The events and happenings of our lives are perfectly ordered by God. Having reflected, analyzed and considered my life many times over and from many angles, I have come to understand and accept this as an undeniable fact. Even in the smallest of contexts, the evidence exists. Once such example is the timing in which Jeff Goins completed his forthcoming book, The Art of Work, and the when he set the wheels of its pre-launch into motion.
This post serves as both a review of the book and the impact it has had on the forward-looking direction of my life. But before you read any further, in the interest of transparency, I want you to know that I am a member of Jeff’s launch team and an affiliate for the book launch. I might get a few coins to jingle in my piggy bank from this post, but that fact has nothing to do with the material content.
Phew! Now with that out of the way, on with the post…
Shortly after I had completed the draft of my own forthcoming book (Listen Up Kids), I turned my attention to the 1Glories blog after having experienced several false starts. The blog and the work of it was a calling I was compelled to accept but just couldn’t make time to truly commit to. As “luck” would have it, Jeff was beginning his Intentional Blogger program at roughly the same time. I quickly signed up and gained the immediate benefits of having both an organized method and level of accountability for giving the 1Glories blog the attention it needed.
As I continued the program, I felt a call toward studying the book of Ecclesiastes. Everything that happened in my life seemed to somehow point me back to the book in one way or another. Knowing that I had the upcoming duty of leading a Sunday School study ahead of me, I made my case and the class agreed to indulge my “gut feeling.”
Having reaffirmed and rededicated myself to perusing what I felt was a divine calling and having committed to the study that seeks to answer the meaning of life, I was not at all surprised when I saw that Jeff had opened the opportunity to be a part of a launch team for an upcoming book called, The Art of Work.
The Art of Work and Ecclesiastes
The book of Ecclesiastes seeks to understand the meaning of life and initially sets out to do so under two different paradigms, through wisdom and through self indulgences or personal experiences. It does so, as the book refrains, “under the sun” or plainly speaking, without regard to God’s presence in one’s life.
As I prepared for this week’s lesson that covered the latter half of chapter two, I kept thinking back to The Art of Work because this section of Ecclesiastes specifically examines the role of work in life. In it, The Teacher (presumed to be Solomon) acknowledges that there is pain in the labor that accompanies ones work, but when work is executed with the perspective that it is a blessing from God, our work can be meaningful and significant.
Goins, as he details in The Art of Work achieves a very similar conclusion. He does so using both his personal experiences in becoming the writer he found that he was called to be and through the experiences of several others who listened to their lives and pursued their own callings. Along the way, their work became meaningful, impactful and established a lasting legacy bigger than their selves.
There’s Always a Deeper Story
On page 185, Goins’ observes that every compulsion is not a calling. As he says it, “there’s always a deeper story.” True to that reality, there is a deeper story to this book than simply the sharing of a few simple stories meant to inspire and drive others.
That deeper story begins on Jeff’s 30th birthday. He achieved the writer’s ultimate dream – of giving up a full-time career to become a full-time writer. His life had been building to that point and as he listened to the guideposts at the time, he came to the realization he was called to go deeper. In fact, during the course of a conversation with a trusted friend, he was convinced that to not go deeper would be an act of disobedience toward God.
Goins set out to write The Art of Work as a way to share his story. But, as he tells it, it became way too much about him. So he re-wrote it! The end result is a wonderful collaboration of a decade of personal experience and journey along with a year of intense research, community building and getting to the core of many life narratives.
Those narratives take the reader to foreign lands and back while presenting the bigger life perspectives of many dream seekers who realized that “good enough” was robbing them of a greater calling.
And yes, you will see pieces of your own story within many (perhaps all) of those narratives (as did I).
How the Art of Work Applies to 1Glories
At 1Glories, we’re helping each other achieve the life work that God created us to achieve. We’re “refining life on purpose” and The Art of Work could literally be a handbook for doing much of that. Here’s just a sampling of some of the more hard-hitting lessons contained within:
- An accidental apprenticeship begins with listening to your life and paying attention to the ways in which you’re already being prepared to live your life’s work.
- As children, we are courageous and willing to fail, but as we get older, we acquire inhibitions. Our shame reflex kicks in. Unwilling to try new things, we settle for good when we are called to greatness.
- Understanding the signs, even hearing the actual call, can only take you so far. What comes next is a decision.
- Humility is a prerequisite for epiphany. Without it, your dream will be short-lived and self-centered.
- A calling takes everything you’ve done up to a certain point and turns it into preparation.
- You’re not just waiting on a calling, your calling is waiting on you.
- We are caretakers of our vocations, stewards entrusted with a vision that is bigger than us.
A Special Limited-Time Offer
Every now and then, I come in contact with a book that was received at the exact right time. I hope it’s clear to you that The Art of Work is one such book. I can’t consider it mere luck, chance or coincidental. God has all things – big and small – at work at all times. I have been extremely blessed by the timing.
And maybe it’s your time.
Maybe you’ve been mulling over questions in your mind like “What’s it all for?” and “Is there any meaning to what I’m doing for a living?” Maybe you – like me – are on a path and looking for reinforcement that you haven’t lost your marbles!
If so, here’s a great opportunity to take that next step of your preparation. The Art of Work releases March 24th and will retail for $16.99 (plus tax of course). But Jeff doesn’t want you to wait that long. Preorder the book before then and you can get it basically for free.
Just $6.99 to pay for shipping and handling. That alone is a bargain. But when you order it, you’ll also get the following:
- A downloadable PDF of the book so you can start reading today
- A video mini-course to help you find your calling
- A downloadable workbook with practical action steps to follow
- An exclusive community of people pursuing their life’s purpose
- Access to the author for community Q&A
The bonus materials alone are worth well over the seven bucks you pay for the book. The Art of Work is one of those few books you’ll read and want to hang onto so you can read multiple times over. It’s that good. It’s that life altering.
I don’t endorse just any book or product and I always offer my honest take on any review I present here at 1Glories. I respect the readers far too much to do otherwise. This is an offer that is only available for a short time, so take action now. Order The Art of Work by Jeff Goins now.