Book Review: 48 Days To The Work You Love

48 Days To The Work You Love, Dan Miller, 2005

This book was new twice. I bought it in 2009, four years after publication, knowing I would enjoy reading it. But alas, like many titles resting on in my bookcase, good intentions alone did not read the book. Here in 2012, Dan Miller’s book was all fresh and new again when I rescued it from its long repose. Perhaps 48 Days is resting on your shelf; or if not…it can be bought inexpensively now, these seven years after publication.

One might think only job hunters would benefit from Miller’s book, but not so. I picked it up because of its emphasis on harnessing one’s internal resources and focusing them on the sweet spot of calling. Like good vocational coaches do, Miller encourages the reader to look first to self for direction, rather than the job market. Do what you love and you will love what you do. Simple…yet uncommon.

Need some inspiration to live out your calling more fully? Read the first five chapters. Not only does Miller use stories well, he knows where the good quotes from famous and infamous people are found. I “starred” many of them, like….”Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” (Confucius) and “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have” (Maya Angelou).

If this author was a therapist, he would practice Solution-Focused Therapy. Miller is action-oriented, suggesting that one not wait for the perfect plan, but start moving with a basic plan. Thomas Edison and other innovators are called upon to support Miller’s view that many people dream dreams, but the successful people are those who also implement.

If you need the nuts and bolts of resume writing, interviewing well, and negotiating salaries, they are found here. Even though I don’t need this information right now, Miller’s style is engaging enough to keep me reading through those chapters.

Since every author has biases, what are Miller’s? One stands out…becoming an entrepreneur and owning one’s own business. After a disastrous business failure, Miller became a business developer and owner, finding this works well for him. Like many of us, he highly recommends the solutions to life’s dilemmas which worked for him.

Well done Dan Miller. It didn’t take me 48 days to read your book – it was too good to read that slowly.


Book Review by Mark Tidsworth, Pinnacle President
Helen R.