The Calling Process: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Purpose and Pursuing Your Dream Job

by Dan Cumberland

Dan Cumberland, a new and compelling voice, offers guidance on how to find meaning and purpose in your life and work. He has been helping people find a sense of calling and vocation professionally for more than 10 years. In this book, he is making public his proven process for finding clarity, calling, and direction. Everyone wants a dream job. But would you know it if you saw it? Too often conversation about work and passion is limited to inspirational quotes or dull advice. This book was written to help reframe the conversation. This isn’t about a book about networking or personality assessments. It’s a book to help you understand who you are, what makes you feel alive and engaged, and how to do more of those things in your work. In this concise work, Dan Cumberland outlines a framework for understanding what makes work deeply engaging and offers a step-by-step process for pursuing more of it. No matter where you in your life and career, this book will help you move toward more meaning, more purpose, and, ultimately, landing your dream job.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

30 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 24, 2016

Reviews

[Hestia Istiviani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read in English but this review is written in Bahasa Indonesia

Your calling is about using your agency to be a part of something meaningful in the lives of others.

Menemukan buku ini dalam rekomendasi salah satu newsletter yang aku langgan. Salmon Mentai namanya. Pada volume ke-5 dari edisi mereka, dibahaslah topik tentang "What is your life purpose?" Penjelasan para kontributornya berujung pada rekomendasi. Satunya berupa video Oprah Winfrey dan satu lagi adalah buku ini. Ditambahkan informasi pula bahwa buku ini bisa didapatkan secara legal dan gratis di Kindle dan Kobo (yes, belum ada di PlayBooks sayangnya).

Ketika ditelusur, buku ini ternyata tipis. Tidak sampai 50 halaman. Dengan judul yang sangat jelas, aku rasa tidak rugi juga untuk mencoba membacanya.

Buku ini terdiri dari 5 bab yang masing-masing hanya berkisar 4 halaman saja. Kok bisa? Ya bisa. Penulisnya tidak pakai bermanis-manis ria dengan kalimat. Ia langsung menyasar pada pesan yang ingin disampaikan. Kosakata yang diguanakan pun juga jelas. Tidak pakai berbelit-belit sehingga bagiku, sepertinya tujuannya membuat buku kecil ini adalah memberikan gambaran kepada orang-orang yang masih belum tahu apa purpose di hidupnya.

Your calling is that which calls to you. It's that thing that you'd do if you'd only allow yourself. It's how you'd spend your time if you knew exactly what you wanted to do and could magically get paid for it. Or it at least has something to do with those things.

Dikatakan sejak bagian pendahuluan kalau buku ini bukan menjamin pembaca tahu apa purpose hidup. Buku ini menjadi alat bantu bagi mereka yang bertekad untuk mengenali diri lebih jauh. Dan Cumberland juga mengatakan bahwa tidak selamanya pekerjaan atau karir yang memang kita menikmatinya, adalah panggilan. Bisa saja ia berupa hobi yang bisa dikerjakan berdampingan dengan pekerjaan utama kita. Tidak ada yang salah dengan hal itu.

Pada akhir buku, Dan Cumberland memberikan tautan menuju situs blognya. Katanya ada lembar-lembar yang bisa dicetak dan digunakan untuk menulis purpose sebagaimana yang telah dijelaskan di dalam buku. Meski terlihat sekali bahwa buku ini mengarahkan pembaca untuk "membeli" jasa Dan Cumberland, tapi buku ini tidak dikerjakan secara main-main. The Calling Process cukup bisa membantu memetakan kehidupan (apalagi anak muda selepas jadi sarjana)dan membuat rencana harus melakukan apa selanjutnya.

[Ed Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Make You Think

A calling is more than, and different from, a job. The book covers that, as well as makes you think about your calling, role in the world, and how to explore it. Good resource.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book.

[Chideraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and practical

I liked that this book gave very practical steps to identify calling and explained what a calling was in very simple terms. I would recommend to anyone who is trying to understand what a calling is and how to find their purpose in life.

[Riska Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Real life is what happens in evening, weekends, and after you retire."

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as in-depth I was looking for; but it didn't claim to be exceptionally detailed. Read it in about 30 minutes. Helpful and the author's website is really good. Offers a lot of free additional resources. Good place to start.