Monday, July 23, 2007 9:28 AM
Forty years, 10,000 days, 80,000 hours. Measure it any way you like, but this is about the length of your career. With so much of your life spent working, why not spend a bit of time planning your career in an organized, strategic, manner? - Are you a bit fuzzy on your career goals? - Is your work-life balance not under control? - Have you achieved some career success and are considering change - but to what? - Are you uncomfortable discussing career issues with your manager? This book addresses these questions, and provides practical, real-life advice on managing your career successfully.
So begins Personal Balance Sheet, a new book on career planning from consultant, speaker and author Randall Craig (who also has a weblog, Make it Happen). Figuring there is never a bad time to revisit my own career plan, I recently started Mr. Craig's book and am finding it a worthwhile read.
As Mr. Craig continues:
Career planning ensures that you are spending those 80,000 hours in a fulfilling, challenging and enjoyable way.
Given your significant investment in your training and your valuable business experience, career planning ensures that you find the highest and best use for your time: a career return on investment.
The latter point, in particular, is very interesting; a career return on investment. Thinking about your career in terms of the return on your investment (which I take to mean education, experience, etcetera), may provide you a different lens through which to assess your own career plan.
The "return," suggested in return on investment does not equate simply with money. Obviously, there are many other items to consider, including work-life balance, challenge and your own personal happiness in your chosen occupation. Mr. Craig does a great job in Personal Balance Sheet of touching on these "other items," helping to frame the processes we all go through in assessing, developing and executing our career plans.
Another aspect of the book that I really like is that it can be digested as a whole or in chapter-by-chapter chunks. I have been particularly time-starved in recent months and rarely have the opportunity to just sit and read for extended periods. Instead, I try and take advantage of small blocks of time to stay current with my reading. Personal Balance Sheet is organized to accommodate just that reality, with chapters that get right to the point, often with highlighted sections or bullet points that ensure the key pieces of information are readily digestible. Indeed, it is the type of book that you can flip through, stop on a random page and start reading without feeling like you jumped into the middle of a story that needs a beginning.
There are also quite a few exercises outlined in the chapters to help you go through your own personal assessment and planning processes. The end goal being assisting you with your own career plan, whether you are starting one from scratch or just doing a little updating or fine-tuning.
All and all, Personal Balance Sheet is an enjoyable and very worthwhile book that I foresee ending up on my bookshelf as a continuing reference. If you are interested in finding out more, you can check out the book on Amazon or by simply visiting Personal Balance Sheet.
