Customer Reviews

The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

During a few years of much vocational confusion from high school through college (also working full time in a technical field), I had read several career books. Silly enough, I even began feeling like something of an "expert" on the resources available simply because I had milked so many! In time, I finally answered and solved all that one could with the few passing counselors and dozens of books, working through my unique situation. But in light of all my previous reading and hearing the hype about the "latest" career book wonder, I wanted to see what was so special and different about The Pathfinder. Although I was certain that I had probably seen every practical approach to this topic, reading the introduction's grand claim sold me. It boasts being a solution for everyone regardless of their amount of exposure to such a search. So, I gave it a read. I even believed I might learn something new. Note: as best as I could, I approached this book as though I had just embarked on the quest for this first time so that any new help and info could be properly credited to the book's ability to dig it out.

Of all the career books I've read, The Pathfinder by far caters to the most limited type of audience. The author clearly tackles the subject as best as he can from his business-oriented personality, reducing life down to a short-sighted "let's win" approach with no perspective or goal beyond the material rewards of effectively being employed. I couldn't overlook the corporate, rah-rah feel of this text. Many like myself reading this would find swiss cheese: big gaps of information and substance.

In his writing style, the author has overcompensated the surplus of empty new-age gimmick books to the point of disrespecting the potentiality of any spiritual guidance or insight to an alarming degree. Regardless of career focus, being bombarded with these capricious comments continually left a sour taste in my mouth which did not make the Pathfinder an enjoyable read. Even worse, by the tone in his work he also ridiculously seems to think the bulk of his audience are basing their every move superstitiously on any chance circumstance to guide their lives rather than rational, conscious decision-making. At first I laughed, but as it continued, I was even further irked by this man's personality. While I can innocently enjoy SOME degree of satire in response to the few gullibly charmed among us, this brings me to my next point:

At a supposedly-pivotal point in the book the reader encounters the BOLD chapter in which he asks you to *choose* something and then proceeds to only explain the obvious: that it isn't a path carved in stone, falling into yet another full-fledged lecture*. No kidding! Is this the big difference of The Pathfinder? Common sense? I was expecting a well-organized book designed to help the reader develop an effectively plan for choosing and pursuing career goals, not a climactic lecture on the importance of making a decision.

But perhaps Pathfinder IS different somehow: *unlike other career guides, the author's writing primarily is a collection of lectures as a way of TRYing to meet the needs of all different people rather than simply presenting the information from a higher level of understanding in a productive fashion.

Lectures aside, I didn't see any originality in the techniques given in The Pathfinder despite the bold assertion. This was a let-down because I thought the outright claim was in fact dishonest sales ploy. While there are many, every technique and inventory splattered in the Pathfinder I have already seen multiple times in older books and resources.

Granted, if the book wasn't half-filled with self-boasting about how marvellously efficacious THE PATHFINDER is, I'd probably give a kinder review. If I could overlook the continual insults to my belief in God's guidance and purpose as well as my own intelligence and common sense, maybe I'd even shift the two stars up to three for the sake of the collection of some time-worn exercises. But in the end, I surprisingly found The Pathfinder to be not only fruitless but somewhat offensive. (And -eh heh- I've never experienced that with a reference book before!)

Personally, I recommend: "How to Find the Work You Love" by Laurence Boldt and "How to Find Your Mission in Life" by Richard Nelson Bolles. These have helped me more than any other book or counselor on this topic ever have. If you've searched a bunch, the usual inventories are old news to you, and you want to explore a truly different approach - maybe give "Test Your Job Aptitude" by James Barrett a whirl. -- Cheers, an "INF/TP"

I've read many books in the career choice category in the past few years, and even did most of the exercises they contained. All were helpful to some extent, but each left me wanting more, and still feeling rudderless. But when I stumbled across The Pathfinder, and read the introduction, I knew this was what I was looking for. This book is certainly not an empty, "feel good" narrative that urges you to "find your passion" and then says: good luck! What Lore has done is assemble a massive "toolkit" for career changers that requires serious time and effort. This is the career-choice guide for those of you ready to roll up your sleeves and get busy. And for those who do, the answers will come.

