If What Lights You Up were simply an extremely practical guide to job hunting, I wouldn't have been interested in a conversation with the author, Mary Olson-Menzel.
Not that job hunting isn't an important topic — it clearly is, especially if you're out of a job or in one that's making you miserable.
It's just that I wouldn't be interested in having that convo, and so I'd skip it.
That said, What Lights You Up is in fact an extremely practical guide to job hunting.
What piqued my interest was the idea that our careers can be powered by joy, self-expression, and contribution rather than opportunism, random chance, or calculated self-interest.
What if we lived in a world where people were allowed — hell, encouraged — to break free from unfulfilling work and discover their passions? What might change if that were an unalienable right?
But this conversation isn't just about an inspiring thought. It's also an extremely practical guide to job hunting (have I already mentioned that?) that's powered by the principle that you can use work as a means to growing your best self and giving that self to the world.
We talk about a tool to help you figure out what lights you up: the "Light Log."
Mary shares with me a new (for me) way of networking, with intention and authenticity.
She also offers some exercises for job-seekers, and coaches me through the 3 P's of job searching (which are also the 3 P's of prospecting, so I was taking notes!).
If you want to make a difference while making a living, this conversation is for you.
As you may know, I’ve spent the past couple of decades helping people go more plant-based. I started by writing books, and eventually decided that coaching was a better fit for my talents and inclinations.
And the more people I coached, the more curious I got about the real obstacles to change.
I realized that it wasn’t the food — not really.
It wasn’t the kitchen skills.
It wasn’t the initial motivation.
It wasn’t the knowledge.
It was whether people could develop the ability to master their own mindset.
When their conscious mind and their subconscious impulses learned how to pull together, they succeeded.
When there was continuous struggle, and they had to “willpower” through again and again, they reverted to their old ways.
As I helped my clients master their mindsets, we discovered that the benefits extended far beyond diet.
They adopted fitness habits.
They cleaned up relationships by having difficult conversations rather than defer and avoid them.
They made bold moves in their lives and careers, assessing risk soberly and claiming their capacity for change and growth.
This ability to play the “inner game,” I’ve found, is perhaps the single more important thing in our lives.
If this interests you — in domains that range far afield from plant-based eating and advocacy — then I invite you to join me in a weekly conversation: the Mindset Mastery Memo.
It’s a brief newsletter. I try to keep it relevant, practical, and goofy.
And I’d love for it to be a two-way conversation.
In terms of my business, this is the work I’m pursuing in the world — helping leaders and their teams achieve massive traction on what matters most to them and to the planet.
In other words, I’m looking to scale my impact so that I can rest every night knowing I’ve done all I can to contribute to what Buddhist activist and scholar Joanna Macy calls “The Great Turning”: the global shift from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization. (And make enough dough to pay the rent.)
Thanks for listening, reading, and engaging with Plant Yourself. I hope you find The Mindset Mastery Memo fun, practical, and inspiring. (And if you know someone who should be reading it, please spread the word!)