How to Get the Exact Position You Desire by Jennifer Janechek

Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash

Seven steps to your dream job

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill informs readers that “your achievement can be no greater than your plans are sound.” The sixth “step to riches,” then, is organized planning. In order to attain your life purpose—or what Hill terms your “definite major purpose”—you must create and implement plans characterized by definiteness. 

A new publication by Sound Wisdom and the Napoleon Hill Foundation, Think and Grow Rich in Ten Minutes a Day, distills Hill’s success philosophy so that the busy modern reader can quickly and effectively study and put into practice the greatest personal development program of all time. One of the many insights covered in this book is how to create plans to obtain the exact position you desire. Hill’s seven steps are as follows:  

1. Determine the exact job you want. If it doesn’t exist, create the position yourself. 

2. Select the company or individual for which/whom you intend to work. 

3. Research this company or individual extensively.

4. Analyze your talents and capabilities to determine what exactly you can offer this company or individual. 

5. Do not worry about whether there is a current job posting or position available; focus on the value you can add. 

6. Write—or hire someone to write—a cover letter that explains in detail your plan for providing the company/individual with specific benefits through your services. 

7. Identify the proper person with authority to whom you can send your letter (and résumé). 

As Hill’s advice intimates, many individuals focus more on themselves in their cover letter and interview than on the company. Instead, you should frame your skills and experience in terms of the value they bring to the organization to which you’re applying. That’s where your research will come in handy. Explain not only how you possess the competencies identified on the job ad but also how your values align with those of the company. And be as specific as possible: the more concrete examples you can give for how you plan to add value, the better. 

Hill firmly believed in the importance of choosing a job purposefully rather than “falling into” the first one that offers you a paycheck. Even if necessity drives you into a position that is not your desired one, you can approach it as an opportunity to build your résumé and skills while searching for another—using the seven steps above—with definiteness.  

For more concise, easy-to-implement success principles from the most well-known achievement philosophy of all time, order your copy of Think and Grow Rich in Ten Minutes a Day, available on November 17, 2020, from Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Books, Apple Books, Google Play, and other fine retailers. For the latest from the Napoleon Hill Collection, including free book and audiobook samples, visit this webpage.

How to Find the Work You Love by Simon T. Bailey

I am astounded at how many people roll out of bed every day, every week, every month, and every year to work for a company that is subpar in its treatment of its most important asset—people. There is no spark of enthusiasm when the alarm goes off on Monday morning. Why not? Perhaps it’s time for a career audit. You may discover that your job is a liability instead of an asset.  

The University of Phoenix (one of the largest online accredited colleges for working adults) invited me to give the commencement address to an audience of 10,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia. I shared with them that some people graduate from college and settle for a cubicle, a check, and a cup of coffee, only to wake up 20–30 years later to realize that the whole world has shifted. Then there are those who hop from job to job looking to find a fit. Do you know anyone like this? 

Here’s the deal: you were never created to work a job. You were created to find your universal assignment, also known as your life’s work!

A job is what you are paid to do. Releasing Your Brilliance is what you are made to do. 

When you find your life’s work, you will automatically position yourself to become the czar of your field, industry, and marketplace. According to Dictionary.com, a czar is defined as “any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field.” That’s right, I am telling you that it’s time to become the dominant force in your life’s work. 

This current economy is flushing out bad attitudes, lackluster performance, and half-brilliant contributions. I know what you are thinking: How do I find my life’s work? It starts with an honest assessment of the meaning of your life. 

Rihanna and TI encourage you in their platinum hit to “Live Your Life,” but what does that really mean? I know that I just lost half of my boomers with that last statement. Okay, download it from iTunes or Google it to see the words to the song. I interpret it to mean, “I can make my life what I want it to be instead of having others tell me what it should be.” 

Here are some action steps to punch into your system of thinking: 

1. Identify one person you work with who is passionate about their life’s work. Take them to lunch and buy them a meal. Ask them when they knew that they truly were making a life instead of a living. Ask them what steps they took in order to shift gears and pursue being brilliant. 

2. In every organization, 80 percent of the results are generated by 20 percent of the team members. Who are the 20 percent in your organization, industry, or marketplace? If that is not you, then who? How do they think? What do they read? Who are their mentors? What do they listen to? 

3. Invest in a copy of Thank God It’s Monday: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love by Roxanne Emmerich. This books is a transformational manifesto that will shift your place of business.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life