I'd say there are three major keys to The Pathfinder which set it apart from others in its category. 1) Comprehensiveness: Lore hits the career-choice question from every conceivable angle. This yields a robust and multidimensional picture of your ideal careers(s). 2) Integration with motivational psychology: several chapters are designed to help you overcome self-doubt, make better decisions, and learn to set goals and get things done. And if you're really going for a big change, for the thing you've always wanted to do but never thought you could, then you'll be needing these chapters. And 3) Method: the brick-by-brick process of career discovery is extremely helpful. By breaking it all down, and asking you to make smaller (more manageable) decisions along the way, the Big Decision is far less intimidating, and has such a logic to it that you'll no longer be able to beat yourself up for being "impractical."

On a personal note, The Pathfinder is working for me. I'm in transition now, making the leap from DC public policy geek to Austin-based filmmaker. Perhaps the best part is, although I know that the road ahead will be a major challenge, I also know that I've worked hard for this change, having spent months using The Pathfinder to dig deep within myself to uncover my path. I now have a notebook full of completed exercises to revisit when the going gets tough. These remind me that what I'm doing is not some childish fantasy, but the very practical answer to the question: What should I do with my life?

You spend about a third of your life (or so) working, so it's a hefty chunk of your time. Therefore, it would be nice if your job was truly satisfying. That's why this is a such an important book for a lot of people- job satisfaction can definitely equal greater happiness in life.

At over 300 pages, the book is a bit on the long side. It also is quite detailed, so don't expect to pick it up and have all the answers in an hour or two- there are exercises and "things to do", so be prepared to put some elbow grease into it. But remember, if it was that easy to figure out how to have a satisfying career, we wouldn't need career counselors or books like these. In the end, you will get what you put into it. Besides, the book isn't just about having a great career, it's about having a great life. Also recommend Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World for more on setting specific goals that can bring one long-term happiness.

If you're looking for help in finding what will make you successful and happy in the workplace, this is it.

Whether you just want to find what you are best at (and what you'll get paid most for!) or whether you're seeking ways to add greater meaning to the largest part of your life, this is what you need.

I've spent the last 10 years (and that's a lot of books on the shelves, guys!!) trying to figure my career out. Reading Nick Lore's book - and using the Rockport Institute's analysis tools -told me what I needed to know to make real, meaningful changes. I can't believe I am writing this, but now I really am doing what I love - and making money doing it!

I have never met Nick Lore, but I know he's put more work into this book and more sincerity into this work - than any author who has taken money from me in the name of self-help.

If only I had read this 10 years ago!!

Thanks Nick!

Career counseling books always dangle the "perfect" career in front of readers knowing full well that at least 99 percent of Americans do not have and probably will never have a perfect job. According to this author the benefits of a perfect job seem to be unlimited: a longer, better, and more vital life; an elevated self-esteem and sense of humor; a life that counts; etc. Of course most of us by that standard are leading substantially diminished lives. But all is not lost because it is only your lack of courage or cynicism that prevents you from reaching the rarified air of the perfect career. The author's key question is, "Are You Up For It?" Can you give yourself up totally in your perfect job quest to coaching either via this book or a professional, which dovetails nicely with the author's career counseling business.

The path that the perfect job seeker must follow is daunting to say the least. Three primary lists of "wants, requirements and commitments, and questions" are to be maintained in a large notebook and filled via a rather vaguely specified manner with any number of self-assessments in such areas as your innate capabilities, personality, traits, decision-making technique, etc as well as assessments about the external world.

The biggest problem with the entire approach is that the author attributes far more expertise to people in assessing themselves and in knowing and controlling their environments than they have or even could have. Personalities, traits, and other personal characteristic often do not fall clearly on one side of the fence. In using the Myers-Briggs Indicator one may be both intuitive and sensory oriented or use both perception and judgment. Or it is quite conceivable that one is comfortable using both spatial and non-spatial or concrete and abstract tendencies. The distinctions between tribal vs. maestro and introversion vs. extroversion seem better drawn, but mapping personality assessments into jobs is far more complex than the author indicates.

