I had barely finished my sentence when he asked me to help him get a job.

Here is how the conversation unfolded:

_________

Stranger: So, can you help me get a job?

Me: I can help you figure out how to get the job you really want. What do you want to do?

Stranger: Anything

Me: I’m sorry, that’s too broad.  What do you enjoy?  What have you enjoyed in the past or even something you’ve always wanted to try?

Stranger: Too many questions, I just want a job.

Me: How about you at least tell me your skillsets.

Stranger: I don’t know.  Nothing comes to mind.

Me: If you don’t know what you want to do, what interests you or what your skillsets are, how do you plan on finding a job?

Stranger: Isn’t that what you do?

_____

While this conversation was an extreme version of what we often hear, it is relatively common to hear of people wanting a change, wanting something different, but not knowing what that something looks like.  And for that reason, we wrote “Forget the Parachute, Let Me Fly The Plane”.

Figuring out what you really, really, really want to do, are meant to do, doesn’t always come easy.  Having a guide to help you through the process can take you out of what you know and push you.   A little bit or a lot.

The big question, for me, is “how can we be more concerned about our careers than our jobs?”

And it’s a great question. Because most of the time, we spend our lives working on our jobs rather than our careers. With the exception of the few days around New Year’s, we rarely stop to take stock of where things are headed and what our next steps are.

Yet, it’s exactly that introspection that leads us to happiness and out of the “Monday” type world that Dan Miller talks about in his latest book and on his blog.

The problem is, most of us are focused on the tactical, without taking time out for the strategic. It’s a problem that I see in business a lot, and even more in life management – we really need to take time out to ask ourselves the important questions around career. It’s much like what Gerber said about the difference between working “in our business” (i.e. doing our jobs) and working “on our business” (i.e. focusing on structures that keep us moving forward).

So, what have you done to work on your career lately instead of just in your career? What are your next steps for growth and the next challenges you want to take on? What conversations do you need to have with peers, bosses, clients, mentors, etc. to take yourself to the next step of your career?