How to
Find Work
You Love
Wright
Who Is This For?
This is a guide
If you want to live a life
of passion and purpose,
this is for you.
to help you
If you have big dreams
find work you
you want to turn into
reality, this is for you.
love and make
If you believe
employment should
also include enjoyment,
your mark on
this is for you.
If you want to make a
the world.
difference in the world,
this is for you.
If you think impact
matters as much as
income, this is for you.
If you want to leave a
legacy, this is for you.
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7 Reasons To Read This Book
You’ll get clear on your dreams and
follow a step-by-step guide to make
1 them a reality.
You’ll learn how to immediately start
bringing your passions to life and
2 translate your interests into a career.
You’ll demystify the idea of
purpose and learn how to create
3 and live yours.
You’ll save valuable time and
money by learning from people
4 who already have your dream job.
You’ll leverage the power of curiosity
to meet amazing new people and
5 unlock unique opportunities.
You’l feel happier, more fulfilled
and more confident as you navigate
6 your career.
You’ll free yourself from the beliefs
that have been holding you back
7 and strengthen your mindset for the
journey ahead.
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Our Journey
06
You Are Here
16
The Lifework Method
20
Dream
34
Test
36
A Day in the Life
38
Curiosity Conversations
45
Real-World Experiments
48
Revise
51
The Principles of Meaningful Work
69
Skill/Market Fit
76
Choose
79
7 Rules for Choosing
90
Evolve
92
Deliberate Practice
97
Mindset
104
Summary
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How To Use This Book
Reflections are questions where you write responses, brainstorm and capture ideas within this guide. You can write, draw, doodle…the white space is all yours. For example:
This is not an ordinary book. It’s
REFLECTIONS
When you see this
part book, part journal. A bournal
What is the type of “work” you wouldn’t want to retire from?
icon it means it’s time
you say? A jook?
We call it a guide but you can call it whatever feels right. It will lead you on a journey to refine your dreams and immediately put them into action. The pages provide the process and structure, but your pen will fill them with color and meaning.
This guide is hands-on with a bias towards action. In addition to the readings, there are reflections and activities.
Activites are where you bring these reflections to life in the real world.
You’ll put the guide down and go do things like the fol owing: ACTIVITIES
With your priority list in hand, reach out to your weak ties and sched-When you see this
ule at least three curiosity conversations for the upcoming week.
icon it means it’s time
to put the guide down
and start doing.
The reflections and activities are your time to shine. The guide will show you what to do, how to do it and, most importantly, why to do it. But the best part of al , the actual doing, is up to you.
Like most things in life, you’ll get out of this process what you put into it.
But unlike most things, putting a little bit of intention into this process has the potential to change your life.
Rest assured, we will be here with you every step of the way. If you ever have a question, musing or just want to say hi, you can text us. Just text
415-993-3943. Seriously, try it right now. When we say this is a guided journey, we mean it.
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What’s Ahead
The Lifework Method has 5 steps: The heart of this journey is a process
1. Dream
4. Choose
called The Lifework Method.
If you had absolutely no con-
Once you narrow your dreams
straints, what would you do? You’l
to a few amazing options, it is
dream as big and bold as you can
time to choose. The 7 Rules for
The Lifework Method is inspired by the scientific method, a process of and create a set of hypotheses on
Choosing will be your guide as
experimentation that has been used to make some of humanity’s most all the things you might want to
you navigate one of life’s most
profound breakthroughs. The scientific method is being used every day, do with your life.
important decisions.
steadily progressing our understanding of the world and improving life as we know it. These very same principles can be used to generate your own personal breakthrough.
2. Test
5. Evolve
This is where we put your dreams
You are constantly evolving, just
to the test. Through a resource
like the world around you. The
cal ed A Day in the Life, you’ll learn
Lifework Method is a process you
from people who are already
can use over and over again as
living a version of the life you
you move through the different
think you want. Their stories wil
seasons of life. You’ll learn the
help you refine your vision while
power of deliberate practice to
saving valuable time and money.
enjoy the process of continual
You’ll use the power of curiosity
growth and strengthen your
conversations to meet interesting
mindset for the journey ahead.
new people and get access to
unique opportunities. And you’l
construct small experiments to
learn new skills and get hands-
on experience with bringing your
passions to life.
3. Revise
As you meet new people and con-
duct your experiments, we’ll dive
deeper into some real y important
concepts you can use to further
revise your dreams. The Principles
of Meaningful Work and skill/
market fit will help you find work
that rewards you with a sense of
purpose and a mea
ningful source
of income.
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Share Your Journey
You can use this guide however and wherever you like, but, like most things, it’s better with friends.
The Lifework Method is all about active engagement, reflection and discussion. Sometimes your friends know you better than you know WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
yourself. They recognize gifts, talents and strengths that you may not ful y appreciate. And they serve as a sounding board for ideas and opportunities as they take shape.
To invite your friends to join you on this journey, email us at
CONNECT
A pen
q@hiwright.com or text ‘Friends!’ to 415-993-3943 and we’ll send you a discount code.
q@hiwright.com
415-993-3943
A place where you can engage
with this guide without
distractions
A place to hide your phone
(unless you’re texting Wright)
Headphones, coffee or whatever
helps you concentrate
A friend or three to share the
experience and talk about what
you discover along the way
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Method
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The Lifework Method
You form a hypothesis, design experiments to test your hypothesis, take measurements, analyze your results, draw conclusions and share your findings. Based on what you learn, you revise some aspect of your The scientific
approach and repeat the process.