A huge shortcoming of the book is the clear implication by the author that employees or potential employees can assess and control workplaces sufficiently to find perpetual job happiness. Workplaces in the U.S. have never worked that way. Your true happiness is not of much concern to employers. Few, if any, workplaces have formal structures in place with legal-like rights that permit employees to modify both the broader work environment as well the specific nature of their jobs. As it is now, most, if not all, of the adaptation must be made by the employee which runs counter to the main argument that the employee should not be doing what he or she is not wired for. Most jobs upon entry probably cannot be a perfect fit unless one is just lucky. The key is the flexibility to change the job and the environment to suit the person and still be an asset to the company.

The book has areas that could be applied more broadly than just in finding the perfect job. The author's model that depicts human behavior as going through cognitive filters and being subsequently modified via feedback from the comparison of actual versus intended consequences of the original behavior is interesting. The idea of executing a cycle of accomplishment of creation, action, and completion by creating goals and implementing projects has a very practical ring to it. The author also has an interesting chapter on the life-games that people play including the notion of one or more "master" games.

In lieu of suggesting that the lack of job happiness is due to poor personal assessment capabilities or strategies the author could have described the situation in European countries where high school age kids are permitted to sample apprentice programs and select one if so inclined. In addition some European countries have regional employment centers that perform some of the functions of assessing skills, paying for new or additional training, and placing workers. There is the recognition that requiring the unemployed to fend for their own has its limitations.

The author acknowledges "Given sufficient intelligence, the average human can do just about anything with reasonable competence." But what he did not say is that given adequate institutional support from an educational system, employment centers, and from a formal system of employee empowerment, most people would probably be able to find or create pleasing work. Dangling the "perfect job" concept in front of people without realistic tools or power to get there is not particularly helpful.

I bought this book on the basis that it was appreciated by people who valued the "Do what you are" Careers Book by Tieger/Barron-Tieger, which I found to be one of the most interesting books I have ever read, and which has had a profound effect on my view of this subject.

I can accept that this book (Dwya) may be unoriginal (I haven't read many books on this subject) - all I know is it that it suits me.

I tackled the Pathfinder, exercise book in hand, and was very disappointed.

Firstly, it is verbiose and pompous in tone. Get to the point!

Secondly, it is unsuitable for someone like myself (I'm an ISTJ for all you personality analysts out there). And we don't have goals - so telling me to follow my dreams is worse than useless. It merely makes me feel bad that I don't aspire to anything very significant.

I would almost say - if I knew what my dreams/aspirations were, I probably wouldn't even need a book

I'm going to dip into this in the future to see if it gets better later on, but I spent a fair amount of time getting nowhere. And, if you say, he didn't give it a chance - I would say, Why should I? It's up to the author to draw me in. It just is not very well written and I find the other reviews surprising. To all of you - I'm glad you were helped by the book. But it isn't for everyone.

I ordered this book as well as a couple of others based on positive reviews. Simply put, the book is a disorganized jumble of exercises, projects, lists, quotations and observations. I sensed that the book might not live up to its hype right from the beginning, when the author began telling us all about himself. I have an open mind, but my time is valuable and I really don't give a hoot about how deep and meaningful his life has become. Intentionally or not, his exercises consistently seek to remind reminds us what a deep, introspective thinker he is. In a subtle way, it's all about him, NOT you.

The author, despite his philosophical leanings, can't seem to coherently and cogently express his own philosophy. Instead, he repeatedly nags us to take various inventories of ourselves and make decisions. We are also treated to a jumble of personality tests, but he doesn't put it all together, and there are way too may examples and sidebars for any of it to be useful. Furthermore, the section on games that people play reflects a view of human nature that I found bizarre and even disturbing. Ultimately, it was a dull, dreary and distracting tour rarely visited with any real insight or humor.

The book is full of rhetorical questions, exhortations, quotations and supposedly deep observations that lead us on a cosmological path to nowhere. Perhaps he is a better counselor than a writer, I don't know. What I do know is that somehwere between planning and execution, this book has gone horribly wrong. I wish that I didn't feel that way, because my impression is that Lore did work very hard on his manuscript. Unfotunately, the finished product is wordy, unwieldy, scatterbrained, boring and unhelpful. This could have ben a bigger a waste of time, but fortunately I realized it was going nowhere and decided to focus instead on doing some good by writing this review to warn others!

