Not to be disrespectful – I enjoyed the quirky drawings with lighthearted captions when I first read What Color Is Your Parachute – but I prefer this streamlined edition with the minimalist aesthetic and tighter editing, because his approach is already a bit “woo woo” as they say and it can be a little distracting and confusing. Writing for people looking for a new job can benefit from a little levity and engagement with the more creative side of the brain, but more clarity is always a good thing.

For example, the publisher’s note with the author’s biography really made me realize that I didn’t fully appreciate his background and accomplishments before he wrote this book and I want to be more like him!

“After serving in the Navy in World War II, he went to MIT to study chemical engineering, and on to Harvard where he got a degree in physics. While still an undergraduate, he was inspired by a sermon he heard one Sunday about a critical shortage of ministers in America. After graduation, instead of taking a lucrative job in the chemical industry, he decided to become a Episcopal minister. The rest, as they say, is job-hunting history.”

I don’t think Bolles talked about his past education in his book, just his background as a minister, but I could be wrong. I’m guessing that he didn’t want to discourage any readers with his own accomplishments. Maybe it’s just me being elitist, but I have more respect for Mr. Bolles because he could easily have taken a job just for the money but he chose his convictions instead. And if I’m being honest with myself, I aspire to do the same thing (except I do want to get paid more than a minister – maybe just skip to becoming an author lol).

What’s most unappealing with my work right now other than the fact that it’s a dead end “junk food” job is that I don’t feel inspired at all – I don’t feel like I’m doing harm but I don’t feel like I’m doing much good either. And that seems like such a waste of my time. Look at how many people he has probably helped with his book – in helping workers find better jobs and lives. RIP Richard Bolles – he left this world in 2017 at the age of 90!!!

So yeah, I think I’m going to try to work through this book as much as I can – even though I already remember feeling like the exercises were silly, rolling my eyes and refusing to do the “woo woo” exercises. I need to more clarity on how to focus my job search and just reading through listings is not going to help me at this point. So I need to suck it up and just make my next habit spending the time reading through this book and doing the exercises and what not since it’s not a bestseller for nothing. Trust the process 😛 Also, writing in the morning works the best!