Title: I Could Do Anything
If I Only Knew What It Was
Authors: Barbara Sher with Barbara Smith
Year: 1995
Publisher: Dell Publishing
Price: $11.95 US
Review by: Catherine Hedgecock
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Title: I Could Do Anything
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With a career counselor's confidence and grandmotherly encouragement, authors Barbara Sher and Barbara Smith address the legions of workers who don't know what they want to do with their lives. If you know what you want, you can work on it, no matter how difficult success may seem. But not knowing what you want can be as frustrating as trying to swim with a leaking float -- you just keep thrashing around in the same place, seemingly getting nowhere. Drawing from her work as a counselor and therapist, Sher maintains that most folks know what they want to do, but they don't know that they know. People are stymied by irrational fears, family history and past failures. She bolsters her contention with lots of examples from the lives of her clients. This is one of the best things about the book; you get caught up in these clients' stories and identify with them. The other great thing about the book is the exercises-- and there are lots of them. You won't want to do all of them, but a half dozen will hit home. You'll find yourself scribbling away in your notebook, laughing or crying at your insights.There is a lot in this book, and it can be overwhelming. Reading all of it and doing all the exercises could give you too much to think about. But the chapters and exercises have great titles, like "Nothing Ever Interests Me" and "A Rage Against the Ordinary." It's pretty easy to find the ones that call your name. Like many self-help books, this one can seem simplistic at times: Discover your dream career, and everything in life will turn out. That's a common pitfall, because readers want quick fixes and publishers want readers. Nevertheless, Sher does an admirable job of encouraging introspection without promising fairy tale endings.
"You do know what you want. Everybody does. That's why you feel so restless when you can't find the right track. You sense there's some particular work you are meant to be doing. And you're right . . . But many of us get stopped. Every time we resolve to change our lives, every time we go to pick up the baton and get into the race, something happens. For some mysterious reason our determination melts. We look at the baton and think "This race isn't it." And we put down the baton, uneasy because time is slipping away, frightened that we'll never find 'it.'"
(p. 3)"Exercise 2: Jet Clarity. Close your eyes and pick a job. Any job -- the more repulsive, the better. Imagine you've gotten up, made the dreary commute, and you're there, with an entire eight-hour day staring you in the face. Really experience it, take it all in. How does it feel? Outrageous? Unjust? Frightening? Let the feeling become strong. Now think back to the first time you ever felt that emotion. How old were you? Jot down the first age that comes to your mind. Now, pencil in hand, go back to that time and that feeling and write a description of all the surrounding circumstances. Don't edit yourself, just let it all flow out, in a stream of consciousness narrative. Where were you at the time? At home? In school? Who was with you? Your parents? A teacher? A group of friends? And most important of all, what's made you so upset? Summoning up painful memories doesn't always go that smoothly; be prepared to meet some mental resistance, but try to use the images that come to trigger the details of these memories. Jet Clarity is a powerful and efficient way to clear up the mystery of troublesome feelings left over from your past."
(pp. 281-282)
The book is both practical in its advice and hopeful in its outlook. Sher doesn't advocate quitting your job to run after a dream; she does challenge readers to do what they want in any way they can. A few minutes a day, a few hours a week, and you're on your way. If you're afraid you really have no dreams, or the ones you have are just for show, this book is a great help. Those who are looking for a book that tells you about specific careers to try won't like this one. But it often may make sense to look inside for your heart's desire instead of pinning your hopes on the field with the most job openings at the moment. If you're willing to get a little touchy feely and learn some things you didn't know about yourself, this book is tops.N.B. "I Could Do Anything" is available on the Web in paperback from amazon.com.
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