I will say that one of the books I ordered was everything that this book is not. That book is: I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It -- by Barbara Sher with Barbara Smith. That one is consise, practical, honest, straightforward and fun to read. I saw myself in several of the examples that were presented and gained real insight. Unlike The Pathfinder, Sher doesn't claim that her work will revolutionize your life, but in a quiet way, her book does far more good. Most importantly, it is a more compelling read and ultimately it is the author(s)' writing ability that should justify a strong review. Yes, I will need to learn and read more in order to facilitate my career search, but at this point I just wanted to say that I am literally dumbfounded how anyone could recommend The Pathfinder. It's beyond useless.

And I was telling myself that there must be something better than this. I was looking for a book that would act a personal coach, help me to identify both the mental and physical obstacles that keep me from finding work that engages more of who I am. I was looking at Amazon and clicking through the career counseling books when I came across "The Pathfinder." The description of the book and the customer comments made it sound like it would provide the interactive approach I was looking for.

Now that I've read it I can tell you that I found it useful but not transformational. The author would say that I wasn't ready for the transformation. That may be true but I still think the book could have been better. My biggest complaint is that the exercises consisted of making lists. This can be useful for some things but when its applied to everything, it feels redundant and simplistic. I also found the tone condescending and overly positive. I finished the book feeling like I'm not enough of a go-getter to have the career I want. I think that the right audience for the book is sales and marketing people who love networking and making lists! The sections on figuring out your personality type and networking seemed very superficial and cobbled together from other career advice books.

On the plus side, it deals with some of the mental and emotional obstacles that make change difficult. In particular, it identified the the fears that masquerade as "being realistic" as "yeah buts." These are all the negative responses to attempts to do something new. "I could go back to school, Yeah but, it would be too expensive." For me, these are the most powerful stumbling blocks and the book doesn't try to minimize their power or their role as keeping one from committing career suicide or going into massive debt. However, the book does give some useful suggestions for how to cope with them.

Ultimately, the book was helpful in making me realize that I'm engage in a lengthy process that can't be shortened by reading one book no matter how good it is. My advise to you and myself is that if you want to change your life, take a big risk. Its not enough to just read about doing it.

I'm in agreement with most of the reviewers here: this book addresses motivational barriers to finding meaningful, personally satisfying work, as well as relevant elements such as temperament, natural inclination as opposed to skill, types of intelligence, and commitment. I was struck by one review writer (identifying him/herself as an "int/fp") who claimed to be insulted by this kind of advice. The slogans may be familiar, but Lore's gift is to tread *emotional* minefields with a sure step (the reason this book has gotten the response evident here). He gently, wittily persuades the sensitive reader to an emotional recognition of the truths and truisms of life. And this is a whole lot different than *knowing* them intellectually. The thing is....
I responded to this because I always wanted a mentor. Like most consumers of this book, I've tended to rely on "expert" advice in one form or another. Like most of them, the circumstances of my life haven't woven together into the nesting ground that would allow my ideal self to articulate in the world.
If this is you, you probably will never learn to mobilize your ambition -unless you agree to do it - cognitively, painfully; unless you agree to spend a substantial amount of time reflecting on yourself, with honesty. I'm not sure how much people can change themselves. I'd love to hear about an effective, really effective way to rid yourself of a lifetime of self-negation and fear. The whole book is about commitment, courage, and risk, which I believe is necessary for the kind of personal fulfillment we all want- and it's written beautifully.

I just think that if you need this book, it's not likely that you'll do what's required to realize it. You're probably not rich enough to afford the kind of counselling and support that nudges change along; you probably don't have access to the administrators and status-givers who can really help you; you probably don't have the energy to commit to it, because you're probably tired from work - and the energy you do have, you're spending navel-gazing. And this book, full of insight and humanity, will find its way to the 15 [bad] career-change books on your shelf, because you just don't have the chops and the wherewithal to change, because otherwise you'd already be doing what you love. It's all about fire, and if you are responsive to this gem, you don't have it. Psychosocial fact.

I get the feeling that many of the 5-star ratings handed this book are suspect. I bought this book when it first came out and worked diligently through it for several weeks at which point I realized it was a monumental waste of time. Some of this stuff may be OK for a high school or college student looking for a little direction, but for a mid-career person, it is way too idealistic....very little practical application. This book is filled with time wasting fluff. If you are a big reader, OK, buy this book for fun and/or entertainment. I was however seeking a tangible tool for making career decisions. This book was not it.