Comments:

I also enjoyed Po Bronson's book, although because it offered no real solutions, it felt a bit anti-climactic.

For the Johnny Bunko demographic (recent college grads, say), I STRONGLY recommend Carol Lloyd's "Creating A Life Worth Living". It's essentially a self-help book for creative people who want careers that don't actually exist - or at least careers that you can't fill out an application for, or send in a resume for.

When I finished university, for instance, I knew I wanted to travel, write, and start some sort of a business. But I had absolutely no clue where to go with that. Lloyd's book definitely set me on the right path. I also liked Barbara Sher's "Wishcraft".

And for slightly older sufferers of the existential career crisis (late-twenties, early-thirties), I absolutely recommend tucking your tail between your legs and picking up a copy of Anthony Robbins' "Awaken the Giant Within". (Seriously. It may very well change your life. It may also cause your friends and family to think you've finally gone off the proverbial deep end, but whatever.)

I agree - the idea of doing one thing for the rest of one's life is increasingly unrealistic (didn't somebody write a book about Free Agent Nation? Someone whose name rhymes with Can Think?) So yeah, I think the right question is - what do you want to do next? To which I would add: "And how does that help you get to something cool After Next?"

And since we're recommending books, I highly recommend David Whyte's book "Crossing The Unknown Sea" for those with a little more experience under their belt who are facing a period of change. It's brilliant, insightful, challenging, helpful and even poetic.

I'll second the rec for David Whyte's book. A great read.

I've always found it more useful to spend time thinking about "what kind of life do I want to have/lead?" and then see how career/work would fit into that broader framework.

Starting with the focus on work is too narrow from my perspective.

"Passion" and "life" just don't elevator pitch very easily, I'm afraid. There are many such questions where I'd like to reply, "Can you read these 100 books and then ask me again?"

Another focus for this question (or these words 'passion' and 'life') could be related with your job and your personal life. If you already have passion and life separated and faced of different way, the problem probably is in this division.

I try to converter (in just one target) my personal life with my job, but still didn't work.

Excellent book recommendations. Feel free to weigh in with others. Meantime, do you think the rephrased questions are more useful than the big, honking imposing ones? Or is the category of question itself not all that useful?

It's like asking the artist what he's trying to say in his painting. If he had the answer, he wouldn't have to paint.

I ask these type of questions every day (recruiter). I ask people what gets them excited right now. What did they like most about the last project? The Big questions might be better to ask ourselves (meaning?). Another question-- what is meaningful work for you (right now)?

@Dan Eldrigde: Why do you feel like Johnny Bunko is aimed at recent college grads? Don't you think the message/6 questions are the same for anyone? I know this is off topic, but I'm really curious.

These questions can be vague and clumsy but they are also important because they try to understand motivation. In my experience, the best interviewers tease these answers out using a thread or sequence of questions that mines each answer for a deeper meaning within. For example, the answer to Tim's, 'What is meaningful work for you right now?' can be probed again with something like, 'Why do you think that aspect of your work holds meaning for you?'

I agree that the passion question can be absolutely paralyzing. It can also create a detour that often ends nowhere. The problem is that too many of us, when asked about what we are passionate about, think that we should be talking about our hobbies. "I golf, so it must mean I'm passionate about golf." "I like music a lot, so it must mean I'm passionate about it." But that's a passive way of looking at passion, and it's also one that focuses too much on us and our own enjoyment. A career is by definition an active pursuit. One way of looking at passion that I'm playing with right now (suggested by Melissa Everett in her "Making a Living While Making a Difference") is to define passion as something that moves you into action. If you are passionate about something, you are actually actively participating in it - trying to change things in this field in some way. That moves an abstract conversation about an abstract issue ("passion") into a more concrete realm of what you really care about and what you feel needs changing in the world.

Hogwash - Do you really think there are enough people out there passionate about picking up trash or cleaning a toilet? Dreams are great and following your heart is all fine and dandy but there just aren't enough Rolling Stone editor positions out there for all of us.

Here are your two questions; "If you could wake up tomorrow and do anything what would it be?" and, "When you leave this life what do you want the living to say about you."

Neither one has anything to do with your career. Your career should be no more a part of who you are than your fingernail.

If you feel good wearing black wear it. If you suffer from vertigo, don't be a window cleaner, and for godsake, go hug your trash-taker-outer, where would we be without them.

Regards,

BO

I do like your questions, Dan, and in order to answer them, a person has to know themselves accurately (including aptitudes/natural strengths - which address Lesson #2; interests; values; and personality) AND has to know about the world of work (needs, jobs, trends, opportunities, how to create a role for yourself) in order to answer them.

Other favorite questions of mine are "What problem in the world would you like to solve?" and "How would you like to make a difference - and with what or whom?" both of which also address Lessons #3 - It's not about you. and #6 - Leave an imprint.

My core quote is Fred Buechner's - "...where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." I believe that every one of us is obligated to discover how we are gifted, develop those gifts, and figure out how we can use those talents to make this world a better place. The needs are certainly there; the urgency is there; and the talent is already within us, eager to be expressed.