Life on the Narrow Path - Finding your Passion/Value

Last Friday at the Univesity of Utah Job Club, Clark Burbidge gave an overview of his book, Life on the Narrow Path, which compared various chapters on mountain biking with life's challenges.  I listened to his presentation and took copious notes. I read the book in two days, and communicated to the author that I'd like to include a blog on the principles at it applies to job search skills and networking.  I also provided a status update of this book on LinkedIn and included it as a book I'm reading.  While Clark holds an important "C" level position in his company and has had an interesting and challenging career, he also had 10 months of unemployment, during which he wrote this book.  Each reader will find different applications based on his/her own needs and paradigms.  For me it resonated as a rider who is seeking meaning in his/her life while confronting new challenges of finding employment in a terrible economy.  I'm not a mountain biker but could sense the excitement and passion of the author in his vivid explanation of the sport.  This post is the first of six posts to reinforce the fact that we all have skills, talents and abilities and should develop our own passion portfolio.

This passion for riding was not something Clark learned when young, a double sport athlete in College, but occured in the last 20 years when diagnosed with degenerative hip concerns that required cycling or swimming as an alternative to running, soccer, basketball or more hip-stressful exercises.  To remain active while enjoying exercising, Clark took up the sport of mountain biking.  And it has become a passion for him.  Many of us need to develop this same passion about finding employment.  I've included many other blogs about branding, about not looking desperate while seeking your dream job, about recording your journey via a journal or blog and about developing a marketing portfolio of your strengths.  I was sent an interesting YouTube video clip by a LI connection that you will enjoy often,   I'm forwarding to you my friends (See link below). 

Your marketing collateral is typically starts with your resume.  However, that really doesn't do a good job in explaining who you are as a person and where you're going, only a brief profile of your past accomplishments.  Your power statements and lessons learned in your career workshop class should give you a better idea of who you are and what value you bring to any situation.  If you have not spent the time analyzing your value proposition, your brand, and your strengths and weaknesses, this should be done early on in your search.  For those who are still working but underemployed, don't wait until you're unemployed to develop your value proposition.  Find your purpose, your personal best stories and passions, and your key relationship connections and build upon them.  Continue to look for opportunities to succeed and recognize those who have helped you in the process.  And at all times give thanks to your God who gave you the potential for greatness and for the various gifts and talents you've been blessed with or have developed.  Discover those characteristics and build upon them.  If I can share only some principles besides finding your passions and value, in this blog it is to maintain hope and the sense of being responsible for your successes and failures (don't dwell too long on the failures after you've learned the lessons).   While it is important to express your frustrations and disappointments, you must get over these quickly,  If you don't learn the lessons from the past (and most of us have some blame in the outcome), you may continue to repeat the lesson.

The next blog will cover map reading, having a guide and focusing on the path ahead of you. 

Steps to Do with Finding your Passion/Value:

1. Get a professionalresume, cover letter (template) and a branded, keyword rich LinkedIn profile
2. Attend the Career Workshop an complete exercises in the booklet
3. Develop your "me in 30" seconds, your tagline, and your power statements (accomplishments)
4. Complete a marketing portfolio for your interviews and for your LI profile (see blogs)

Do you have Passion?  See this Juice video from You Tube.  It expresses how we need to confront life's challenges be they mountain biking, the loss of a job or loved one, or the stressors of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ2mbvaADeg&feature=related