Cheryl L Litman on sat 3 jan 98
I read Marsha Sinetar's books "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow"
and the sequel "I Could Do Anything, If Only I Knew What It Was". The
second book has a lot of writing exercises in it to help you uncover your
passion in life and the things which stop you from succeeding in
following your passion and turning it into a successful career. It
helped me get unstuck career-wise a number of years ago.
The other thing which helped me immensely at about the same time was a
seminar called "The Forum" offered by Landmark Education. It is
absolutely the most valuable experience I've ever had in my life.
Although I had hated my chosen profession for a number of years and had
been researching a number of options, I hadn't been able to give up the
"security" of a good salary for things which I "thought" I would enjoy
but knew would pay much less. Plus I wasn't comfortable with the idea of
being a total beginner in a new field. A week before I took The Forum, I
got "downsized". Without the perspective that I gained in The Forum, I
would have run back to the same type of job to be safe and comfortable -
I had 15 years good experience, I performed well in my job, worked for
"name" companies, had good references and had some level of "expertise".
After The Forum, I decided to make the break and follow "my passion" and
I just plowed ahead. I earn a lot less but wake up looking forward to
each day - a nice change. I realized that being a beginner again is ok,
feeling scared is ok , not quite knowing what I'll be doing next year is
ok and that I can live quite happily if a lot less extravagantly on a lot
less than I had before. What's become most important to me is liking
what I'm doing. My criteria for things I do is measured by the question
"if I won the lottery, would I be doing this tomorrow?" If the answer is
no, than I don't want to be wasting any more of my life doing things I
don't want to be doing. I remember reading somewhere that if you could
honestly say that at least 80% of your time is spent doing the top 10
most important things in your life, that happiness would follow. It took
me almost 40 years to get that message, but boy oh boy has my life become
a great adventure!
Cheryl Litman
Somerset, NJ
email: cheryllitman@juno.com
On Fri, 2 Jan 1998 12:12:22 EST Fran Bruno
writes:
>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>Janet Walker wrote..."It happens that two of my Christmas presents to
>myself
>(thanks hubby) were Yanagi's "The Unknown Craftsman" and Dormer's "The
>Art
>of the Maker". I'm only part way into the second book but it is
>saying, in essence, the same thing as the first.
>
>And Tony Clennell wrote..."Enjoy the books Janet. The Unknown
>Craftsmen is
>a book I used to go over and over. In the same vein but not directly
>related
>to pottery may I recommend another old book "Zen and the Art of
>Mortorcycle
>Maintenance". It is really about buying quality and maintaining it to
>last
>forever.
>I can't remember the author but these 2 books have influenced me and
>my work.
>
>The author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is Robert M.
>Pirsig.
>It is a book that profoundly affected my life. Many of our Clayart
>discussions
>relate well to the book's messages on values and quality in one's
>life. I don't
>think I would even be using a computer or connected to the Internet if
>not for
>the book. Before I read it many years ago, I was very anti-technology
>and
>closed-
>minded. Would not go near a computer or be open to anything
>state-of-the-art in
>the way of technology. After reading the book, I forced myself to pry
>open
>my attitudes to see the humanizing affects of much of today's
>technology
>and apply
>them to my own life...
>Along this vein, I'd love to hear of books that you all out there have
>found
>profoundly affecting.
>
>>From Fran in Sedona
>email: saddlerock@sedona.net
>
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