To find the work you were born to do, you need the right combination of joy, money, and flow.
To the outside observer, it seems like they’ve won the career lottery—that by some stroke of luck or circumstance they’ve found the one thing they love so much that it doesn’t even feel like work-and they’re getting paid well to do it.
In reality, their good fortune has nothing to do with chance. There’s a method for finding your perfect job, and Chris Guillebeau, has created a practical guide for how to do it—whether within a traditional company, business or by striking out on your own.
Finding the work you were “born to do” isn’t just about discovering your passion. Doing what brings you joy is great, but if you aren’t earning a living, it’s a hobby, not a career.
And those who jump out of bed excited to go to work every morning don’t just have jobs that turn their passions into paychecks. They have jobs where they also can lose themselves for hours in the flow of meaningful work.
Key Takeaways
How to Win the Career Lottery
When you win the career lottery, you can’t help but say to yourself, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this.” Work doesn’t feel like work, it feels like play and when it’s hard, it’s usually meaningful.
Guillebeau says the requirements for attaining this lotto ticket are the same, “To find the work you were born to do, you need the right combination of joy, money, and flow.”
- Joy the work that produces results, you consider valuable and rewarding.
- Money can’t love our work if it doesn’t pay the bills.
- Flow a feeling we get when you are completely immersed in your work.
“No one can do everything they love 100% of the time, but that’s not really the goal. Generally speaking, we want our work to spark joy. If you’re not sure if your work sparks joy, it probably doesn’t.”
Buy a lot of lottery tickets and put yourself out there to try new things and build skills. Through this process, you will start to recognize questions that people most frequently ask you and these questions contain information for the winning career lottery ticket.
1. Side Hustle using your free time and focus on side projects. Build your skillsets and expand your social network.
2. Actively Listen while working on side projects, you will come across specific problems people need help solving. Identify these problems, and ask yourself how you can help solve them.
3. Resign Every Year Once a year ask yourself, “is this the best opportunity for me at the moment.”? If it is, stay on course. If it isn’t, don’t be afraid to move on.
You don't have to live your life the way other people expect you to.
