798
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Entrepreneurship

Learn how to discover your unique talents, establish a clear focus, and then find—or create—the appropriate application for purposeful and profitable work.
 
48 Days to the Work and Life You Love offers plenty of smart ideas for thriving in today's changing workforce. This revised edition also includes fresh tips on career search and resume tools, interview skills, negotiating salaries, and more.
 
According to financial expert Dave Ramsey, "Few categories of our lives define us and grow us spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and as people. Our work is one of those defining areas. Sadly, a 'j-o-b' is what most people settle for. But as Dan Miller so powerfully points out in  48 Days to the Work You Love , a calling lights up your life."
 
As a leading vocational thinker,  New York Times–bestselling author Dan Miller helps readers better understand and organize their God-given skills, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions. In turn, they'll see clear patterns form that point them toward successful career decisions.  48 Days to the Work and Life You Love is packed with modern insight and timeless wisdom and provides a step-by-step process for creating a Life Plan and translating it into meaningful, satisfying daily work.
 
"Dan Miller was the catalyst for me finally starting the business that I had dreamed about for years. His coaching went far beyond what would normally be expected. I will be forever indebted to him!" —Patricia Smith, former executive vice president of Wyndham International and founder of The Smith Factor

CHAPTER 1

Do I Have To Work?

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.

~JAMES MICHENER

Is work that necessary evil that consumes the time between our brief periods of enjoyment on the weekends? Is it primarily a method of paying the bills and showing responsibility? Or a way to prove to our parents that the college degree was a reasonable investment? Or the shortest path to retirement? Or is it more?

It seems some people believe that work is a tradeoff for enjoyment. That work is only done to produce a paycheck. And here’s another common myth: that the more income a person makes, the higher the stress level. No, when work and passion are combined the money flows much easier. You may be making $10/hour and be very stressed or you may be making $123,000 a year and love what you’re doing. The issue is not how much money is being generated but rather, how much does the work “fit” you.

The Encarta dictionary defines work as

1. 1.paid employment at a job,
2. 2.the duties or activities that are part of a job or occupation,
3. 3.the place where somebody is employed, or
4. 4.the time that a person spends carrying out his or her job.

We seem to contrast this definition of work with play. Surely we can escape work to spend time in play.

The same dictionary defines play as

1. 1.to engage in enjoyable activity,
2. 2.to deal with a situation in a particular way to achieve a desired result, or
3. 3.to take part in a game or a sporting activity.

To work is to carry out the duties of a job; to play is to do something enjoyable. But what if you found something you truly enjoyed that also supplied your needed income? Would work and play actually become one and the same? Is it unreasonable to expect our work to be an enjoyable activity? Is that really such an impossible idea? What would happen to your plans for “retirement” if you were doing work that was meaningful and profitable now? Isn’t our idea of retirement to be able to quit this stinking job and be able to do something enjoyable every day? What a novel idea.

People often ask me if I’m living the life I’m talking about. And I tell them to come spend a couple of days with me and then decide for themselves. On the back side of our property we have an old barn that we’ve redeemed and converted into my office, an event center, and guest quarters. My commute in the morning is free of traffic lights, horns, bad roads and angry people fighting to get to their place of work. Outside my office window I see a waterfall and bird feeders that attract colorful birds and wild turkeys all year long. I also see the platform for a zipline we put up a few years ago that runs 350 feet from my office down over the nature trail, past my little red barn and right to the back door of our house. My grandchildren are free to come and play at any time.

Finding or creating the work environment that fits you is a very individualized process. Depending on your personality you could easily be bored with my workspace. I think, dream, imagine and write as my work. If you are a social, gregarious person my work environment would likely make you feel lonely and isolated. That’s the beauty of knowing how we can shape our choices to fit what we know about ourselves. You get to choose what blends your talents, personality and passions.

What if we check out a couple other words that are thrown in with work and play? Leisure is “time during which somebody has no obligations or work responsibilities, and therefore is free to engage in enjoyable activities.” The word comes from a term in an old French dialect—leissor, which means “permission,” or literally “to be allowed.”

Leo Tolstoy, struggling in his search for godliness, looked at the lives of his privileged class and the lives of the plain folks who were their laborers. He determined that whatever their hardships, the working folk rested at night in peace and confidence in God’s goodness, while those in royalty frequently complained and were unhappy about their lives. He renounced his wealthy class and set out to work in the fields alongside the peasants. He proclaimed that the greatest error of the leisure class was the erroneous belief that “happiness consists in idleness.” In A Talk Among Leisured People he asserted that we must return to the recognition “that work, and not idleness, is the indispensable condition of happiness for every human being.”

