What Color Is Your Parachute?

nation—in the world, because you were here? Do you want to see simplicity, savings, and a broader emphasis on the word enough, rather than on the word more, more?

If so, in what areas of human life in particular?

9. The Earth. Is the planet on which we stand, your major concern? When you are gone, do you want there to be more protection of this fragile planet, more exploration of the world or the universe —exploration, not exploitation—more dealing with its problems and its energy, because you were here? If so, which problems or challenges in particular, draw your heart and soul?

In sum, remember that all of these are worthwhile values and outcomes, all of these are necessary and needed, in this life. The question is, which one in particular do you most want to bend your energies, your skills and gifts, your life, to serve, while you are here?

The Prioritizing Grid

Here is our old friend, the Prioritizing Grid, again; it looks familiar except that this time I have already entered the nine Values in random order in Section A. We need a new way here of posing the question, instead of the question we used when we were dealing with the Working Conditions petal. Here, let’s try this:

Looking at the list in Section A in this sample grid, 1 and 2 would recall MIND and BODY. You can, of course, flesh these items out further, in your mind, any way you want, so that they are your own definition. So you might phrase “1 vs. 2” to mean:

“Would I like my life to be primarily remembered for

1. MIND. Bringing more knowledge, truth, or clarity to the world?”

OR

“Would I like my life to be primarily remembered for

2. BODY. Bringing more wholeness, fitness, or health to the world, more binding up of the body’s wounds and strength, more feeding of the hungry, and clothing of the poor?”

Choose one of these. Even if it’s hard, and you only prefer one just an eensy-teensy bit more.

Let’s say you choose (2). Then, on the grid in Section B, in the little box where you see just the numbers 1 and 2, you circle the 2. You only have to decide between two Values at a time, never more than that.

Next, you compare just 2 and 3, or more specifically the Values that those numbers stand for. Choose which one is more important to you, and circle that number in the box that contains only a 2 and a 3.

Etc., etc.

When you’re finished choosing just one number (i.e., just one Value) from every box with two numbers in it, in Section B, you then count how many times each number got circled, in the whole grid, and enter that count in the first empty horizontal row in Section C, right under the number in question. Continue doing this until every number has a count.

Study this ranked list, in Section D, thoughtfully. By definition, now, #1 is the most important to you in determining what you want to do with your life, and #9 in final rank is the least important—not necessarily in the overall scheme of things, but certainly in determining what you want to do with your life.

Look at your top three Values. Now you know which Value you most want your life to serve, which outcome you most want your life to produce; plus which one is next and which one is third.

You will need not just one of those Values, but the top three. Mark what they are. Those three top Values, together, determine what will be a Life that has meaning and purpose, for you.

PRIORITIZING GRID FOR 10 ITEMS OR LESS

^{Copyright © 1989 Richard N. Bolles. All rights reserved.}

The three of them, put together in order of priority, should be entered now on your Flower Diagram, on the Values petal. Put the top three in your own words, whatever makes the most sense to you.

And if you want to burrow under the headings of your top three, if you have a computer, go to the Internet, choose a browser (like Google), and type into it all the key words that occur to you—on the same line. For example, “work, beauty, gardens”—or any series of words that point toward the Values or issues you would like your life and your talents, skills, and experience, to serve.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU MOST ENJOY USING?

Step 7: What Skills That You Already Have Do You Most Love to Use, Nevermind Your Skill Level in Each?

You are looking here for what you may think of as the basic buildingblocks of your work. So, if you’re going to identify your dream job, and/or attempt a thorough career-change, you must, above all else, identify your functional, transferable skills. And while you may think you know what your best and favorite skills are, in most cases your self-knowledge could probably use a little work.

A weekend should do it! In a weekend, you can inventory your past sufficiently so that you have a good picture of the kind of work you would love to be doing in the future. (You can, of course, stretch the inventory over a number of weeks, maybe doing an hour or two one night a week, if you prefer. It’s up to you as to how fast you do it.)

A Crash Course on “Transferable Skills”

Many people just “freeze” when they hear the word “skills.”

It begins with high school job-hunters: “I haven’t really got any skills,” they say.

It continues with college students: “I’ve spent four years in college. I haven’t had time to pick up any skills.”

And it lasts through the middle years, especially when a person is thinking of changing his or her career: “I’ll have to go back to college, and get retrained, because otherwise I won’t have any skills in my new field.” Or: “Well, if I claim any skills, I’ll start at a very entry kind of level.”

All of this fright about the word “skills” is very common, and stems from a total misunderstanding of what the word means. A misunderstanding that is shared, we might add, by altogether too many employers, or human resources departments, and other so-called “vocational experts.”

By understanding the word, you will automatically put yourself way ahead of most job-hunters. And, especially if you are weighing a change of career, you can save yourself much waste of time on the adult folly called “I must go back to school.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: maybe you need some further schooling, but very often it is possible to make a dramatic career-change without any retraining. It all depends. And you won’t really know whether or not you need further schooling, until you have finished all the exercises in this section of the book.

All right, then, if transferable skills are the heart of your vision and your destiny, let’s see just exactly what transferable skills are.

Here are the most important truths you need to keep in mind about transferable, functional skills:

1 Your transferable (functional) skills are the most basic unit—the atoms—of whatever career you may choose.

You can see this from this diagram:

Now, let’s look at the very bottom level of the preceding diagram. It says “skill.” That means “transferable skills.” Below is a famous diagram of them, invented by the late Sidney A. Fine (reprinted by his permission).