Building a fulfilling life and career can be a daunting challenge. It takes courage and hard work. Too often, we charge down a path leading to “success” as defined by those around us—and ultimately, are left feeling dissatisfied.
Each of us is unique and brings distinctive skills and qualities to any situation. So why is it that most of us fail to spend sufficient time learning to understand ourselves and creating our own definition of success?
The truth is, it can seem so natural and so much easier to just do what everyone else is doing—for now—leaving it for later to develop our best selves and figure out our own unique path. Is there a road map that will enable you to defy conventional wisdom, resist peer pressure, and carve out a path that fits your unique skills and passions?
The truth is, it can seem so natural and so much easier to just do what everyone else is doing—for now—leaving it for later to develop our best selves and figure out our own unique path. Is there a road map that will enable you to defy conventional wisdom, resist peer pressure, and carve out a path that fits your unique skills and passions?
Harvard Business School’s Robert Steven Kaplan, leadership expert and author of the highly successful book What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, regularly advises executives and students on how to tackle these questions. In this indispensable new book, Kaplan shares a specific and actionable approach to defining your own success and reaching your potential.
Drawing on his years of experience, Kaplan proposes an integrated plan for identifying and achieving your goals. He outlines specific steps and exercises to help you understand yourself more deeply, take control of your career, and build your capabilities in a way that fits your passions and aspirations.
Are you doing what you’re really meant to do? If you’re ready to face this question, this book can help you change your life.
The book - 'What You're Really Meant To Do - A Road Map For Reaching Your Unique Potential' written by Robert Steven Kaplan is simply great because it is simple to read & absorb without any complex models.
The book is conceptually divided into three parts.
The first part of the book is about 'Know Thyself First'. It provides the tools & tips to understand your own strengths & talents better by analyzing your own life and aspirations. Robert Kaplan doesn't go into any complex psychological models. The book suggests writing your own life story and doing personal introspection where you can find all the answers.
The second part is about 'Connecting with the Right Opportunities'. It is about how to align what you learn about yourself in order to carve out a path in alignment with your own best strengths for a fulfilling life.
The last third part is about 'Going the Extra Mile' in order to achieve the excellence in what you do - The Good versus Great.
It is probably a common knowledge that all these concepts in one way or the other have been written extensively in hundreds of books. Most of the things may not be new for those who have read many other good self help and inspirational books. But what matters is how well it is written, which appeals to your heart, mind & soul.
The simplicity of this book in narrating as well as unfolding the complex life's knots is done in a superb way.
I always feel that these books do play a great role in reinforcing and helping you to take a pause and re-inspect your life - where you are, who you are and where you want to reach or have already reached.
I do believe that no book on earth can actually change the things for you. It is only 'Us' who can change things for us or we may even choose to remain the same even after reading number of such books. There is a famous saying that 'you can take the horse to the pond, but you cannot force him to drink water'.
So these books also play the same role. They take us to that pond of knowledge and understanding, but it is up to us to apply it if we really want it for us.
The book is an interesting read and has a very simple flow with very simple real life stories to narrate. 200+ pages book goes straight to your heart and stays there for quite sometime. I guess I finished this book in almost in a continuous flow and didn't want to put it down (except few instances).
The learning out of it is very straight forward, meaningful and useful. But it will matter how much you take care to apply the suggested tips & tools in your personal & professional life.
From time to time, I like to take stock of my life's direction and always want to take some corrective measures if I feel I don't connect well with what I do. So it has been a good useful book for me, and I really treasure its learning and hope it should do the same for all others who read it too.
About The Author:
I have been with corporate sector for more than 20 years now. I have served in Banking, Quality, Process Management, HR, IT, Marketing, Advertising, PR and CRM. I have obtained diverse exposure mostly in Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Egypt) and now in Lahore, Pakistan.
Besides, I love the concept & model of E-Business and I believe it has lots of potential for individuals, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as large corporate sector to take full benefit from.
I have just launched my first humble & formal E-business project which is a growing information web portal about city of Lahore. http://www.Lahorebeat.com