Let’s look at how our common phrases confirm that “work” is something we have to do, while “play” is something we get to do. “Thank God it’s Friday” reinforces the idea that at last we can escape the evil of work and do something we truly enjoy. “Oh no, it’s Monday” clearly reinforces the message from the Mamas and the Papas’ 1966 song that we “can’t trust that day.” Our anticipation of retirement implies that finally we can quit this thing called work and spend our time doing only what we enjoy. But that raises the question: What would you call your daily activity if you actually enjoyed it? Would it cease to be “work”? If the only goal of our working is to accumulate enough money to quit working, then it confirms the picture that work is just a bitter pill to be endured until the moment you can escape it. But as you move into work of your choosing and design, work that integrates your strongest talents and gifts, you will experience a joy not commonly connected with “work.” And you’ll find that your desire to quit and move into the blank state of retirement will diminish significantly.

What if you were “allowed” to do what you most enjoyed every day? Do you think you’d still want to retire?

The definition of retire is

1. 1.to stop working willingly; to leave a job or career voluntarily;
2. 2.to stop engaging in daily activities and go to bed;
3. 3.to leave a place, position, or way of life and go to a place of less activity; or
4. 4.withdraw something from service.

Isn’t that what is implied when people talk about retirement? When can I stop this stupid job and start doing what I really enjoy? Do you really want to stop engaging in daily activities? Or withdraw from service? Instead, why not expect enjoyment in your daily work?

The fruits of a fulfilling life—happiness, confidence, enthusiasm, purpose, and money—are mainly by-products of doing something we enjoy, with excellence, rather than things we can seek directly.

In his popular book The Millionaire Mind, Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., looked at the characteristics of America’s wealthiest people, attempting to identify their distinguishing traits. Was it their IQ, GPA, college major, family’s opportunity, or business selection? Surprisingly, none of these topics seemed to predict their extraordinary success. The one characteristic the millionaires did have in common is they were all doing something they loved. Dr. Stanley concludes, “If you love, absolutely love what you are doing, chances are excellent that you will succeed.”

In a commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said this: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work; and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Our early ideas of work tend to view it as something less than desirable and enjoyable. Tom, a sharp 27-year-old, came to my office wanting confirmation that he was on the right track. He had recently graduated from college (having finished the 7-year plan) and had taken a sales position with an office-equipment company. Each morning he put on his suit and made his calls. The company loved him, but he was bored beyond belief. I asked him why he had taken this route, and his reply relayed a common perception. Tom said that he had a great time in college—traveling, snowboarding, attending ball games, and spending time with his friends. After graduation, he felt it was time to “grow up” and become part of the “real world.” He assumed that meant getting a job he hated to prove his responsibility.

I laughed and asked who had sold him that bill of goods. We looked carefully at his skills, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions. Today, Tom is co-owner of a snowboard shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. On a moonlit night you might catch him coming down a hill, testing one of his new designs.

Abused Wife Syndrome

No, this excerpt is not really about abused wives, but I had a client use that term recently in describing his repeated return to the unfulfilling work of his professional training. In his mind, there was a strikingly similar pattern. He would break away from the work he despised for something more rewarding, experience a challenge or setback, and return to the dreaded work, knowing it was where he could make the most predictable income.

Do you do your work only because of its paycheck? Do you long to leave for something more enjoyable? Have you tried another path only to return to what is more familiar? Many people often get trapped in these patterns of returning to negative, abusive situations. The emotions and self-esteem issues there may be complicated and confusing. However, the stakes are dramatically lessened with a job.

A job should not define who or what you are. You should be able to leave your job (business/career) today and not change the overall purpose or direction of your life. Your calling is a much larger concept than what you do daily to create income. Work opportunities can come and go. The direction of your life should remain constant.

Why do we work?

In asking this question, I typically get the following responses:

• •to pay the bills
• •for food, clothing, and shelter
• •because of others’ expectations
• •to combat boredom
• •for self-worth
• •for social stimulation
• •because it’s a place to go

I encounter a lot of people who leave their traditional jobs because they want to do something more significant. One woman, who just resigned from her $74,000-per-year job, said she wanted to do something “noble.” Many are saying they...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Author’s Note
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Do I Have To Work?
• Chapter 2: Who Would Hire Me?
• Chapter 3: Yes, I Do Have an “Education”
• Chapter 4: Creating a Life Plan
• Chapter 5: Success is More Than a Job
• Chapter 6: The Cure for Divine Discontentment
• Chapter 7: Show Me Your Promo Materials
• Chapter 8: Six Job Offers in 10 days!
• Chapter 9: Do They Like Me? Do I Like Them?
• Chapter 10: Show Me the Money!
• Chapter 11: Being the Boss You Always Wanted to Have…
• Chapter 12: Dream, Plan, and Act
• Resources