Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design

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How often do we see a person, that we actually know personally, who have the impression that the whole universe is acting to satisfy his/her demands? – Apparently, not so often.

Identifying what moves you, your passion and purpose, is the place to start. After all, if you don’t know what you are aiming for, your chances of hitting it aren’t very good. Many who can’t or won’t admit what they want to do hide behind the “impossible” meme. Since the desires of the soul must subordinate themselves to the demands of money—why even bother identifying those desires? This is a rationalization—not an argument. It’s clearly possible for people to make a living doing what they love to do, since many are doing it every day. The real question is: Can you do it? Once we admit what we want in our hearts, we immediately confront another challenge. At one of my workshops, the group listened intently to a young woman who stood speaking before them. With obvious joy and elation, she was telling the group what her true passion was. She described the profound sense of freedom she felt in proclaiming before others what she really wanted to do with her life. She was describing how she had come to this realization and what it meant to her, when, suddenly, she stopped abruptly and said, “I feel scared.” She turned from the group toward me and asked, “Is that normal?” I assured her that she was expressing something I’d heard many times before (and since). When we reveal our heart’s desire with respect to work, we feel an emotional vulnerability not unlike what we feel in our first confessions of love for a would-be partner. In contrast to the responses of a would-be lover, we have much more—though far from complete—control over our career destinies. Still, it’s worth pointing out that there is a marked emotional difference between claiming what we would really love to do and discussing the merits of a good job or sensible career. Yet it is only after making that claim that we have a chance of creating a life where what we do matches what we are at the deepest levels. We fear change. "Yet it's not knowing what's coming around the corner that makes life interesting." I have been a Career Counselor . . . for the past ten years. In all of this time, I have not found a book that is as effective and well-rounded. . . . Your book has become a fixture in my career center. But beyond its appeal to me, I think it finally takes career education in the many directions necessary to establish, not only one's identity, but an assessment of what makes work meaningful to an individual. Few, if any, texts I've worked with in the past have accomplished this."We believe that any book which focuses on an average person’s life should be praised and worshiped. However, not every material allows you to really feel like your life is at stake, like Laurence G. Boldt’s one. It talks about common everyday problems, and the battle to avoid being a victim of an emotional breakdown. Zen and the Art of Making a Living is one hell of a book. I [feel] that [it] really challenges What Color Is Your Parachute? for leadership in the career field. Nice Job!" A strong sense of purpose enables you to respond positively to the inevitable difficulties, annoyances and inconveniences of life in general and change in particular.

The Zen teachings were unknown to Westerns for many centuries, but now we live in a different time. The access to these life-altering methods is available to anyone, and thus you can really begin your Zen journey. Start with the things that trouble you Everyone can learn self-awareness. Cultivate a positive attitude. Express gratitude. A karate master once said that if he were a garbage man, he'd be the best garbage man in the universe. Taking pride in even the most menial task creates a positive state of mind and opens you up to possibilities. "When open, our minds have tremendous power to receive ideas."Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2018-08-20 00:23:13 Associated-names Boldt, Laurence G. Zen and the art of making a living in the post-modern world Bookplateleaf 0006 Boxid IA1321622 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set china External-identifier All great teachers say that the road to happiness begins with the recognition "that beyond the transient desires of ego there lie deeper desires for love and service to all mankind." Most of us don't go this route because we "are too busy running down approval alley." We try to please others, and pleasing is calculated while "compassion comes from the heart." He then provides an insightful look at the realities of working in various settings, including government jobs, freelancing, starting your own business, and corporate work. He discusses the details of working in specific positions, providing so much insight and factual information that the reader is naturally guided to the right job in the right setting for his or her unique personality. I actually liked the philosophy at start, which posits that currently we are in a "little king" model of control and deny, and we are conditioned that being good means following society's rules as opposed to creating the life we mean to live. But then we get into very simplistic and wrong "eastern wisdom good, western rationalism/religion bad"that makes you roll your eyes, since if anything social control and materialism is probably much greater in those societies than in the west. There's a lot of stuff about serving others, but if you are needing to read a career book, most of the time you aren't in any position to serve or think about grand service and love.

