Career/Life Books

[Linsey Shelton]

I really loved the Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka. There are plenty of exercises in this book that would be a great addition to everyone's career journal.

A thought: Would anyone be interested in reading the same book in preparation for our next meeting? Or maybe a selection of chapters?

[Michele Martin]

What a great recommendation, Linsey--I just ordered it!

I also noted on the site that Sarah has a "Year-End Ritual" exercise that could be valuable as follow-up in your career journals to prepare for next year. She says:

The goal is to set aside some time at the end of each year—I designate about eight to ten hours during the last week of the year--to conduct a review of all the significant things that have happened over the course of the past twelve months and to give voice to your heart’s longings for the coming months and years. I recommend that you create a special journal, or a folder on your computer if you prefer, in which to record your observations. You are going to write down all the thoughts, feelings, and experiences that come to mind as you engage this Year End Ritual, and then you are going to close the journal or folder and not look at it again for twelve months, until its time to engage the ritual again next year.

She also included a PDF for the exercise, that I saved and am uploading below. Maybe this is something for everyone to do and discuss at your January meeting?

[Elisa Ortiz]

I think this is a great idea--both the year end ritual exercise and reading a book (or at least a few chapters) for our next meet up. Reading and writing is another way (or reason really) for me to set aside time to do some serious thinking about all these issues, which I know will be my biggest challenge moving forward.

What do others think?

[Shannon Doran]

Hi there! I also really like the idea of reading the same book (or a few chapters) prior to our next meeting. Great idea Linsey!!

[Rosetta Thurman]

These are great ideas! Let's add this to the agenda for our Jan. 26 meeting, which I've started organizing in this forum. Maybe we can start out with doing the year-end ritutual and reading the first chapters of Linsey's book together?

[Michele Martin]

The paperback version is available after December 26 from Amazon for $10.17, which is a pretty good deal! Would also make a nice X-mas gift. :-)