The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do

saying they’re still trying to figure out what they want to be
when they grow up. Such phrases sound harmless, but they
are anything but. If we’re honest, a lot of us feel stuck,
aimlessly wandering from one job to the next, unsure of
what to look for or even expect. We’ve accepted our lot in
life. It is what it is. Even though we do our best to embrace
reality, we are restless. What comfort do we have other than
the vague notion that we’re not alone?
As we enter a new era in human history, as the average
lifespan increases and the world becomes an even more
efficient place full of technological solutions, people are
asking deeper questions. We now realize the way we’ve
been doing work no longer works. Factories are getting
smaller, not bigger. The forty-year career is dead. The world
demands a fresh approach to vocation, and we need
something new—or perhaps, something very old.
There is a way to meaningful work that doesn’t force
you to conform to your parents’ career path or to
compromise your values. It won’t be like any class you’ve
taken and probably won’t resemble what your teachers told
you the future would look like, but it can be trusted. There’s
more to life than what happens to you and more to a
vocation than punching a clock.
But how do we find such a way that seems so far gone?
The journey described in this book is an ancient path.
It’s the way of master craftsmen and artisans, a centuries-old
road that requires both perseverance and dedication—the
narrow path that few find. Here we follow in the footsteps of