Think and Grow Rich test: Does your job inspire you?
December 8th, 2009 by JD
My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test
Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.
There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.
I’ve started the series of posts with:
Question Number 36. Does your job inspire you?
This is hard to answer, because I don’t have a job.
I have a lifestyle.
So, indulge me for a moment as I rephrase the question to, “Does my lifestyle inspire me?”
Most of the time, it does.
I enjoy what I do. I enjoy marketing and promoting things for other people. I enjoy promoting other people.
Sometimes, I even enjoy looking into myself and writing about it, as I have in this series of questions.
A long time ago, I had jobs I did not particularly like. Some were hard, others involved having to work with unlikable and unreliable people. I took steps to leave those jobs and find others that were better fitted to me and the lifestyle I wanted.
Some of the most inspiring jobs were the hardest, so I wasn’t just trying to find an easy way to live. I wanted to do something that mattered and helped others, and not just find an easy way to a big paycheck.
Now that I’m self-employed and haven’t had a job for awhile, I still try to find things that help others achieve what they want and I find that to be much more inspiring than most jobs I’ve ever had.
From a practical viewpoint, I have to increase the amount of income over what it has been this year, but I believe that the money follows when you’re doing something worthwhile. It may take some time and it may be a challenge - especially at first - but I believe the money will come.
If I had to make a decision between a big paycheck for doing something I disliked versus less income for doing something I love, I’d pick the latter one every time.
It’s been nearly 20 years since I had a job that did not inspire me, and I like it that way.
What about you?
Does your job inspire you?
All the best,
JD
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 6:29 am and is filed under Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:41 am
John, I’ve been self employed for close to 30 years. The job I’m doing at the moment has lost that inspiration factor. Probably because I’ve been doing it for 21 years and it’s changed so much in that time.
With some luck I hope to get out of it next year, take a long deserved break with the family and then get into something else that offers a new challenge.
Too bad I’m not making enough by blogging and such because that would be a great way to make a living.
Sire´s last blog ..Why Marketing Your Ad Space Should Precede Marketing Your Blog
December 8th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Good morning, Sire.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re not enjoying your job as much as you used to, but I guess all of us go through these changes over time.
I hope you’ll be able to find something that pays the bills and still inspires you and helps you love what you’re doing. That’s the best of both worlds.
As far as blogging is concerned, I’m becoming more disenchanted with it every day. Some people do very well with blogging and others barely make anything.
If it weren’t for the good conversations I have with friends like Mitch and you, I would probably close most or all of my blogs and move on to something else.
All the best,
JD
December 8th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Not inspired but it provides an income, and that is better than nothing.
Sorry to hear that you’ve become disenchanted with blogging. Just so you know, I’m not making a fortune, far from it, blogging, but I enjoy it just the same, as it’s enabled me to meet people such as Mitch and yourself, and that’s worth more than the few dollars I make.
Still, if I could have my mates and a whole lot of money as well, shit, that would be really cool.
Sire´s last blog ..Wassup’s With The November’s Statistics 
December 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I can honestly say no at this point, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I do know that I have my moments of inspiration, but overall, nope. But like Sire and you, I work for myself; kind of hard to keep up with, I must say.
Mitch´s last blog ..Traffic And Buyers
December 9th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Good morning, Sire.
Yes, if we could blog and have conversations with our friends and a lot of money, that WOULD be cool.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Good morning, Mitch.
I can relate to what you’re saying. We all want a job (or business) that inspires us and makes us want to get right to it when we wake up, but that just doesn’t happen all the time.
We also want something to provide enough income to pay the bills and let us put some away for the future, but that doesn’t always happen, either.
When you get a combination of both, that’s wonderful.
It’s those times when you have neither the inspiration nor the required (or desired) income that it gets hard to deal with.
I know that’s probably rather obvious, but I try to find those combinations that provide the joy and inspiration (and challenge) as well as enough income to make it worthwhile.
Maybe all of us will find what we’re looking for in 2010.
Act on your dream!
JD