What Is Your Life's Work?: Answer the Big Question about What Really Matters... and Reawaken the Passion for What You Do.

by Bill Jensen

Book Overview

What Is Your Life's Work? captures a most extraordinary moment in each of our lives--the time when we sit down with loved ones and attempt to answer the big question about what really matters. Bill Jensen has created a wonderfully practical space for you to explore who you are, what you stand for, what you believe in, what's risky, what's not, what's worth it, what you're struggling with, and what you've accomplished.

He has captured the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060766867
• ISBN13: 9780060766863
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Harper Business
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

FOR ALL WHO ACHIVED AND WANT MORE FROM LIFE!

This is not one of those how to feel better about one's self or situation. Nor its instructions on to be better in life. The subject matter is like a brilliant snap shot of all sorts of people from various backgrounds and professions and levels of society. They share some of the most amazing fears, tears, and most of all lesson learned within their experience. there is no good and bad...its just a collection of REAL stories written by real people like u and me!! get this for sure if u want to feel collected and want to reconcile yourself. I know i pick this up every time i feel lost and hopeless; it doesn't care if u made it or not as far as material is concerned. I had recommended this book to 3 people whom are very well off and yet they too have felt lost in their "supposedly" full lives. I gave this as a gift to another who just started their first job out of college. ItS fantastic stories that move u :)

Personal Reflection, Universal Wisdom

How often do we define ourselves by our work? How often do we equate who we are in life with our job title: assistant director, associate vice deputy, CEO, chairman, stay-at-home mom, etc.? So many people focus so tightly upon their job description as their identity that they ultimately lose sight of their true self. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK examines what truly matters from a distinctly human perspective. It does so not by dry, formal statements of principles (e.g., the 7-steps, the 10-tenets, the 9-objectives, the 431 value-added theorems . . . you get the picture). Rather, the author offers the wisdom of numerous individuals, precious metals refined in the furnace of everyday existence. The letters and journal entries, selected by Bill Jensen from countless thousands, answer the questions of what really matters in life and how one awakens (or reawakens) the passion in one's soul. The lessons are personal, poignant, and powerful; they are also as unique as are the individual personalities. In lives of depth and meaning, certain themes emerge: self-respect, integrity, balance, the importance of family, faith, passion, selflessness, and compassion (to name just a few). Mr. Jensen's selections, for the most part, emphasize the transcendence of the individual toward a greater purpose than the accumulation of possessions, or the aggregate of mere activities and accomplishments. There are two individuals, whose legacies to their children are sadly that of egotistical arrogance and strident selfishness. The reader will quickly recognize these shallow individuals - their stories too are most valuable. Although a scant 200+ pages, WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK packs a tremendous wallop, a wonderful wake-up call to those who have languished in a low-level comfort zone, or to those who aspire to a higher place. It is a wonderful series of discoveries to those seeking a life of fulfillment and meaning in those areas that truly matter.

Soulful Letters of Balancing Work & Life

If you've ever wished you had a parent or mentor who would have shared with you what it is that matters most in life, because you've noticed that people who get such mentoring seem to have some kind of natural edge in the world... you're in luck. Bill Jensen's book WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK contains some of the most powerfully moving written exchanges between people that you are likely ever to find, and these gems of real life stories will set you on fire with their honesty and love. Every counselor, life coach, parent and child can benefit from reading WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK, as some of the most important life lessons are touched upon in deeply personal ways. In an age when it's been said that the art of letter writing is dead, this book dares to raise the subject of we can best find a balance between work and the rest of our life. The intense passion conveyed in most of the letters helps bring this subject to life in a way that is sure to help anyone rekindle their own inner fire, and regain a sense of what it is we're all working for that really matters.

