What I'm Reading Just Now...

One of my favorite (non-fiction) writers is Richard Leider, author of Repacking Your Bags and founding partner of The Inventure Group. His book that I continuously go back to is The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work, which I first discovered in Fall 2001. I'm re-reading it now, as food for thought and positive affirmations for my job search. I've given this book as gifts to many friends. My personal hardcover copy is dog-eared, scribbled about with marginalia, and Post-It flagged throughout....

Some of my favorite take-aways and life lessons from Dick Leider:

• Many of us are questioning life, rather than letting it question us. (p. 13)
• Discovering our unique talents is the power that drives purpose. (115)
• Quoting Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (Flow): We can transform our whole life into a unified flow experience by approaching our activities in a certain way, by pursuing what he calls a "life theme." Any goal or passion can give meaning to a person's life. (122)
• Purpose means using our gifts on what deeply moves us....My new belief became :We have a natural hunger for and deep need for joy in our work." Not the false belief -- that "work is work and not to be enjoyed." (35-37)

Eureka! Or as Oprah would describe it, Leider helped me to uncover this "Aha! moment" -- this deep belief, so deep inside me that I had never before realized it. Because I used to believe that work was not supposed to be something one enjoyed, it was just work. It was what you did from 9 - 5 (or usually longer) each day, and thought about even on weekends, especially deadlines and falling behind on what "had" to get done. (Dan Pink refers to this somewhat in his description of the history of work in his seminal work, Free Agent Nation - love love that book too!)

Well, that all changed when I transitioned to start working in the social sector. And doing work resource development and community outreach work that I did (and do) enjoy... It was then that I discovered that work doesn't "feel like" work, when it is time spent using your natural talents on something that you believe in and are passionate about.

Get inspired and motivated with The Power of Purpose!