The Art of Work

Good writer. Good book.

About the book: The Art of Work is about finding your calling – that special goal that brings you joy and imbues your life with meaning. These blinks will teach you how to find your calling and how to live by it once you've found it. Your calling is the secret to living a fulfilling life – so don't let it get away!

About the author: Jeff Goins is the bestselling author of The In-Between, Wrecked and You Are A Writer. His work mostly deals with pinpointing your dreams and turning them into a reality.

My highlights:
Your calling gives your life meaning. The best way to achieve happiness in the workplace is to find your calling – a force larger than yourself that drives your every action.
Awareness helps you recognize your calling when you come across it.
Another good way to find your calling is to make a list of all the major events in your life, even the ones that might not seem like the most important. When did you feel the most fulfilled, happy or accomplished? Look for similarities between these moments – your calling might be something that ties them all together.
Find good mentors and never stop practicing. the most successful people are those who know how to find good coaches and mentors. Mentors guide them as they get closer to their calling.
You can only master your calling by practicing it.And the best way to practice is to never stop striving toward knowledge and self-improvement. That means you have to accustom yourself to failure.Practice isn't about doing the same simple task over and over again. It's about pushing yourself into new frontiers – making mistakes and learning from them.
Don't stop moving toward your goal and always learn from your mistakes. Failure doesn't take you away from success – it leads you there!Everyone who pursues their dream experiences setbacks at some point. Accept these hardships as opportunities to learn and better yourself.
Live a portfolio life that's filled with interesting challenges and variety. In a portfolio life, your identity is based on a wide range of things, not just one. The author, for example, isn't only a writer – he's a father and husband, too.There are four main areas in a portfolio life: work, home, play and purpose.Work doesn't have to refer only to your main job; it can include other projects you work on as well. Home is all about your family and friends – that's where much of the meaning in your life comes from. When you do things just for the joy of it, that's your play. Finally, your purpose is the main goal of your life – what you're prepared to take risks for.
Seek out different sorts of challenges that will bring variety to your portfolio life, because living a portfolio life means living for your calling.
Your calling is your legacy – and you'll never stop living for it. Your calling is more than a personal goal – it's your legacy, the work that will continue to inspire others long after you're finished with it.If you're doing something for yourself alone, that's not your calling. So don't aim to produce one masterpiece – your calling is more like a magnum opus. It's your entire body of work.
To understand your calling you must acknowledge death, because a calling is also a legacy. You'll never finish with your calling, no matter how hard you try. And a fear of death can in fact be useful – it drives many to keep creating until the end.
Final summary: Everyone has a calling – an idea that imbues their life with meaning and pushes them forward. So develop the awareness to find yours and strive to live a portfolio life that will give you the happiness and balance you need. When you live for your calling, you won't just produce work you'll be proud of – you'll feel more fulfilled and leave behind a legacy that will continue to inspire others even after you've passed on.