What Should I Do with My Life?
October 28, 2008
What should I do with my life?
It’s a question many of us have pondered with frequency. Author Po Bronson was asking himself that very question when he decided to write this book — an inspiring exploration of how people transform their lives and a template for how we can answer this question for ourselves.
Bronson traveled the country in search of individuals who have struggled to find their calling, their true nature — people who made mistakes before getting it right. He encountered people of all ages and all professions — a total of fifty-five fascinating individuals trying to answer questions such as: Is a career supposed to feel like a destiny? How do I tell the difference between a curiosity and a passion? Should I make money first, to fund my dream? If I have a child, will my frustration over my work go away? Should I accept my lot, make peace with my ambition, and stop stressing out? Why do I feel guilty for thinking about this?
From their efforts to answer these questions, the universal truths in this book emerge. Each story in these pages informs the next, and the result is a journey that unfolds with cumulative power. Here are the stories of people who found meaningful answers by daring to be honest with themselves. Among them:
- The Pittsburgh lawyer who decided to become a trucker so he could savor the moment and be closer to his son.
- The toner-cartridge queen of Chicago, who realized that her relationships with men kept sabotaging her career choices.
- The Cuban immigrant who overcame the strong disapproval of her parents and quit her high-paying job to pursue social-service work in Miami.
- The chemistry professor who realized, quite late in life, that he would rather practice law.
- The mother torn between an Olympic career and her adolescent daughter.
- The seventeen-year-old boy who received a letter from the Dalai Lama and was called to a life of spiritual leadership.
- The creator of St. Elmo’s Fire, who wasn’t sure he could quit his successful Hollywood life for the deeper artistic life he had always wanted to pursue.
- The author himself. Po Bronson has worked as a bus-boy, cook, janitor,sports-medicine intern, bus-lift assembly-line technician, aerobics instructor, litigation consultant, greeting-card designer, bond salesman, political-newsletter editor, high school teacher, author, and book publisher.
Reading this book is like listening in on an intimate conversation among people you care about and admire. Even if you know what you should do with your life, you will find wisdom and guidance in these stories.
“Brimming with stories of sacrifice, courage, commitment and, sometimes, failure, the book will support anyone pondering a major life choice or risk without force-feeding them pat solutions.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Good Morning America “Read This!” Book Club Pick
Customer Review: We all face this at some point
What Should I Do with My Life is a collection of personal interviews examining how people have answered this question and changed their lives. Many of the people in the book have different backgrounds, educations, and circumstances and came about their change in a variety of different methods. Some are stories of courage and some are stories of chance. Each story examines how the person arrived at their answer for their life. The stories include young people just starting out in their careers as well as older people looking to change careers.
Customer Review: Personal advice to help seekers
This isn’t your typical job book.
You won’t find any quizzes to help you choose your career path, and you won’t get any step-by-step advice on how to find the best job for you.
What you will find are personal stories from people just like you. You’ll discover people who had an easy route to career success, as well as people who had a longer journey.
I personally found this book very helpful during a particularly rough patch. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in my field, and I had a lot of questions about what to do with my life. I was depressed, unhappy, desperate, even angry.
Reading other people’s stories helped me feel less alone.
The book also helped me priorotize what is important in my life. Turns out I’m OK with making less money as long as the tradeoff is living in a place I love and working for people I respect.
I have a new job as a result of this book, and I’m very happy with my place in the world. Buy from here…
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