Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design (Compass) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "This is a book about work..." (more)
Key Phrases: work purpose statement, commodity world view, landing the right job, New York, John Wiley, Joseph Campbell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The bad old days of multiple-choice-test career counseling are over. It takes more than a #2 pencil and a computer to find your life's work, as career consultant Laurence G. Boldt tells us in Zen and the Art of Making a Living, a hefty but lighthearted tome that will help you find yourself and your place in the world. Boldt is quite up-front about it, though: it's a long, hard journey to get there. But his uplifting prose and liberal doses of inspirational quotes from wise men and women provide support for the weary traveler. Indeed, in between learning how to find the kind of work that strikes the right chord for you, figuring out what skills and talents you'll need to succeed at it, and righteously persisting until you get your reward, you may find lapses and stumbling blocks you hadn't expected--but Boldt has seen them all and finds the right words at the right time to keep you moving. Like a traditional career book, Zen and the Art of Making a Living includes résumé advice and worksheets for narrowing down and sticking with your goals; however, it takes off from there to guide the reader on a quest for spiritual fulfillment through work, something you won't find elsewhere. This updated edition contains plenty of Internet-related information and other resources unavailable in 1990 and is invaluable for anyone concerned about his or her future in the world of work. --Rob Lightner

Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Exp edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140195998
• ISBN-13: 978-0140195996
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,319 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leaving the Rat Race? Take This Guide, May 10, 2001

By	Jeremy Garber "urbanmenno" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After an unsuccessful and frustrating career as a cog in the corporate wheel, I took some time off, bought this book, and sat down with a pen. I came away with much more than I expected. The book's exhaustive charts, lists and essays helped me to focus my skills and desires into self-reflection, to figure out who I really was and what I wanted to do. The second half of the book is filled with information on grant-writing, government aids, and other practical tools to help you realize your dreams. If you don't want to support McWorld, let this book lead you down the path to realizing your full potential.

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars if the Quest for the Holy Grail had a manual, this is it., October 28, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design (Paperback)

If you're lost in any way this book is a treasure chest of help, read it all the way though. If you're not it still is because parts of it will keep those who know why they are on the planet reaffirmed.. I was very lost and took three weeks off and read it up to the point where you go out and test your decision. Best thing I ever did. Now I'm reading how to best follow through. I plan on keeping this book around for a long, long time. It's like a manual for life, the game of life. framed in acts like a play and sprinkled with hundreds of great quotes. Einstien, to Cambell, to Hui Neng grace it's pages with Boldt sythesizing it all into a wonderful stream of wise advice. Life is an art, and a game, and to serve is paramount. It's one of those books that makes you wish everyone HAD to read it, and what a nice world it would be if they did. If Quest for the Holy Grail had a manual on how to search and find your own personal Grail, and do it in a honest and healthy way, this is it.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stay with me, June 4, 2000

By	Stef Maruch (San Francisco Bay Area, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I read the 1993 edition of this book six years ago. I agree with other reviewers that it's not a quick action oriented book for someone who wants a job now. It's an entire philosophy of living. The reason I'm giving it 5 stars is that (1) doing the exercises deeply helped me figure out where I wanted to eventually go with my work choices; (2) these insights are just as fresh with me today as they were when I was reading and working with the book -- and I find that quality in a book extremely rare.

Turning the insights into action is an ongoing life project for me. It didn't immediately transform my life but it showed a path that made sense the way no other life/work guide has.