Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life: A Practical Guide to Career Change and Personal Renewal

From Publishers Weekly
Griffiths, a former Wall Street honcho who downshifted into a more satisfying career as a playwright and professional speaker, draws on his and others' experiences to provide a road map for change. He advises readers to commit to a career change, identifying doubts (often money-related) before undertaking the process of identifying a passion, perhaps by taking tests or seeing a career counselor. The new career, says Griffiths, should integrate the personal and career selves. Emphasizing the need for family discussions about such change, Griffiths suggests that children care less about economic status than reliable parenting. As for money, he suggests getting control of finances and analyzing expectations, recognizing, e.g., that children can get a good education at non-brand name schools. His advice ranges from the psychological ("maintaining a constructive attitude") to the practical (make a chart assessing the skills and abilities applicable to new career possibilities). Avoid burning bridges, he says, as networking works better than responding to job ads. Acknowledging the trade-offs, Griffiths concludes that "self-worth" is more important than "net worth." His book is hardly comprehensive the appendix refers to a host of resources, including the legendary What Color Is Your Parachute? And, of course, it recounts the success stories rather than the failures. Still, Griffiths's spiritual approach living the Golden Rule and recognizing that happiness "is inversely proportionate to expectations" offers wise counsel to those beginning such journeys. (On sale Dec. 18)Forecast: With his public speaking experience, Griffiths's five-city tour and radio interviews may compensate some for his relative anonymity; expect middling sales.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Stressed out and deeply in debt, Griffiths left a six-figure Wall Street position in 1988 to pursue his dream as a playwright, actor, and teacher. He sold his eighteenth-century mansion and downsized his luxury lifestyle, and he found happiness in the process. This roadmap shows how he and others walked away from prestigious but unfulfilling careers and successfully reinvented their lives. Theirs is an inward journey of facing their deepest fears, of disempowering money and empowering themselves, and finding out who they really are, beyond material possessions, ego, and status. There is the usual practical advice on resumes, job searches, how to resign, financial planning, and so forth, but what sets this book apart are the individual stories, the philosophical quotations, and how the author brings the spiritual element to bear on the process of finding one's vocation. This sage advice is a welcome breather from the consumptive go-go noise of most career and business diatribes. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Following one's heart is the key to true fulfillment. This book is a unique and invaluable 'whole person' approach to career transition that helps readers through the emotional and spiritual, as well as the practical, elements of this major change in their lives."
--JACK CANFIELD
Coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work



From the Hardcover edition.

Review
"Following one's heart is the key to true fulfillment. This book is a unique and invaluable 'whole person' approach to career transition that helps readers through the emotional and spiritual, as well as the practical, elements of this major change in their lives."
--JACK CANFIELD
Coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work



From the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap
If your job is more stressful than it is satisfying and you fantasize about leaving it for a career you truly love, here is the book for you! Bob Griffiths himself quit a fast-track Wall Street firm at age 50 and launched a passionate new career–a move that has brought him enormous happiness and a sense of personal renewal. Now in this illuminating, eminently practical new book, Griffiths shares the secrets of real career success with everyone who wants to do what they love best.

Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life takes you step-by-step through the adventure of changing careers at any stage in life. Here are easy-to-follow exercises to help you tap into your hidden strengths and reach your full potential. Here, too, are concrete, result-oriented suggestions on reworking your resumé, developing a “financial freedom plan” that gives you long-term stability, even starting that small business of your dreams. Griffiths shows how to identify your passions, honor your calling, and find the courage to deal with change. The choice is yours to make.

Bob Griffiths advocates nothing less than a fundamental change in the way we measure success. Rewarding, inspirational, as uplifting as it is useful, and full of remarkable true stories of people who have undergone major change, this extraordinary book will help you find the courage to succeed in the ways that really make a difference. It’s true: You can at last Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life!


From the Hardcover edition.


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Griffiths, a former Wall Street honcho who downshifted into a more satisfying career as a playwright and professional speaker, draws on his and others' experiences to provide a road map for change. He advises readers to commit to a career change, identifying doubts (often money-related) before undertaking the process of identifying a passion, perhaps by taking tests or seeing a career counselor. The new career, says Griffiths, should integrate the personal and career selves. Emphasizing the need for family discussions about such change, Griffiths suggests that children care less about economic status than reliable parenting. As for money, he suggests getting control of finances and analyzing expectations, recognizing, e.g., that children can get a good education at non-brand name schools. His advice ranges from the psychological ("maintaining a constructive attitude") to the practical (make a chart assessing the skills and abilities applicable to new career possibilities). Avoid burning bridges, he says, as networking works better than responding to job ads. Acknowledging the trade-offs, Griffiths concludes that "self-worth" is more important than "net worth." His book is hardly comprehensive the appendix refers to a host of resources, including the legendary What Color Is Your Parachute? And, of course, it recounts the success stories rather than the failures. Still, Griffiths's spiritual approach living the Golden Rule and recognizing that happiness "is inversely proportionate to expectations" offers wise counsel to those beginning such journeys. (On sale Dec. 18) Forecast: With his public speaking experience, Griffiths's five-city tour and radio interviews may compensate some for hisrelative anonymity; expect middling sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.


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