Do you love your job? Too few people do. In fact, surveys show that 80 to 95 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. Considering that most of us will work nearly 100,000 hours during our lifetimes (half the waking hours of our entire adult lives!), it's sad that our work doesn't bring us the rewards--both financial and emotional--that we deserve. Love Your Job! looks at the people behind the statistics and at the emotions those people feel: how they may fear change in their jobs, how they strive for a better life at work and home, and how they sometimes truly can love what they do for a living.
Dr. Paul Powers is a management psychologist who has helped all kinds of people--from CEOs to mechanics, from returning war vets to new graduates--find and keep jobs they love. In Love Your Job! he shares his experience and his heartfelt belief that people can go beyond the day-to-day obligations and stresses of their jobs to get more out of the hours, weeks, and years they spend at work and find real meaning in what they do.
There are many long, boring, and sometimes cynical books on how to write a resume, dress for success, and look the interviewer in the eye; Love Your Job! isn't one of them. Rather than showing you how to manipulate your way into getting a better-paying job, it encourages you to look inside yourself at what is really important to you and to bring your best self to your work, whatever it may be.
In a series of one-page reflections, anecdotes, and exercises, Love Your Job! can be read either from start to finish or in small doses, when you need to lift your spirits. The book contains four sections, as well as an introduction and resource list:
- What does it mean to love your job? Reflections on what work means to you and what's important in a job.
- Can you keep loving your job? Solid advice and motivational exercises that will help you develop the skills and the courage to make changes in the job you're in.
- What if you don't have a job you love? Practical and inspirational hints for looking at your skills, meeting people who can help you, and overcoming your fear of change.
- Is there life outside your job? Reflections on how you can find time for your families and communities, as well as your job.
The Love Your Job! exercises give this book a special focus. They range from practical (e.g., listing your skills and networking contacts) to deeply emotional (e.g., dreaming about the job or life you want to have, confronting your fears of both failure and success).
Love Your Job! informs you, inspires you, and challenges you, not only to look outside at the world of work, but also to look inside yourself at what work means to you.
