Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life: A Practical Guide to Career Change and Personal Renewal [Hardcover]

Bob Griffiths (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 2001

If your job is more stressful than it is satisfying and you fantasize about leaving it for a career you truly love, here is the book for you! Bob Griffiths himself quit a fast-track Wall Street firm at age 50 and launched a passionate new career–a move that has brought him enormous happiness and a sense of personal renewal. Now in this illuminating, eminently practical new book, Griffiths shares the secrets of real career success with everyone who wants to do what they love best.

Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life takes you step-by-step through the adventure of changing careers at any stage in life. Here are easy-to-follow exercises to help you tap into your hidden strengths and reach your full potential. Here, too, are concrete, result-oriented suggestions on reworking your resumé, developing a “financial freedom plan” that gives you long-term stability, even starting that small business of your dreams. Griffiths shows how to identify your passions, honor your calling, and find the courage to deal with change. The choice is yours to make.

Bob Griffiths advocates nothing less than a fundamental change in the way we measure success. Rewarding, inspirational, as uplifting as it is useful, and full of remarkable true stories of people who have undergone major change, this extraordinary book will help you find the courage to succeed in the ways that really make a difference. It’s true: You can at last Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Griffiths, a former Wall Street honcho who downshifted into a more satisfying career as a playwright and professional speaker, draws on his and others' experiences to provide a road map for change. He advises readers to commit to a career change, identifying doubts (often money-related) before undertaking the process of identifying a passion, perhaps by taking tests or seeing a career counselor. The new career, says Griffiths, should integrate the personal and career selves. Emphasizing the need for family discussions about such change, Griffiths suggests that children care less about economic status than reliable parenting. As for money, he suggests getting control of finances and analyzing expectations, recognizing, e.g., that children can get a good education at non-brand name schools. His advice ranges from the psychological ("maintaining a constructive attitude") to the practical (make a chart assessing the skills and abilities applicable to new career possibilities). Avoid burning bridges, he says, as networking works better than responding to job ads. Acknowledging the trade-offs, Griffiths concludes that "self-worth" is more important than "net worth." His book is hardly comprehensive the appendix refers to a host of resources, including the legendary What Color Is Your Parachute? And, of course, it recounts the success stories rather than the failures. Still, Griffiths's spiritual approach living the Golden Rule and recognizing that happiness "is inversely proportionate to expectations" offers wise counsel to those beginning such journeys. (On sale Dec. 18)Forecast: With his public speaking experience, Griffiths's five-city tour and radio interviews may compensate some for his relative anonymity; expect middling sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Stressed out and deeply in debt, Griffiths left a six-figure Wall Street position in 1988 to pursue his dream as a playwright, actor, and teacher. He sold his eighteenth-century mansion and downsized his luxury lifestyle, and he found happiness in the process. This roadmap shows how he and others walked away from prestigious but unfulfilling careers and successfully reinvented their lives. Theirs is an inward journey of facing their deepest fears, of disempowering money and empowering themselves, and finding out who they really are, beyond material possessions, ego, and status. There is the usual practical advice on resumes, job searches, how to resign, financial planning, and so forth, but what sets this book apart are the individual stories, the philosophical quotations, and how the author brings the spiritual element to bear on the process of finding one's vocation. This sage advice is a welcome breather from the consumptive go-go noise of most career and business diatribes. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (December 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345440439
• ISBN-13: 978-0345440433
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow--Bob Griffiths wrote this book for me!, February 17, 2002

By 

Silver Springer "mary1anne2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life: A Practical Guide to Career Change and Personal Renewal (Hardcover)

I was attracted to the title of this book since I have been in the same field for 30 years and have begun to feel burnt out. I didnt see a way out before normal retirement, until I read this book.

This book has been very helpful to me since it includes a step by step guide to identifying your passions, what you do well, your fears, your financial picture (including differentiating between needs and wants), family concerns and more. Equally encouraging are first person reports from people who actually made dramatic life style changes and are doing what they love. I have gone over the sections and am just finishing evaluating my finances and feel that I am in a better position to make a change in the next few years. I now see that some lifestyle changes, an early or normal retirement with a reduced income and a part time job could give me options that will improve the quality of life for myself and my family.

Sometimes you need a nudge or another way of seeing things differently. This book has given that to me and I highly recommend it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Griffiths' book changed our lives!, January 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life: A Practical Guide to Career Change and Personal Renewal (Hardcover)

When my husband was down-sized a few weeks ago from his corporate job, with its hefty salary, we were both depressed and fearful about the future. Then, we read Bob Griffiths' intelligent new guide to career change and personal renewal. My husband had been an industrial chemist for years, but had often felt that he had chosen the wrong profession. Secretly, he felt that he belonged in academics. Bob's sage advice in his book encouraged him to apply for a job teaching college chemistry at a prestigious college. At the time, he believed that he had no chance of landing an interview, let alone being offered the position. However, he was chosen over forty other candidates, and there is an excellent chance that his contract will be renewed for next year. It is true that he makes less money in academics than he did in industry, but he has never felt better about himself and his life, and that makes me happy, not only for him, but about our marriage, which had suffered because of his dissatisfaction with his former job. We both feel that we have a new lease on life. I highly recommend Bob Griffiths' book to anyone who is tired of the same old grind. He's a superb coach who inspires you to realize your dream in life, but he is also a Dutch-uncle when it comes to helping you deal with the practical and financial aspects of changing your career.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had this book 4 years ago!!, January 16, 2002

By 

Robert J. Canning "thewriteguy" (Petaluma, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life: A Practical Guide to Career Change and Personal Renewal (Hardcover)

When I left the corporate world in June of 1998, it was quite a difficult period -- after 14 years, I left a high-paying job at a movie company in Hollywood and moved to a small Northern California town (without a paying job waiting for me) to write plays and screenplays. It was trial and error all the way -- with the emphasis on Error. This past Christmas I was given this book as a gift. Wow! What common sense guidelines, interesting case histories, and superb advice from Mr. Griffiths! While I can't undo past mistakes, this book is STILL useful in helping me plot out my goals and do it successfully. I urge anyone who is thinking of changing careers in mid-life (or even before) TO READ THIS BOOK! It will save you a lot of grief. Take it from one who knows!