Creating the Work You Love: Courage, Commitment, and Career

I bought this book with scepticism. I thought it would be really tacky. I mean, career books are not exactly high literature, and one which incorporates the chakras sounded even worse than usual.So I was amazed, as I read it, to find that this book is exceedingly well written. Although Jarow is a new-ager, he has discriminating taste, considerable insight, and he's just a great writer. Just about every paragraph in the book is enjoyable to read, and presents useful information, if not a rare challenge. A previous reviewer said that this book is not that substantial. He or she certainly has a point--the book largely presents challenges and guidance for inner work. It doesn't make decisions for you, recommend practical plans of action, or tell you how to find a job. But it's written for people who relate to spiritual, immaterial, idealistic things, and it provides a demanding series of suggestions, questions, and meditations to galvanize such people into joining their inner and outer worlds. If you already relate to the world primarily in practical ways, this book would probably be worthless to you. The author does suggest, however, reading "What Color Is Your Parachute" (rather than plagurizing from it) and it might be a great idea to use them together.Personally, I was thrilled to find that the author seems to be talking about me nearly all the time. This paragraph phrased the dilemma well: "People would tell me about their remarkable past lives as pharaohs and queens, but these same people were still working behind the counter at Macy's. What was wrong? Why was it that spiritual people seemed to be chronically nonfunctional? Why was it that not long after having some ecstatic vision or transcendant experience, I would find the same person bogged down in the same morass that they had been in before their revelation? Clearly, there was a problem" (p 3). He also puts his work in a political context reministcent of the Situationists and others: "From Karl Marx to Hazel Henderson, persuasive voices argue that the transformation of the workplace is a necssary prerequisite for human freedom" (p 5). I would particularly recommend this book to people who would like to return to their lives as pharaohs and queens, but also to those who struggle with apathy, confusion, or disatisfaction, and can handle some new-ageisms.

This book deserves far more publicity and attention. While many authors toss off New Age mumbo-jumbo, Rick has actually studied Eastern religion and has made his own pilgrimage to the East. He writes from life, experience and heart. Rick is the Real Deal.Although the book is organized around the chakras, Rick introduces many creative and insightful ideas. For example, no other career counselor talks about family history as a career influence. I own the tapes as well as the book and periodically listen during drives. They're as current as the day I bought them, several years ago.

Creating The Work You Love is one of the few books that have stayed on my "all time best" list. Rick deals with the tougher issues that most people are too busy to pay attention to:Authentic Life WorkFollowing Your PassionsListening to (and Trusting)Your IntuitionIf you're ready to take a major step forward in your lifeget this book and cherish it. It will open doors for youthat you didn't even know existed.To Your Dreams And To Your Success, Paul Bauer

Rick Jarow's book is not in any way a standard career guide. His work has some similarity to Carolyn Myss's, but it is really in a class by itself. Mr. Jarow's breadth of knowledge alone makes the book worth the read. Not only does he pepper his work with references to Weber, Nietzche and Alice Miller, but he teaches us a great deal about world religions as well. Teaching us how to learn from their wisdom and apply it to our lives is at the heart of his program. And, the book works! if you are ready to unplug from your assumptions about the direction you think your life should be taking, and start listening to your inner wisdom, you will be amazed at the results. this is not a book about career alone; it is about making sure you are on your life-path. Rick, if you are reading this: thanks!

Far too many career planners start from the premises that "your life's work" equates to "job," and that your "strengths" -- your talents, your skills, your personality traits -- are an infallible guide to which job you should choose. Jarow is one of the rare advisors (Barbara Sher is another) who takes a different approach: your "life's work" may not slot neatly into a job or a predefined career path; furthermore, your own intuition and self-knowledge are a more reliable guide to what you "should" be doing in life than conventional aptitude tests. His approach to discovering one's life path may smack of New Age eclecticism (the chakras, the Medicine Wheel). But I think he's picking up on something that other authors (e.g., Caroline Myss) have discovered: the cross-cultural similiarities between these modes of self-analysis. This implies that there's another way of knowing that our Western, linear, "rational" approach doesn't address, but that in matters of the heart might be a better guide to what "really matters" and what's "right" for us. If you take the time to complete his exercises thoughtfully, giving them the care and attention they deserve, you'll learn a great deal about what's truly important to you and where your life path should go. (I was talking yesterday with a middle-aged woman who recently made some major life changes. She remarked, "In my career, I zigged when I should have zagged, and I've been miserable for the last 8 years!") This book will help keep you from zigging in the wrong direction -- or, if you're in the same boat as my friend, it will help you zag back to the right path.