There are many different ways to evaluate whether a job is a good fit for you but unfornately job search websites limit career explorers to search by company, position, industry, location, and salary—all the things that matter least.  What about company culture, professional growth opportunities, mission, etc?  Using the 8 Cylinders of Success framework, you can look at potential employers or your current employer through a new sets of lenses.  You don’t have to align all of the 8 Cylinders, but the more the merrier.

1. Principles = Your dashboard
Does the company believe in what you believe?  Do they measure success as a organization similarly to how you measure success for yourself?  Answers to this question can found in annual reports, values, key performance indicators, and employee evaluations.

2. Passions = Your keys
Will this job allow you to use and develop your passions on a daily basis?  Answers can be found by asking potential colleagues about their day-to-day work and even shadowing an employee.  If possible ask to shadow or interview the most passionate employee in the organization.  They are likely to be the highest performing employee as well.

3. Problems = Your fuel
Will you have the opportunity to work on a social, scientific, technical, and/or personal question or pain that matters to you?  Is there opportunity for you to identify a problem you see in the organization that you care about and dedicate time to solving it?  Ask your interviewer to define the question or problem they are seeking to solve each day.  Also ask about employees that have taken non-traditional paths in the organization and how they managed to carve their own paths.

4. People = Your motor
Will this job allow you to serve people you care about in a place that you care about? If you can, ask about company-wide customer success stories or ask the person you’re speaking with about memorable success stories they have had.  You can even take it one step further and talk to customers about their experience of the organization.

5. Positioning = Your lane
Is this job going to position you for your next career move or lifestyle goals?  Ask about the average length of employment and where people who leave earlier than average usually go and where people who leave later than normal go.  Also ask to speak with someone who has been with the company for a significant amout of time to understand the career trajectory within the organization and the rewards it may (or may not) bring.

6. Pioneers = Your pacesetters
Will you be working with someone great who you can learn from?  Internal mentorship is key to your growth and advancement in any organization.  You want to make sure that your new boss is the best boss possible.  You can determine that by finding out who has worked on his/her team and where they are in the organization today in comparison to other managers.  You can also get a sense of this by asking how long each team member has been on the team. It’s hard to become great under a below-average manager.  They will take their insecurities out on you.

7. Picture = Your road map
Do you like the organization/department/division’s long-term goals and strategy to solve the given problem in the market? Do you believe in their approach in comparison to their competitors?  You can inquire about the organization’s strategy and any new innovations that may be occuring.  Make sure that a process for innovation, research, and learning exist.  Otherwise, you may joining a one-hit wonder and wondering what happened when the doors shut. Feedback and evaluation processes from employees and customers are also good to look for.

8. Possibility = Your impact
Does the job allow you to create something revolutionary that will outlive you in the organization and potential change the industry forever? Is the job focused on doing what currently works or is it trying to create new possibilities in customers’ lives that would tranform the way customers work and live?  Observe the level of risk-aversion or risk-love in the organization.  Long-term customers can also speak to the changes in the quality of service.

Now you have 8 more ways to evaluate your next job opportunity.  You should take the one that has the most cylinders going for you.  Despite the significance of career choices, they are often made with imperfect information. Do the best that you can to access current employees, former employees, and customers to find as much information as you can.

The HARDER you work on the career search, the EASIER the job will be for/on you.

Hi Jullien,

I just wanted to say that DSFL taught me that I could find my ultimate purpose by looking within. My love for music, marketing and business lead me to realize that I wanted to influence and motivate young people to be entrepreneurial, especially within the music industry. I recently launched IndustryPlug.com, an online destination for News, Press Releases, Job Listings, Business tips and all other information relative to the entertainment industry. This is just the beginning of my journey. I’ve realized my passions and I’m now on a solid path toward fulfilling my purpose. Thanks Julien and the DSFL family!

Thanx,

The Mogul

Visit IndustryPlug.com today!

Last week, about 25 students and community members attended a 2-hour workshop with Jullien Gordon, the “Purpose Finder”. With Jullien as our fearless leader, we each answered the golden question: What is my personal and professional purpose?

