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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Born For This summary
Chris Guillebeau
How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do
16 mins
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Table of Contents
Born For This
Summary of 7 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 7
The way to your true calling isn’t clear-cut, and a one-size-fits-all plan won’t help you find it.
Some people have their entire life mapped out by the time they enter kindergarten. But for most of us, finding our life’s work takes a bit more effort, especially since career paths aren’t always straightforward and predictable.
So, if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, don’t sweat it – just start experimenting. This is a good strategy because careers develop in unforeseeable ways and every job or project that grabs your attention could be a step toward your true calling.
Say you follow your dream and join the circus. After a few months, you start to realize that you’re not so into cleaning up after elephants. So you transfer to the box office to sell tickets, but this new job, a bit too pleasant and a bit too clean, quickly gets boring.
Done with the box office, you decide to get an office job outside the circus. Your new job is just starting to get on your nerves when you meet a client who owns a clothing line. Suddenly you realize that you were born to design circus-themed T-shirts!
The point is, you don’t need to subscribe to a seemingly established career path. While some people are staunch believers in the notion that careers do follow strict scripts, these assumptions are invariably based on other people’s experiences.
For instance, a common rule is that if a career opportunity comes your way, you should seize the chance because it might be your only one. In reality, abiding by such strict rules will undermine your creativity and obscure the path to your dream job. After all, just because something worked for someone else’s career doesn’t mean it will for yours.
That’s why it’s important to flip the script, that is, to rewrite traditional career advice to match your needs. You might ditch the rule about jumping at your first career opportunity and write a new one that says, “If you don’t feel good about a job, pass it up.” There will always be other options.
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What is Born For This about?
Born For This (2016) is your guide to finding the career of your dreams. These blinks will help you discover your true passions while providing the tips and information you need to earn money from your genuine interests.
Best quote from Born For This
Business opportunities are like buses. Theres always another one coming. - Richard Branson
—Chris Guillebeau
Who should read Born For This?
- Recent graduates who don’t know what their next steps will be
- Anyone who hates their job
- Professionals who have thought about quitting their job to start their own business
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