No More Mondays: Fire Yourself--and Other Revolutionary Ways to Discover Your True Calling at Work (Christian Edition) - Hardcover

Miller, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1400073863 ISBN 13: 9781400073863

Publisher: WaterBrook Press, 2008

Synopsis

In today’s workplace, job security is like carbon paper–a relic of the past. But if you take a careful look you’ll discover this is good news. The radical shifts that are reshaping the American economy invite you to redesign your work and create a career path that matches your passions and interests, as well as your expertise. More than ever before, successful workers need to draw on their creativity, relational skills, and entrepreneurship.

In No More Mondays, you will learn how to:

·Develop a knack for creating your own opportunities
·Allow your deepest passion to direct you to profitable work
·Discover the off-the-grid opportunities that are multiplying as the number of traditional jobs continues to shrink
·Channel your creativity in ways that make you more marketable
·Play to your passions rather than serving a timeclock
·Begin the daily practice of relying on God, following his wisdom, and acting on his promptings

Position yourself for long-term success in a rapidly changing marketplace by drawing on strengths you have been neglecting. Not only will you find work that pays the bills, you’ll find work that pays dividends in meaning, satisfaction, and purpose. Now you can start looking forward to next Monday.

About this title

About the Author

Dan Miller is the host of a weekly radio show and a frequent guest on radio and television, including “The Dave Ramsey Show,” Entrepreneur Magazine radio, PBS, CBS, CBN, TBN, Moody Radio, and many others. A life coach and author of the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, he contributes articles regularly to a number of Web sites. Thousands of people around the world enjoy Miller’s popular podcast, “48 Days,” and weekly e-zine of work tips and career advice.
www.48Days.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Have you ever said “Thank God it’s Monday”? Why is that such an unbelievable statement? Why does “Thank God it’s Friday” just roll off your tongue? Why is TGIF an instantly recognizable acronym for the relief we feel at the end of a workweek, knowing we can spend the weekend doing something enjoyable? Why do we thank God for saving us from the one thing in which we invest up to 50 percent of our waking hours? If we dread the work we are doing, is it an honorable use of our time? Do you really think it’s possible to fulfill your purpose if you’re doing work that is not meaningful and fulfilling?

Maybe you’re one of the many who have gotten caught up in thinking work is just something you do to support your weekends. Work is that necessary evil in our lives, a means to an end, or just a curse from God. You probably take your role of providing for yourself and those depending on you seriously. But you don’t expect to enjoy your work–you just do what has to be done.

Only now you’re seeing that even loyalty and dependability bring no guarantees. Lately you’ve seen coworkers who have been let go after years of faithful service. Perhaps your entire industry has been shaken by outsourcing or changing technology.

Maybe you’re tired of the long commute and being tied to your desk when you know you could make your own hours and still be productive. You may have ideas stirring that you think could create new income and time freedom.

But here comes another Monday. Maybe feeling trapped is just the reality of the way things are. Doesn’t everyone dread Mondays? Don’t we put our true calling on the shelf when we leave for work on Monday morning? Does our work even matter in the final evaluation of a life well lived?

Don’t all responsible people just bury their dreams and passions in exchange for getting a paycheck? Absolutely not! Let me assure you that it doesn’t need to be this way at all. All of us, no matter how old we are or what kind of work we’re doing, can learn to bring the same excitement to our jobs that we bring to whatever we love to do on our days off.

I believe that each one of us can pursue work that is a reflection of our best selves–a true fulfillment of our callings. What we do on Mondays is a more visible expression of our applied faith than how we spend fifty-eight minutes on Sunday morning.

For many of you, No More Mondays will present a process of waking up the dreams, passions, and visions you had as a child. Have you ever met an unimaginative five year old? Probably not. And when you were five, you probably had a dream. Maybe in the still of the night you thought you heard God speaking to you– calling you to a certain type of life and a special kind of work.

So what happened? Well, life happened. Along the way, in our desire to be responsible, practical, and realistic adults, too many of us wildly imaginative kids lost touch with our creative abilities and gave up a commitment to translating our dreams into enjoyable and fulfilling work. But it doesn’t need to be that way. All of us, no matter how old we are or what kind of work we’re doing, can learn to bring that authentic, childlike creativity to our work.

In fact, the moment you express a desire for something more than repetitive, meaningless work, something more than simply punching the clock, the moment you realize that meaningful, purposeful, and profitable work really is a possibility, you’ve already taken an important step toward reawakening the dreams and passions you haven’t had in years–or might never have had at all.

