What Color is Your Parachute?
Mr. Jonathan McNair spoke to the Living Education students this Tuesday. He explained why the students are here—to build a foundation with God. He elaborated that as the students progress and develop their foundation, they should assess where to focus their attention.
“Where should your attention be focused?”
Mr. McNair answered this question by telling us to focus on skills we can enjoy and grow. He instructed us to start by “applying [ing] yourself to be productive in your roles and skills.”
Mr. McNair then introduced a book called “What Color is Your Parachute?” by Richard Bolles. The book laid out principles and a way for someone to focus their skills for work. These principles are important because everyone needs to work regardless of their role. People need to know how to apply their skills to make their work more productive—to have their skills work for them. The forum then continued with a video from Google Talk from Richard Bolles.
Points throughout the “Google Talk” video:
Jobs should be something about which a person is passionate. The person should evaluate where they will be in five years. They should be able to answer the question: What am I working towards? They need to gather anything that may be required for the next five years for any situation that may come up. They should list their skills and then their favorite skills to work with. They should research how those skills can be applied. People should know themselves on an atomic level to be flexible.
Mr. Richard Bolles goes into detail on three approaches in life. The first approach is to ignore or depend on luck. People with this approach to life need more intersections for a better chance of “luck.” Connections are key to this type of attitude toward life, so a person needs more connections, more friends, and more meetings. The second approach is “I’ll know it when I see it.” This approach heavily depends on how alert a person is to their surrounding and relies heavily on intuition. This approach depends on what someone notices and observes around them. The third approach to life is planning/forethought. It is better called design, as the thought process is different. You cannot plan but design the next five years. This is where you would answer: What will I run into on the way? What kind of materials would I need for these situations?
Final take away
The LE students get the point of looking forward, which means focusing on what skills they can continue to use and expand upon now and into future endeavors. They need to know their passions and what they are enthusiastic about. They should know themselves on an atomic level to be as flexible as possible. They need self-evaluation to understand themselves because without understanding themselves, how can they know what skills they like to use most or what skills would aid them better in their future path and role?