Jullien has developed a day-long course, called “Driving School for Life”, that leads students through a process of articulating one’s own purpose. The analogy he takes is of an automobile: to drive smoothly along the highway of life, we need to make sure we have all the essential components. The components are what he calls the 8 P’s, a.k.a. 8 cylinders of Success: Principles (my dashboard), Passions (my keys), Problems (my fuel), People (my motor), Positioning (my lane), Pioneers (my pace cars), Picture (my road map), and Possibility (my momentum). Jullien has carefully conducted research on personal and professional success (Csikszentmihalyi, Gladwell, Porras et. al.) and studied many of world’s most successful/happy/passionate people (Bill Gates, Oprah, Steve Irwin the “Crocodile Hunter”). The Driving School is a systematic process for putting each of us on a path to living in alignment with the common themes Jullien found in his research.

We went through filling out our 8 cylinders on beautiful posters that Jullien had for each of us. We also did some interesting activities.

Among the favorites were:

• Filling out the ‘Dashboard’: What are three ways I measure my success in life and work?
• Writing out careers that start with each letter of the alphabet, from A-Z. Lesson: There are so many things out there that we can do; open yourself up to the possibility
• Text message 3 friends, asking them what they think you are passionate about (loved this one!)
• Taking your keys out of your pocket and asking yourself, “What are all of these keys for, and do I really need them?” One student had a house key and a duplicate on the same chain

Personally, I got a lot out of the course. I realized that my number-one passion is currently meditation since I make time for it even when I don’t have any time. The course concludes with writing a personal purpose statement. I arrived (and was quite delighted) with “Improve my community through self-improvement”. I think the most valuable aspect of the course was being walked through the process of actually articulating (on paper) things that often just stay floating in your head. I think this helps focus on concrete objectives, and, at least in my case, helps reveal one’s true motivations and intentions.

I wasn’t the only one who felt the power of the course. Jullien received numerous comments about how helpful they found it. I observed smiles all around I think one great testament to the value was that most of the students stuck through the course even though we started an hour late and a band was blaring next door for the final 20 minutes

It was really inspirational to be with Jullien. The man oozes positive energy. A 26-year-old who has found his life’s passion, is unflinchingly pursuing it, and doing it all while positively impacting others and keeping a smile on his face. Just amazing. He traveled especially from NY to give us this special 2-hour version of his course, which was itself offered as a gift to us (the full course has a fee). Not to mention he offers Driving School for Life as part of his full time business while also writing a book. Don’t know how he packs it all in, but I do know he’s one of those cars on the highway of life that you look at and just admire. Keep riding brother!

“Could it be that people are not successes or failures but merely individuals in the right or wrong expectation environment?” – Donald Clifton, creator of the Gallup StrengthsFinder

As stated in my post on Inner Purpose vs. Outer Purpose, the hardest part is actually choosing the professional path that aligns with you the most.  Some of world’s most successful people started down paths that they thought were aligned with their purpose, but changed lanes in the middle of their lives and ended up with something better.  Here are a few examples:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I recently discovered a philosophy called teleology. According to Wikipedia, teleology (Greek: telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design and purpose. Teleology states that form follows function. For example, a teleologist would say that a person has eyes because he has the need of sight (form following function), while someone else might say that a person has sight because he has eyes (function following form).

In the process of purpose-finding, function would be our inner purpose and form would be our outer purpose. A single function can manifest itself in many forms. Someone may be born with the function/purpose of healing but the form/profession could be a variety of thing including:

• Doctor = healer of accute pain
• Psychologist = healer of mental pain
• Minister = healer of spiritual pain
• Activist = healer of social pain

This the choice where people have the most difficult.  Which form/profession is the best way for me to manifest my function/purpose?  Our passions, backstory, beliefs, and vision about the world can help us make this decision.  For instance, someone who believes in preventative medicine may not choose to be an emergency doctor because it emergency medicine rarely addresses the root cause.  Or someone who believes in the power of the mind and its ability to create our reality may choose to be a psycholigist over an activist because if the mind doesn’t change, the social problems we see will simply recreate themselves.  At the end of the day, they are all healers.

There are multiple ways to accomplish a single purpose.  And our professional paths are those avenues.  Ask yourself if your current professional path feels purposeful to you.  Read your company’s purpose, vision, mission, and values statements and ask yourself do they align with who you want to be.  It’s never too late to change your form/profession as long as it is getting you more aligned with your function/purpose.

