48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller: Chapter 4: Wheels, Goals, and Clear Action
48 Days to the Work you Love by Dan Miller: Book Review
This is a continuation of the in-depth review of the book: 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller. To read the Previous Chapter, follow this link: Chapter 3: Creating a Life Plan
Chapter 4: Wheels, Goals, and Clear Action
Chapter 4 starts off describing how some people have “sanctified ignorance”. Meaning, they think God, or a course of events, will sort out life for them. If people get up each day waiting for something to happen, they’ll keep living the way they are. In reality, if you want something in life, you have to go out and get it.
The rest of the chapter revolves around “The Wheel of Life”. There is an illustration of a wheel with several spokes coming from the center, which looks similar to a pie chart. There are 7 pieces to the pie (try to picture a Trivial Pursuit game piece). You rate each section from 1-10. Here’s how I would rate myself:
Career: 7. Obviously, I have a lot going on right now, but I have to say I am pleased with how far I’ve come. I graduated from college in 2004, and got a job right out of graduation (after backpacking in Europe for 3 weeks). Within 3 years I went through 2 promotions and doubled my salary. With all my job title changes, I’ve been able to learn the different areas of a business, from performing training and managing implementations, ensuring customer satisfaction, conducting business analysis, holding focus groups, technical writing, project and people management. My main concern is that I am learning a lot of different things, but am not focused in one particular area. I believe this may become an issue to future employers, as they are usually looking for someone with a particular specialty. My problem is, I haven’t quite figured out what that is yet.
Financial: 8. I think I’m a very good saver, and I’m careful (frugal not cheap!) when it comes to spending money. I’ll buy things at a reasonable quality for a reasonable price. A prime example of this is the Vizio LCD HDTV I own…Vizio is a great brand, with a quality picture at a very affordable price. Samsung and Sony’s have better quality for sure, but you pay a premium for that. My current goals are to make sure I’m investing as efficiently as possible, and minimizing my fees and expenses.
Social: 7. I think I do great with friends. If it was that alone I’d probably give myself a 9. My biggest problem are awkward situations. I come across instances where I know I should do one thing, I’m thinking it over in my head, and the moment passes before I’ve done anything. ’During an interview, maybe I should have said this…’, ‘Man I should have held the door for that lady…’, ‘I really need to start telling people on the phone to have a good weekend on Fridays…’. I’m really bad at stuff like that, and know I need to do better, but for some reason I have trouble with it.
Family: 8. I’m great with my immediate family. I love events with extended family, (Family picnics, 4th of July parties, Christmas Eve). I guess my area of improvement is, outside of those major holidays, I rarely see the extended family. It’s always good to see them, and I actually enjoy their company.
Physical: 9. I work out 3-5 times a week, I try to eat healthy and get enough sleep. I eat a little junk food here and there, but I’m probably in the best shape of my life right now. I can run a mile in under 10 minutes (sure the book talks about how some people do it in 4), and phsyically I feel more toned than ever.
Personal Development: 6. I need to do a better job at finding what it is I am good at that I can put to good use. I would like to go back to school to get my MBA. I’d like to learn as much about investing as possible. (According to the book if I read 3 books on the topic I’m an expert!) I just feel like I could always be learning. I think this post is a good start, as I plan to summarize each book I read to help me retain what I have read.
Spiritual: 6. Spirituality is a personal matter for me. I’m Roman Catholic, and a part of me would love to go to church every Sunday. However, I feel uncomfortable going by myself. I’d like to learn more about the events in the Bible so I can be educated and able to hold a conversation with someone if it ever comes up. Then maybe I’ll get some of those references on the Simpsons 
The chapter then focuses on people with indecision. It takes the side that one should go with their gut, and high acheivers have the ability to act quickly. I suppose it can be debated on the act of making a quick decision. The author mentions creating a process where any decision, big or small, has to be completed within a 2-week maximum time frame. The process he mentions for solving a problem is very similar to business models taught in schools, is as follows:
1. State the problem.
2. Get advice on the problem.
3. List the alternatives.
4. Choose the best alternative.
5. Act
This is how meetings should be held! The chapter ends describing the benefits of goal setting. People who are successful set goals for themselves. If you fail to set a goal, you have nothing to reach out for. A good path for goal setting is to set the goal first, and then work backwards on a plan to reach the goal. I am in agreement with this, but make sure your original goals are attainable within your timeframes. That’ll make setting out the path easier.
The author mentions that he spends about 2 hours a day reading or listening to things that are self help or positive. Before reading the paper, he listens to something from Socrates, Plato, or present-day self help authors. He no longer sets an alarm clock, because he has a program where he goes to bed at a reasonable time. I thought this was sort of interesting, because about 2 months ago was the last time I’ve used my alarm. So far I’ve not slept in, and have actually been to work early on a few occasions. I’ll still use it if I go to bed later than usual or need to ensure that I get up on time, but it’s been working so far.
Continue to Chapter 5: Am I an Eagle or an Owl?
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