All of a sudden, complacency and “comfortable misery” become intolerable. The idea of putting your calling on the shelf becomes intolerable. Not only do we have the opportunity, we have the responsibility to spend our working hours in work that will elevate us to our highest calling and transform the world around us.

No More Mondays will show you that meaningful work really is within your grasp. It will help you recapture that childlike creativity you may have lost. It may release the dreams and sense of purpose you had as a child. You may find your prayers invigorated, now knowing there is a day-by-day application of God’s design for your life. And once you’ve opened the door and seen all the exciting career opportunities that await you–whether you decide to revolutionize your current job or launch a new career altogether–you’ll find you can’t go back to the old way of working.

It’s like you’ve fanned to life some dying embers, ignited a new flame of possibility. That inner light of your childhood imagination might have been dimmed by your “adult” notions of work, but this book will help you rekindle it again so that you get a real sense of all the possibilities available to you.

We can find ways to express our hopes and dreams in our daily work. While I certainly don’t advocate confusing “who we are” with “what we do,” I believe that our work can be our best gift to ourselves, our friends and family, our communities–and the best expression of our purpose here on earth. Given the amount of time we spend working, failure to find meaningful, significant work is not just a minor misstep in living out God’s plan; it is a deeper kind of failure that can make each day feel like living death.

It’s no surprise that we often choose to dismiss work’s importance by reducing it to a necessary evil that merely provides a paycheck. But as long as we view work as simply something we have to do to pay the bills, we keep ourselves from embracing our talents and gifts, from recognizing our visions, dreams, and passions. Fulfilling work, work that integrates our talents and our passions, work done for a worthy purpose, has always been a sign of inner–and outer–maturity and wisdom.

And there’s an even more urgent need to seek out more meaningful work. In today’s fast-changing world, we can no longer afford to simply show up at work, punch a clock, and expect payment for our time; in fact, we put ourselves at tremendous risk if we do. Many of us have been raised to think that all we need to do to achieve success and security is finish school, get a job with the right company, put in 35 years or so, and wait for the proverbial gold watch. But those days are over, never to return. In today’s volatile workplace, the average job lasts a mere 3.2 years. Companies are dismantling pension plans, cutting health insurance benefits, and replacing the gold watch with a pink slip. So has the workplace become a hostile environment?

Have all the good opportunities disappeared? Have we been doomed to lives of financial mediocrity and soul-crushing work conditions? The answer to each of these questions is a resounding no.

But the workplace has changed. And we need to change along with it. We need to change the way we think about our jobs, about work hours and salaries, and about job security. As we witness the destruction of the old model of work, is it possible to imagine a new model that’s about more than drudgery, boredom, and a paycheck that’s never enough? The answer is an enthusiastic yes.

Everywhere you look, you’ll find new and exciting opportunities. Keep in mind, however, they are a lot different from the choices of previous generations. I have had the privilege of experiencing these changes firsthand, so I know how scary and intimidating they may seem at first. The future that was presented to me when I was a young boy was a lot different from the varied but exciting path I have taken.

If I had followed the career path my parents laid out for me, there’s a strong possibility that today I’d dread Mondays and despise my daily work as many of you do. Breaking away from the life expected of me was not easy; in fact, it caused a severe breach in my relationship with my parents, as walking away from the work also meant leaving my family’s religious culture. But I’m forever grateful that I did not forsake my search for my true calling– for a daily enriching spiritual life and work that fulfills God’s purpose for my life. And let me add that time is a wonderful healer. As with any change, there are fears and growing pains associated with the search for meaningful work. Over time, however, I was able to reestablish family bonds and share the joys not only of connecting grandparents with grandchildren but also of newly discovered meaningful work.

I was born into a conservative rural Ohio family. Torn between the need to provide for our family and the desire to embrace his spiritual calling, my father both worked as a farmer and served as pastor to the little local Mennonite church. His double life instilled in me the idea that work was just a necessary evil, while a calling had to be squeezed in around the realistic demands of working.

Hard work meant being responsible, and it left little time for anything playful or pleasurable. Frankly, anything that provided enjoyment was suspected as being self-serving, which further reinforced the idea that there was no merit in expecting joy in work. Amusement parks, fancy cars, TV viewing, ball games, and higher education were more examples of useless and dangerous activities that would likely pull a person away from what was eternally important.

Exhausting farmwork was a matter of survival; work that you enjoyed demonstrated egotistical selfishness. Despite the limitations on the things I could do or the places I could go, nothing could stop my mind from wandering. As I was working out in the fields, I was also imagining a world I had never seen.

Somehow in that restricted world, when I was about twelve years old, I was able to get a copy...

Edition details

• Publisher: WaterBrook Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1400073863
• ISBN 13: 9781400073863
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272