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That could be an existential wail, self-indulgent musingor the beginning of real transformation. BY PO BRONSON
SIX YEARS AGO, the burst, the economy was stalled, and will had radically altered the nation's mood. At that moment, my Fast Company article and my book- both titled What Should I Do With My Life?- were simultaneously published. triggering an enormous response The vast majority of my readers said they were inspired to challenge them thinking, though others pushed back against the article's thesis.
Six years later, every other bubble has burst too, and the economy is even more stalled. So the question is, with the benefit of six more years of perspective, What can I add?
Generally, when people see the question "What should I do with my life?" it conjures an image of deep introspection that is implicitly self-indulgent- the guy who quits his job in a bout of career ennui, who lies around on the couch wondering where he belongs or spends his precious savings traveling abroad to find his purpose, while his friends and family mutter, "How pathetic! You were lucky to have a job-any job."
But my original article flipped that. It argued that with the economy in a tailspin, it was economically unsound to have millions of drones shuffling to work every day doing jobs they didn't care about. The economy would never get a kick start if our workforce was uninspired. The article- a manifesto, really- suggested that the way to get business going again was for the workers to do something they cared about. They would work extra hard and innovate their way out of this black hole.
I had no statistical evidence to back up this suggestion. But I did have anecdotal support. vOne example:...