Career Basics Course: Week 9, Day 43
2023 Cooking Goal: Prepare a new recipe each week. Today: Frijoles Borrachos (Drunken Beans)

Career Basics Course: Week 9, Day 43

"Only the pure in heart can make a good soup." ~ Ludwig van Beethoven
"Real soup is to the body what peace is to the soul." ~ Isabel Allende
Soup is cuisine's kindest course. It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation; after a weary day it promotes sociability, as the five o'clock cup of tea or the cocktail hour. ~ Louis Pullig De Gouy

Help Five People

THE DALAI LAMA coined the term "wise selfishness" to refer to the act of helping others. Inherent in that phrase is the interconnectedness of all things -- helping others enables us to detangle our thoughts, gain perspective and build momentum, by grounding us in what we have to offer. In effect, helping another is actually help oneself.

Helping people is a practice and an alternative to the old-school networking that we are often told to do. It will help you get a job because it changes the way you meet and interact with people without any of the anxiety of trading favors at networking events. Help people doesn't need to consist of grand gestures or traveling to foreign countries. Helping someone starts with the little, simple acts of kindness -- listening to and emphasizing with a friend, going to an event a little bit early to help set something up, or offering the right word of encouragement at the right time. Good help is predicated on paying attention to others and to practicing a deeper type of listening than we are used to.

The practice of deep listening is grounded in a line of poetry by Hafiz, the great fourteenth-century Persian poet, which asks you to listen to people as if you were listening to [their] last words ...

If we do stop and listen we pick up on ways to help. ... To truly experience wise selfishness you to set out not to help people but simply to listen.

... Listening with an ear to help doesn't involve trading favors -- it requires patience.

Listen and notice what people are asking for, what they want you to ask about, and what they need but may not be comfortable saying until you invite them to share. ...

You can't rush this.

It is a way of being, not a task to complete.

The Exercise

  1. Don't expect anything.
  2. Spend two weeks treating everyone's words as if they were their last ...
  3. There is no need to announce your support, just hold their needs in your mind and see if you can find the perfect way to help them over the course of the coming weeks.
  4. If you're feeling inspired, ... see if there are any articles or resources [to share]
  5. .... Remember that simply listening and asking the right questions can often be enough.

Note: This is


For me, ...

In the spirit of not announcing, I will "accompany these individuals and organizations" and then share back with the lessons learned and gained...

  • A person in Virginia
  • Two people in St. Lucia
  • Two organizations in Chicago
  • An initiative in Chicago around prisons
  • A family in Palestine

Much peace and blessings,

Gerald Doyle



A Happy Wednesday (on Sunday) ... Week 9, Day 43!

All the best for the remaining portion of the weekend ahead; amazing that we've reached Week 9 -- albeit a few days later than anticipated. We're very grateful for those who have reached out across these weeks. And, we're about to embark on Week 10.

Three cheers to those of you who have landed and others who are gaining interviews and traction; remember, we're all in for everyone and we will not rest until everyone has set themselves squarely on a path that's right for them at this moment.

We are welcoming several new individuals who will continue throughout the remaining 2 weeks of Career Basics Course as Contributing Respondents. They are:

  • Kennan Carnegie ?- a Chicago-based human resource enthusiast with a deep commitment to the profession to help organizations co-create employee experiences that empower and enable individuals to thrive at work and in life -- improving retention and employee engagement, increasing innovation and invention (and implementation), where everyone thrives and flourishes
  • Zoe Hatch ?- a Chicago-based health-care human resource professional having just earned her MA at?Pepperdine University , Zoe's empathetic approach aims to co-create and advance organizations where an attention to wellness and wellbeing improves the healing process for patients and their families as well as the staff and community that provides for their care.
  • Will McKelvain ?- an undergraduate at?University of Chicago ?and a member of?Psi Upsilon Fraternity , Will is exploring the study of law and ethics to build strong communities within corporate and civic organizations
  • Mark Falenchuk ?- an undergraduate at?University of Chicago ?and a member of?Psi Upsilon Fraternity , Mark is exploring the fields of energy and construction finance at the regional economy and global level to help nations achieve economic stability and freedom to intentional chart their course and destiny

And, our continuing team include:

All the very best to everyone. Much peace.

Gerald and?Al Nunez

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You might enjoy reading:

Al Nunez

University Advancement | Passionate higher education professional who builds relationships with alumni and friends of the university.

1 年

This chapter's focus on deep listening reminds me of Stephen Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" habit number 5: Seek First to Understand then to be understood. This is very similar to Dev's message about listening closely to someone's conversation and feelings. As I have been networking I have tried to listen closely to the other people in the conversation. Many times you can sense something not only in the words but in feelings that you may be able to address carefully and possibly provide help or encouragement. I have been better at this focused listening but continue to work at this skill.

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