MY BOOK
“Your Work, Your Well-being: How to Get a Job You Will be Good at and Enjoy” by Mike Smith, Goldcrest books, 2023
IS THIS BOOK FOR YOU?
Are you reconsidering your work-life balance and what is really important in your life?
Are you worried that you might lose your job (or perhaps you have just lost it) and you are not sure what sort of job you really want next?
Do you feel you are in the wrong job, but really don’t know what the right job would be for you?
Are you hoping to be happier in your working life, or looking for a stronger sense of purpose?
Are you mid-career but you have never seriously thought about what you really want out of your working life?
Are you not sure how to increase the chances of getting the job - and maybe the salary - you want in practical terms? (e.g., having a good CV, being well-prepared for interviews, using your personal network to help you, using LinkedIn?)
Are you coming up to deciding when you might retire and are not sure how you will spend your time in retirement?
Are you perhaps considering a radically different direction such as starting your own business?
If the answer to one or more of these questions is yes, then this book is for you.
EARLY REVIEWS
“If you want highfalutin’ prose or trenchantly delivered opinions, you shouldn’t read Mike Smith’s new book, “Your Work, Your Well-being: How to get a job you will be good at and enjoy” . But if you want simple, good advice, written engagingly and without artifice that might actually make a big difference to your career and, importantly, your life overall, then I strongly recommend that you read it. We all spend enough of our time “at” work, whether in the office, at home or on the road, that it is beyond foolish not to look at a career (where that is possible) that can make us happy.
Mike is a straightforward man - with a straightforward message. But in a world where curation of a social media profile is deemed essential, where mental health issues have become more than commonplace and where genuine happiness is often hard to detect, his thinking about career and self is both attractive and necessary.
In the early Nineties the American band R.E.M. released a single called Shiny Happy People. It is more satirical than syrupy but one lyric always gets me: “Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines”. If, philosophically, you do the same with Mike Smith’s book, today and tomorrow are likely to be amongst the happiest days of your life.”
Rob Hands
Previously Executive Managing Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times, Now Commercial Operations Manager, RPC (a law firm)
“This is a wonderful book that clearly and concisely tackles so many complex issues. It is a must read for anyone wanting to improve their well-being. The author manages to tackle issues in a light-hearted but obviously intensely researched way and backed by his years of experience with clients. The book provides many helpful strategies and tools including powerful questions to consider. It is clear, thoughtful and intelligent. It has the potential to be career-altering and is extremely accessible. The researched theory and first-hand knowledge makes this book an essential read for anyone wanting to be both happier and more effective. I could not recommend this more highly.”
Louisa Elder
Certified Coach and Psychotherapist
“Reading Mike Smith’s book has made me stop and question what’s important in my life right now and what I could change to be happier. Anyone trying to balance a busy career and home life should read this ( at least once) and take action!”
Chris Raynor, Chief People Officer, Swissport
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 7
Chapter 1:Why Happiness Matters 18
Chapter 2: Learning from Your Past 60
Chapter 3: Who Do You Think You Are? 90
Chapter 4: Creating Your Preferred Working Future 100
Chapter 5: Taking a Longer-term View 122
Chapter 6: Flexible Working 133
Chapter 7: Your Mission 156
Chapter 8: How to Structure and Write Your CV 162
Chapter 9: Networking 174
Chapter 10: The Power of Image 183
Chapter 11: Using LinkedIn and Other Social Media 213
Chapter 12: Preparing for Interviews 228
Chapter 13: Your Campaign Plan 242
Chapter 14: Onboarding - Your 90 Day Plan 246
Chapter 15: Retiring? 255
Chapter 16: Thinking of StartingYour Own Business? 268
Further Reading 297
Bibliography with References 298
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Smith is a very experienced career coach and business mentor of executives. He has advised over three hundred executives over a broad range of sectors and nationalities. He has a particular interest in well-being on which he is a TEDx speaker (“Principles of Happiness”). Mike has also advised over fifty start-up companies. He is chairman of OfficePOD Ltd., and a non-executive director of GSA, which helped over 12,000 refugees during the emergency evacuation of Afghanistan.
He has worked as Chairman, CEO and NED of listed, privately and private equity owned companies in the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia and was a main board director of Scottish Power Plc during and after its privatisation. He later worked for seven years as a company doctor.
His early career was spent in Indonesia with Voluntary Service Overseas, a training role in a Liquified Natural Gas joint venture, followed by the Ford Foundation, and then working on a World Bank Mission to address long term Indonesian environmental management issues. He returned to the UK to take an MBA at Manchester Business School after which he worked for THORN EMI in positions of increasing responsibility.
Mike is married with four grown up children and has interest in architecture (having built his own house in New Zealand and Scotland) and photography (mikeasmithphotos on Instagram)
BUYING MY BOOK
You can either buy my paperback book via Amazon by clicking on the button below or, if you would like a copy signed by me, your can go to the top left hand corner of this home page and click on “Store” and buy a signed copy by clicking on the image and telling me who you would like your copy dedicated to and telling me where to post it to.
Enjoy!
Mike Smith