Zen and the Art of Making a Living A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design Arkana

Completely revised and updated–the most innovative, unconventional, and profoundly practical career guide since What Color Is Your Parachute?

First published in 1991, Zen and the Art of Making a Living is the life-changing book that helped revolutionize the career planning field by offering a new vision of work. This new edition has been updated throughout with up-to-the-minute contact information and hundreds of new biographical resources. In addition to traditional material on assessing career skills and conducting a job search, Laurence Boldt provides innovative ideas and strategies, with more than 120 worksheets and more than five hundred inspirational quotations from sages of every stripe. A book that goes far beyond other career guides, Zen and the Art of Making a Living brings creativity, dignity, and meaning to every aspect of the work experience.

–Internet job resources added throughout

–New sections on the opportunities in today’s rapidly changing workplace, participating in the field of home-based business, and developing an effective support group to find fulfilling work.

“This is simply the best book in its field that I have ever seen.” -Jim Fritz, Vice-President of Program Development, Access Influential, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Spiritual advice on finding a meaningful livelihood
The scene is repeated at 7 a.m. every morning. Millions of people roll over and hit the buttons on their alarm clocks, dreading the fact that they will soon be heading off to jobs they consider drudgery, mere vehicles for paying their bills. The lucky ones will only dislike their jobs a little bit. If they’re really fortunate, they’ll find work tolerable, even though it falls short of satisfying their yearnings. A handful of blessed individuals will actually feel happy as they walk into their jobs, knowing they’re heading for work that brings them fulfillment. But once you’ve committed 40 hours a week to something, shouldn’t it give you joy? In this comprehensive, revealing – though excessively long – tome, Laurence G. Boldt proposes that everyone has the power to choose a satisfying career. By taking a spiritual approach (that’s the Zen message) and embarking upon real self-examination, you can discover your true interests and free yourself to pursue your passion. Boldt offers concrete suggestions for success, such as how to write a convincing resume, weigh the pros and cons of entrepreneurship, and conduct a successful interview. He provides pages of exercises, resources and questionnaires. Plenty of books provide such tips, but this may be the only one that dishes them up along with ancient Chinese proverbs and Japanese calligraphy. So we suggest that if you’re just starting out or stuck in an unsatisfying job, find a comfortable chair, light a stick of incense and take a journey within yourself. You may be surprised at what you find – your life’s work.

5 Stars An amazing resource for people looking for meaning in their work
I am an integral coach who does a lot of career counseling. This is hands down my absolute favorite book on this topic because it provides inspiration, practical tools and presents good information in a way that is very easy for anyone to understand.

This book is essentially about finding your vocation or your heart’s deepest desire. It encourages you to align your work with your values as much as possible and it is written from a spiritual perspective that is generally Eastern, but it does not actually push a particular worldview over any others.

If you have the discipline to work through this book, you will learn a lot about yourself and the type of work that makes you most happy. It will also show you how to take what you most love doing and create opportunities to do more of it.

This book is particularly good for mid-life career changers and young people who are idealistic or torn between their head and their heart. It provides tools that will help them to cut through confusion and get clarity about what really matters to them.

This is my favorite work by this author. His other work is good, but I find this particular book a step above his other work. If you want a good career resource in a similar vein, I also recommend “The Beginner’s Guide to Finding Your Perfect Job” by Rick Jarow. This is a very helpful and inexpensive tape or CD.

5 Stars Getting on Track
The book provides a well thought out methodology as to how to

determine personal philosophy, strengths and desires and marry these with career planning.

5 Stars WOW!
The written exercises in this book will blow your mind with their ability to clarify what is important to YOU in your life’s work! Then, after clarifying what is important, you are led through the steps of investigating your possibilities. This book would be a wonderful graduation gift. It is 700+ pages of thought provoking, action inspiring, activities. Those just looking to find their way in life and those who have been in the work force for awhile, will find something in this book that will reveal the NEXT STEP. I personally enjoy the Zen inspired drawings sprinkled throughout the pages and the quotes from diverse sources in each section. This book and Barbara Sher’s book “WishCraft” are life focus work guides. It definitely is a DO book. Any teacher or consultant would get value from sharing the exercises in this book with students and clients. It looks intimidating but once you start reading the gentle wisdom and working through the exercises, you will not be able to put it down!

1 Star never got the book
I never got the book, it was never delivered to me, even though through tracking it said that it left the post offive on a certain day…..

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