Lotus and the Pool: How to Create Your Own Career (Odyssey Guides) [Paperback]

Hilda Lee Dail (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 1989 | Series: Odyssey Guides

This book offers a totally new, holistic approach to career development, involving the wisdom of the unconscious—expressed in dreams, symbols, personal myths, intuitions, and memories—as well as the analytical skills needed to set goals and plan strategies. It is designed for anyone who has to make important life decisions—whether in choosing a field, changing careers, trying to get more satisfaction out of work, planning for retirement, or reentering the job market. Based on the principles of creativity as revealed in the world's creation myths and in the techniques of artists, poets, and inventors, the book presents a ten-step process of creative career development. Case histories from the author's counseling practice demonstrate the process at work, and a workbook section gives exercises to help readers:

   •  Examine past successes for clues to aptitude and values
   •  Analyze the success factors that characterize their achievements
   •  Use imaging and other creativity techniques to discover their own inner symbols and personal myths
   •  Develop an action plan for finding or creating their ideal career

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hilda Lee Dail, Ph.D., has taken over 2,000 clients through the process described in this book. Based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, she is an international human resource consultant and career counselor who specializes in creativity and problem solving. She works with corporations, educational institutions, government agencies, professional groups, and individuals. She is also a certified experiential psychotherapist and president of the Horry County Mental Health Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st Shambhala ed edition (June 3, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087773478X
• ISBN-13: 978-0877734789
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,290,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tool for self discovery, December 2, 2002

By 

Leese (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lotus and the Pool: How to Create Your Own Career (Odyssey Guides) (Paperback)

When I first read this book about ten years ago, I was floudering about in a very unfulfilling career with no idea what made me happy or how to incorporate the happy, successful part of my life into what I did for a living.

I'll be truthful and say I didn't do all the exercises, I skipped some of the meditations and hopped and skimmed through a number of chapters. Nevertheless, some very important processes that I did complete were rather profound and did eventually lead me to move to a better city, and make career choices that were much more closely aligned with who I really wanted to be.

The book is most useful in getting one to stop focusing on the intensly negative experience of not being in balance. Of feeling stuck and unfulfilled. It is at it's best a guidebook for discerning the you who wants to be actualized.

I give it four stars because it doesn't have an index and that makes it a bit difficult to navigate between the steps described.
OTherwise, I think it should be regarded as a standard reference in the field of career counseling.

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are considering a career change, May 30, 2011

By 

Terry Pile "Career Advisors" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lotus and the Pool: How to Create Your Own Career (Odyssey Guides) (Paperback)

This was the book that influenced my transition from marketing to career counseling. What I found most powerful was the visualization exercise: "What am I?" "What I'd like to be." "What hinders me?" "What will overcome the obstacle?" I normally don't respond to such an introspective approach but the exercises in this book helped me to create a new vision for myself. It also helped that I had an instructor guide me through this exercise, but it can work on its own.

I gave the rating of 4 because it is an older book, but the process is still valid. It has an extensive bibliography in the back although most are academic works and quite dated.