Born For This summary

Imagine you had the chance to make one wish and you chose to win the job lottery, but it’s still up to you to specify exactly what you want. What does your ideal job entail?

For starters, it should have the right mix of joy, money and flow. After all, the ideal job is one that pays you for doing work you love. If working with children is your greatest joy, second only to explaining things, then being a school teacher is perfect for you.

Could fear be holding you back from following your dreams?

If it is, you’ll benefit from boosting your confidence and taking more risks. To do so, start by listing everything that could go wrong and estimating how likely any given outcome is. You might find that many of your fears are either harmless or so improbable that there’s nothing to worry about, so you don’t have to be afraid to make your move!

When hypothesizing about suitable careers, people tend to overfocus on things they’ve studied. For instance, a data scientist might only think of jobs that involve doing statistical computations. To widen your scope, make an inventory of all your skills and weaknesses.

To do so, simply make two lists. One list should detail the things you do well – and that means everything, not just the skills related to your education. The second list should include everything you hate or struggle to do. This is crucial because your greatest weaknesses are unlikely to become your strongest skills.

Starting a new business is exciting, especially if it’s one that’s closely linked to your skills and passions. And the best part is, you can launch your dream business without quitting your day job. It’s possible to build a small business in your free time, as long as you do so systematically.

In fact, loads of people who now earn their living from their passion initially built their business in their spare time as a side hustle. And just a single hour a day spent planning over the course of a few weeks is enough to launch a small business. But, naturally, you need to be careful not to waste your time.

Plenty of job-finding strategies seem like a good idea initially, but prove to be a colossal waste of time. And, truthfully, most of them are. So, if the well-worn paths don’t lead you to career success, just create your own job.

After all, consider all the hours and energy you can invest in updating your LinkedIn profile or attending job fairs, only to come up empty-handed. These strategies simply aren’t very effective because thousands of smart, qualified applicants are also using the very same ones. This means lots of competitors, some of whom might be a better fit for any given position.

Are you struggling with the question of what to do with your life? Well, if you are, it might be because you think you need to decide on a single, focused pursuit once and for all.

In reality, you don’t need to pick a niche and stick with it for your whole life; instead, you can adapt your career to your changing needs and interests.