A great place to identify the problems we care about come from problems we’ve experienced directly or indirectly.  Those problems usually connect to one of the levels of Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs.  Facebook might argue that it strengthening frienships and fostering community (love/belonging). Wal-Mart may argue that they are helping people access food at fair prices (physiological) and creating jobs in small communities (safety).

On the individual level, I believe that my work in helping people overcome purposelessness and find meaning is on the level of self-actualization.  By being clear on the problem that moves you the most, you will be able to discover where you add the most value in the world and for whom.  Think critically about your own life and your work and ask yourself what problem are you solving?

I just wanted to let you know that I had a huge breakthrough regarding life coaching. I actually got a paying client who offered me 5 times what I requested AND committed to 3 months. I also have another who is interested in talking to me about coaching. This has all come out of talking to people about having that party at my house to create vision boards.

I walked into your class knowing I wanted to be a life coach but afraid to charge for something I would normally do for free. That fear stopped me from even trying to create what I wanted most in life. After doing DSFL, I took your 30 day challenge seriously which opened up a series of conversations and lead to PAYING CLIENTS, my own business and feeling more fulfilled as a human being than I have ever felt before.

While I still have a day job, I am confident that this is only the very beginning and I marvel when I think of how much more there is to come. I would like to be doing this full time by next year and now I know I can!

Jullien, I wanted to thank you for challenging me! I want to thank you, sincerely, for what you are up to. As sentient beings, we are all looking for our purpose and what you do taps into the very heart of the Creator’s intentions for us. The planet needs more people like you, providing purpose-filled nourishment which makes the universe grow… one life at a time.

I just bought a domain name titled IF Only (as in my initials only) Life coaching. Designed to tap into YOUR FULL potential and am in the process of figuring out how to design the webpage.

I have always wanted to be the pebble that dances across the water and causes a ripple effect and now I know I can be ~~ as a life coach; someone whose life is about others succeeding in creating the life they always wanted.

Thanks for standing for who people are at their essence. Keep being who you are being.

GOD BLESS!

Ileana Ferreras

aka Light Seer

Morevida News (MVN) is a social news site that provides news and information from and about the teachers and organizations that are helping people like you get more out of life.  MVN is based on the premise that to live a good life we need help from people who can teach us what we need to learn, and people who can actually help us get what we want.  MVN exists to help you share and discover the teachers and experts who can help you get what you want out of life.

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Hi Jullien,

I just wanted to thank you so much for all your help. The DSFL course was phenomenal, and it truly helped me change the way I think, live, and view the world. I have been procrastinating as far as creating a page on the website, but I will – soon. Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know what I was up to.

I set my goal of pulling together a group of people to discuss social justice issues for April 7th, and I am happy to say that I did not reach it – I snagged something even greater. I came up with a rough outline for a discussion group and then got in touch with someone that is creating a nonprofit with a component very similar to the project I wanted to bring to life. I will now be creating the group under the auspices of his organization, which also does media literacy work. So we are now revising the outline and creating materials for an inaugural group meeting the last week of April/first week of May. My project plan calls for that group to be the a pilot to be replicated as facilitators and leader are identified.

I felt that without my involvement in DSFL, none of this would have been possible. It motivated me to put my passion into action, and when my friend brought this nonprofit idea to me, I was ready get to work. Just committing to my passion brought the opportunity for me to do what I love tenfold – I never even thought about being a project manager for several of these groups, and here I am on the journey to realize that dream.

Thank you.

Love,

The Synthesizer

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Jullien!

I am pleased to report that one of your motivated vehicles just drove herself into an awesome dance company. Because all I ever really want to do is dance and have my dancing matter to people, I went to the Movement for the Urban Village Dance Company audition in Brooklyn last weekend, rocked the audition and got hired this morning! It’s an Afro-modern dance company whose slogan is “ancient modern dance” which is so my steez and the artistic director is the most beautiful mover I’ve ever sen and she signs all her emails with peaceLOVElight and I’m jazzed!

I’m happy to have good news to share and to be able to share the good news with you. Thanks for helping me drive and focus on what really “moves” me!

I’ll keep you posted on performance dates, etc. Hope all is well with you.

See ya around!

Peace,