The power of the scientific method is that it provides a process for method is a process
exploring the unknown. Scientists practice a version of this method over and over again throughout their careers. It is the method that led to the discovery of gravity, antibiotics, DNA and much, much more. Suffice to for experimentation
say, it works.
When it comes to a job or a career, most people are uncertain about what to do, why to do it and who to do it with. And that’s ok. In fact, it’s that is used to
great. Those same unknowns al ow you to keep an open mind to all of the amazing possibilities that might be out there for you. All you need is a method to help you explore and discover them.
answer questions
The beauty of life is there are lots of paths that lead to the peaks of lots of mountains. There is no single right path. There are many different lives you can create for yourself that would be deeply rewarding and about the world.
impactful, but you need to start somewhere. This process helps you decide where to begin.
So if you’re ready, grab a pen and let’s get started…
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Dream | Test | Revise | Choose | Evolve Dream
Always remember
that this whole thing
started with a dream
and a mouse.
Walt Disney
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What problems are you most energized to work towards solving and why?
EXAMPLES:
List all the problems you feel motivated to help solve.
improving mental
health, making better
The simple act of writing something down
clothing, traveling to
Mars, etc.
makes it more likely to happen. Start by taking a
few deep breaths and relaxing into where you’re
sitting, then consider the following questions1.
What are some things that are naturally energizing while you do them?
EXAMPLES:
These activities energize you rather than deplete you. Write down anything that reading, cooking,
comes to mind; draw pictures, whatever feels right.
discovering new
things, building,
fixing, creating,
organizing, teach-
ing, etc.
What is the type of work you wouldn’t want to retire from?
EXAMPLES:
running my own
1
furniture design
business, teaching
You can find a print-
history, doing bio-
able, PDF version of
medical research,
The Lifework Method
painting, owning a
at hiwright.com
flower shop, etc.
QUESTIONS?
Email q@hiwright.com
or text 415-993-3943
22
DREAM
LIFEWORK
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Now, with this in mind, imagine you’re not bound Look at the ideas you brainstormed and narrow
by any constraints about having just one career.
them down to three options. These are the three
Imagine you’re able to choose any number of
career paths you’d be most excited to explore:
different career paths…all at once, in parallel.
You could be an education entrepreneur in
one life, an architect in the next and a graphic
EXAMPLES:
designer in another. You can be whoever you
1.
“Tech Entrepreneur”
want to be, wherever you want to be.
2.
“Graphic Designer”
Take a few minutes and brainstorm all the different careers you can imagine for yourself over the next five years.
Use inspiration from the previous pages and feel free to interpret the word “career”
3.
liberally. There are no rules except one – you can see yourself loving this life.
“Author”
You can write, sketch, draw pictures, etc.
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DREAM
LIFEWORK
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Once you’ve narrowed it down to three options, ENGAGEMENT Does it challenge you?
choose one and let’s add some color to it.
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
EXAMPLE:
1.
“Tech Entrepreneur”
INTERESTS Does it energize you?
Where would you live?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
What does the perfect work day look like? Try to get as specific as you can, from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed.
COMPETENCE Are you good at it?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
AUTONOMY To what extent do you get to decide how to do the work?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
What fears or uncertainties do you have?
RELATIONSHIPS Would you work with people you will learn from and enjoy?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
Great. Now let’s rate this career path on five
Any type of work that
PURPOSE Does it help improve other people’s lives?
rates highly on these
key questions. We’ll go much deeper into
factors will be a rich
these ratings in the Revise section, but, for source of fulfillment
and satisfaction.
now, just know that each question represents
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
one of The Principles of Meaningful Work.
QUESTIONS?
Email q@hiwright.com or text 415-993-3943
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DREAM
LIFEWORK
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Perfect. Now let’s do the same thing for the ENGAGEMENT Does it challenge you?
second of your three dream careers.
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
EXAMPLE
:
2.
“Graphic Designer”
INTERESTS Does it energize you?
Where would you live?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
What does the perfect work day look like? Try to get as specific as you can, from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed.
COMPETENCE Are you good at it?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
AUTONOMY To what extent do you get to decide how to do the work?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
What fears or uncertainties do you have?
RELATIONSHIPS Would you work with people you will learn from and enjoy?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
PURPOSE Does it help improve other people’s lives?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
Great – let’s rate this one.
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DREAM
LIFEWORK
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Awesome, let’s do it one more time for your third ENGAGEMENT Does it challenge you?
career path. If you haven’t already, be sure to
consider the question – what is the type of work
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
that you wouldn’t want to retire from?
EXAMPLE:
3.
INTERESTS Does it energize you?
“Graphic Designer”
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
Where would you live?
COMPETENCE Are you good at it?
What does the perfect work day look like? Try to get as specific as you can, from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed.
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
AUTONOMY To what extent do you get to decide how to do the work?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
RELATIONSHIPS Would you work with people you will learn from and enjoy?
What fears or uncertainties do you have?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
PURPOSE Does it help improve other people’s lives?
NOT AT ALL
EXTREMELY
Let’s rate it.
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DREAM
LIFEWORK
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It may be obvious, but you’re not limited to the three options you select-Dream, in a nutshell...
ed. In this exercise, people often choose the three career paths that are top of mind and don’t give themselves permission to dream freely enough.
Al ow yourself to keep an open mind as you move through this process A dream is a
and remember that you can come back and revise your dreams at any point. You can also print clean versions of these questions at hiwright.com.
hypothesis on
There is a whole world of opportunity out there that you don’t know exists, just because you haven’t been exposed to it yet. The Lifework Method exists to help you discover these possibilities.