For a little departure today, I’m going to offer my take on Richard Nelson Bolles’ What Color Is Your Parachute?, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the career advice genre.  Parachute has sold over nine million copies since its 1970 debut, is still updated annually, and is the most popular book on job hunting and career change [...]

(This is the second in a series of articles about transcending the feeling that we’re “trapped” in what we’re doing right now, whether in our careers or elsewhere.  If this article is helpful to you, you’ll probably find Part One and Part Three useful as well.)
Fully realizing the amount of freedom we have in how [...]

Those of us who are thinking about a career transition have likely grown accustomed to getting discouraging advice from our loved ones, colleagues and friends.  Perhaps people are telling us “you’d be throwing away a perfectly good career,” “you’re being unrealistic,” “you’re too old to make a change,” or something else.
If we’re excited enough about [...]

 
Message From The Author
Welcome to the Career Satisfaction From Within website.
Since the e-book came out in July 2008, the techniques and perspectives I use to help people find fulfillment in what they do have evolved.  In September 2009, I released a full-length book, Inner Productivity: A Mindful Path to Efficiency and Enjoyment in Your Work, [...]

I recently met someone who lives the interesting life of a software engineer by day and a guitarist in a rock band by night.  His band seems to be doing well—they’re well-known in the local area, and they just recorded some songs they’re planning to shop around to record labels.  My friend, however, has been [...]

Transitioning to a career that has us feel more purposeful and fulfilled—and overcoming all the anxieties in the way of making the change—is a big achievement.  Unfortunately, however, making this kind of transition usually doesn’t render our lives anxiety-free.
There are, of course, logistical issues involved in starting a new career—for example, finding clients, decreasing our [...]

Many people believe finding career satisfaction is simply about having a clear idea of what you want and the drive to go for it.  I think these are important qualities, but they aren’t enough by themselves.  To find a career you’ll feel joyful about and fulfilled by, you have to believe that what you want [...]

In literature on changing careers or starting a business, one theme you’ll often hear is that the key product you’re selling is yourself, and that you need to fully believe in yourself if you want others to be interested in what you have to offer.  If you’re not confident in your ability to run a [...]

I had an interesting conversation the other night with a man I met at an event.  We were talking about an uncomfortable truth—the fact that, no matter how inspired and motivated you may feel about what you do for a living, after a while it tends to start feeling like, well, work.  That is, you [...]

Personality tests are becoming increasingly popular among people starting out in their careers and those seeking career transitions.  These tests are intended to gather information about the taker’s desires, fears, values and skills and recommend careers best suited for people with those traits.  If we pick a career that other people with our personality type [...]