Introspection and Experience

"Work is not just an eight-hour interruption in our day. Most of us will spend most of our adult lives and most of our waking hours focused on our jobs. Whether we like it or not, we are defined by the choices we make at work." ~Bill Jensen What is your life purpose? Are you living your dream? Reading inspirational stories about how individuals achieved their dreams tends to motivate me in the direction of my own dreams. Bill Jensen asks us an important and life changing question. What Is Your Life's Work will help you to: Find Yourself Make Choices That Really Matter Have the Courage to Choose Experience Joy, Serenity, and Fulfillment I loved reading the letters from women who explained why you should "speak your truth" and from men who explain why "You are who you Choose to be." One of the best sections in the book is a letter from Kristi Dinsmore. She works in executive education and writes a letter: "Dear Person Who is Hungry For That Thing Called Joy." In this letter she shows why you should have realistic expectations, have patience, ask for what you really want, compete smart and establish priorities. I also enjoyed reading Mark Ritzmann's comments in his letter to Lucy. He explores the more pleasant aspects of work, making friends, laughing, having great hobbies and exploring life through changing jobs. The conclusion of this book is a "Field Guide to Getting Started." In this section, you get to map out your own journey. After taking notes throughout this book, you should have a good idea of what you want out of life. Practical Application: I started a new journal with the following sections: Quotes (continuing the eternal collection), Words (Single words I find interesting), Moments (Beautiful experiences), Books (lists and quotes), Descriptions (what really matters), Rules (life principles), Why (Entries of important decisions and why I made them), Movies (beauty and art), Misc (casual observations and things I don't want to forget). This will be a book about what matters to me this year. Then I'm going to make a book each year and have quite a collection. You could start a Journal, write a letter to a friend or family member or even decide to find a new job or start your own business. This book is almost more about "What Is Your Life" than what is your work. Through finding out what you love about life, you can discover work that is more of a pleasure than a painful daily occurrence. ~The Rebecca Review

What Really Matters to You?

Here's the basic situation: Jensen contacted several hundred people and invited each to compose a letter to a loved one...or to several, perhaps children or grandchildren. BUZZ eventually generated several thousand submissions. (Mine was among them but not selected.) Jensen requested that each letter respond to a very basic but critically important question: "What would you tell your kids or your grandkids or dearest friends about what really matters at work?" Presumably the letters would share life lessons learned from poor choices made as well as greratest achievements, proudest moments, regrets, current concerns, hopes and dreams, etc. Everyone knew that her or his letter could perhaps eventually appear in print. Jensen carefully read and re-read all the letters received, eventually selecting 64 for inclusion in this book. He then organized them within five "Discovery" sections: 1. Finding Yourself 2. Finding the Lessons to Be Learned, the Questions to Be Asked 3. Finding the Choices Which Really Matter 4. Finding the Courage to Choose 5. Finding Joy, Serenity, and Fulfillment Jensen is correct: "In their letters, we see ourselves" and "In their struggles, we see our own." In his recently published Creating the Good Life, James O'Toole explains what we can learn about "getting it right" from a Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who lived almost 2,400 years ago. In one of the most interesting sections in his book, O'Toole's discusses what he calls "The Deathbed Test": "Aristotle's test of true happiness is the degree to which one is free of deathbed regrets about his or her unfulfilled potential. He says that the realization at the end of one's days that 'I coulda, woulda, shoulda and mighta' is the definition of unhappiness. When Gandhi was in his forties and engaged in the practice of business law, he asked himself what he was likely to be able to say about his life at the end if he continued on his present course. He then decided to change his life and to realize his full potential." O'Toole then explains that Aristotle offers "a useful set of questions that serve us as a self-assessment of whether our current actions and goals will ultimately lead to satisfaction with our life as a whole. The bottom line is that the time to start planning for a happy and fulfilling future is now, the perfect time to start asking 'what's next?' In my experience, Aristotle offers a lot more useful and practical advice than is found in most of the texts we assign in business school." I thought about O'Toole's comments as I read this book. Both he and Jensen seem determined to help as many people as possible to ask the most important questions... and then answer them with honesty and courage. In his Introduction, Jensen points out that, according to more than 40 Gallup studies, about 75% of us feel disengaged from our jobs; according to the most recent U.S. Job Retention Survey, 75% of all employees are now searching for new employment opportunities; and ac