Business Book Review: The Art of Work by Jeff Goins
The Art of Work is the perfect balance of inspiring and pragmatic. It is a gift to anyone who’s ever felt lost in their calling.
My Rating: ★★★★
Length: 227 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: 2015
Key takeaway for personal branding
The Art of Work by Jeff Goins is a masterclass in finding your calling.
But, it’s more than the usual calls to find your passion. Goins offers a touching, yet practical seven-step path forward.
It begins with making space to hear your calling. To go within before you go forward. And to recognise the ‘accidental apprenticeships’ and teachers already available to you.
All steps can be related to personal branding, but a couple of concepts in particular stand out:
Painful Practice
Goins calls for “painful practice”. Because it is work after all. A far cry from the popular rhetoric that when you find what you love, you don’t have to work a day in your life. Goins reminds us that practising new skills is meant to be challenging.
During a workout, you stress and strain your muscles to create expansion. Mastering new skills for your personal brand is similar. If you’re truly challenging yourself, it should feel uncomfortable.
The Portfolio Life
In personal branding, everything is integrated. There is no separation of business and personal. And in many cases, you work in different spheres. Goins gives you permission to embrace this as a portfolio life. Not attached to a single title or role, but rather acknowledging that it all forms a portfolio - a new form of mastery.
Favourite Quotes
A calling is what you have when you look back at your life and make sense of what it’s been trying to teach you all along. What would you do if you could do anything?
You have to imagine your own death. When your time comes, what will you regret not doing? What will you wish you had more time to do, and what will have seemed trivial? Think of what you fear losing—those are the things that matter most.
Failure is a friend dressed up like an enemy.
Accidental apprenticeships. The teacher appears when the student least expects.
Fortune favors the motivated. When a person is determined to not just succeed but to do work that matters, the world makes room for such ambition.
The worst way to get a mentor is to go find one. The best way is to see the one that’s already there.
Researchers have argued that what we used to think of as natural talent is, in fact, the result of good old-fashioned practice.
In typical Goins style, The Art of Work is an escape into beautifully presented case studies. From well-known stories to everyday heroes. Jeff shares the touching tales of those who heard their calling - and responded.
Goins apologises earlier on if you’re disappointed by the book’s subjective nature. But, it’s far from disappointing. It reflects the subjective nature of life’s many experiences. While still providing a practical roadmap for the path forward. To master the art of work.
The Art of Work by Jeff Goins: Available on Amazon.