Revised edition of: Zen and the art of making a living in the post-modern world. Lightning Press, 1992 Only a few people can count themselves fortunate, being in a place where they can actually express their full potential and feel respected. The other and probably most important part are the monthly incomes and are you satisfied with your current financial situation.

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First and foremost, give yourself a chance to be the one of those, whose intentions are widely presented. Honesty is the embodiment of happiness, a quote that should stay in your recollection. It's hard to imagine that Boldt has forgotten anything in this massive, unconventional volume. He shows a strong understanding of the need for a new view of work in Western cultures. "So often today, white-collar workers are hired for their brains alone, blue-collar and service workers for their bodies only, as though these could be detached from the beings who possess them," he writes. "As a consequence, there is so much emotional pain around work in our culture. This pain spills over into virtually every aspect of life. Families, relationships, and communities are deeply affected by it. We can't really blame anyone for this, or at least, it does us no good to do so. Freedom can't be demanded from others—it must be created for ourselves." You already assume what Laurence G. Boldt has to say and expect from you! Your dedication, your self-respect, and your belief to make that final push into happiness. The Zen state is all about that, bliss and everlasting peace. Still, there's no doubt that even those who are searching for concrete answers and discrete steps to finding deep satisfaction with work will find a great deal of value in this book. For example, Boldt uses nearly every argument possible to convince the reader to ignore the concept of work as a means of making money so that we can enjoy our nonworking portions of life. The reader comes away knowing not just that work can be fun, but that something is wrong if it isn't satisfying.

I am a career/placement counselor located in New York City. I wanted to thank you for writing such a wonderful book. It seems . . . the unfortunate trend is for people to keep their work and emotional/spiritual lives separate. I believe the integration of the two is the very essence of happiness in one's work life, and I was glad to learn that someone [had] elaborated so eloquently on the topic. I also loved the way your book was laid out-it is very user friendly and interactive, without losing its deeper meaning. Thank you." The most informative and helpful sections are the exercises that call for realistic self-analysis. Boldt recognizes that you can't just read the book and expect the perfect job to fall in your lap. Therefore, he makes the reader responsible for the job search by asking pointed questions and plenty of space for answers. This helps you contemplate everything from transition strategies to the "polygamous" life work trajectory of multiple ongoing careers. The reader, in dissecting his or her own written answers, achieves the type of self therapy only the most talented job counselors can offer. Boldt's exercises also leave you in control of your own analysis. Work is more than a matter of keeping busy all day. It must feed the soul as well. Laurence Boldt has done a splendid job of explaining this truth. I commend this book to all thoughtful readers and seekers." More than twenty years ago, I began this work with the conviction that people of all ages and professional levels were ready to embrace the challenge of creating work they truly love. Through good economic times and bad, I’ve seen this conviction borne out in the lives of countless dedicated individuals who have found their own ways to put their passions to work. The success of this book and, even more, the many letters and comments I’ve received from readers who’ve found it helpful in mapping their own journeys to fulfilling work have been truly gratifying. This revised edition has given me an opportunity to sharpen and clarify my thoughts on a number of topics. Considerable revisions have been made throughout. The entire text has been updated, and a lot of new material has been added. For those familiar with this book, the bibliography and most of the Web resources that appeared in its previous incarnations have been greatly expanded and put online (empoweryou.com), where they can more easily be kept current.

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To be authentic, the play or action of your life must come from within, must flow from your heart. The spiritual or inner life cannot be separated from work - or anything else. The real question is what to expect from 40 hours weekly job? Is it okay, to add a bit of inner satisfaction, instead of focusing only on money? It makes the perfect sense, but it’s also a distant reality for most people nowadays. When it comes to the fundamentals of vocational guidance (determining what to do), nothing significant has changed since this book was first written. Indeed, nothing essential has changed in the more than two thousand years since Aristotle wrote, “Where your talent and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.” Were he alive today and whispering in your ear, Aristotle could give no more relevant or timely advice. Over seven hundred years ago, the Sufi poet Rumi wrote, “Everyone has been made for some particular work and the desire for that work has been placed in every heart.” This too is every bit as relevant today as it was the day it was first written. In a sense, either of these formulations (Rumi’s or Aristotle’s) provides everything you need to identify your vocation or life’s work. This book helped me think about what it is that I truly do -- I am a consultant at heart - I love looking at problems, giving advice, and figuring out how to fix things.