Dwight: I’d like to talk about a unique and effective method for helping people find a job or career they’ll love. I haven’t encountered anyone else advocating this approach besides myself.

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Aiko: That sounds intriguing, Dwight! What’s the core idea behind your method?

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Dwight: Before diving into the method, I’ll share two overlooked truths it’s built upon:

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1. We often struggle to predict the kind of daily work activities we’ll truly enjoy, leading us to either overestimate or underestimate our likely happiness in various jobs.

2. We are also largely unaware of the full range of job or business opportunities available to us, whether through employment or entrepreneurship.

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Aiko: These are powerful insights, Dwight. So, is your method designed to help people overcome these two common blind spots?

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Dwight: Although this method could be adapted for self-employment, I’ll explain it here as a process for finding a job working for others:

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1. Start with a job you think you might like, possibly using the “Chutzpah Sales Approach” to expand your options.

2. Dive in, aiming to enjoy and excel at the job.

3. If after three months, you’re not convinced this is the right job (or career) for you, quit and go back to step 1.

4. Repeat this cycle, learning and growing, until you find a job or career you’re genuinely happy to stick with, at least for now.

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Aiko: That’s a bold and liberating approach, Dwight! It sounds like this method makes career exploration much more dynamic and self-directed. Would you say it’s about embracing trial and error as a learning process?

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Dwight: Yes, it emphasizes trial and error, along with discovery and reflection.

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Aiko: I see—it’s a method that treats each job experience as an opportunity for insight, rather than as a rigid commitment. How do you suggest someone should approach the reflection part in this process?

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Dwight: You can discover what’s most effective by combining experimentation with observing what works and what doesn’t, recognizing new insights, making adjustments, and then trying again.

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Aiko: That makes sense! So it’s an evolving process, where each job experience offers a new perspective, guiding you to refine your approach and deepen your understanding of what you truly enjoy. How do you recommend people keep track of their observations and adjustments along the way?

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Dwight: One of my biggest life mistakes has been overconfidence in my ability to plan or predict far into the future. Thinking and planning ahead is valuable, and sometimes you can be certain about outcomes. But more often, the best way to find out what works is through a tight feedback loop of planning, testing, and re-evaluating.

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Aiko: That’s such a valuable insight, Dwight! It sounds like you’re advocating for a flexible mindset that’s open to change and adjustment rather than rigid long-term planning. 

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Dwight: Understanding the importance of career choices early, I began contemplating my future at age 12. I imagined myself as a beef cattle farmer, minister, gadget inventor, square dance caller, medical technologist, mathematician, custom furniture maker, and philosopher. But, aside from some minor experimentation, I never reached clarity on what I truly wanted to do. By February 1967, at 22, I’d had enough. I knew I wanted to live in New York City, so I borrowed $200 from my parents, took a two-day bus from Shelby, North Carolina, and arrived in New York without knowing anyone. I decided to stop focusing on a career and instead find a job I thought I’d like. If I didn’t like it after three months, I’d quit and try again.

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Aiko: That’s such a remarkable journey, Dwight! Letting go of the pressure to define a lifelong career and focusing on one job at a time seems like it gave you both freedom and focus. How did your first few months in New York unfold with this new mindset?

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Dwight: Maybe luck played a role, because after three weeks in New York, I was offered a computer programmer trainee position with IBM (though I didn’t realize it was IBM, as they called it Service Bureau Corporation, IBM’s software division). Within three months, I knew I’d found both a job and a career I loved. Six months in, I was the top programmer in my department.

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Aiko: That’s incredible, Dwight! It’s as if your open approach led you right into an opportunity that was a perfect fit. 

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Dwight: In 2000, while living in Tokyo, I met a 27-year-old Japanese woman who loved her job. She’d only been in it for a year, though, so I asked what she’d done between graduating at 22 and finding this role at 26. She had actually used a version of the three-month technique I described, going through seven jobs before finding her dream career.

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Aiko: Fascinating! It’s amazing to see someone else naturally adopt that same approach and succeed with it. It really shows how powerful this method can be for discovering what truly aligns with you.

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Dwight: I’ve faced many questions and objections to this approach, such as:

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• Won't quitting every three months look bad on my CV?

• I have a family to support, so I can't just jump from job to job.

• I don’t enjoy going on interviews.

• How could I let my boss down by quitting after three months?

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Aiko: Those are understandable concerns, Dwight. People are often worried about stability, reputation, and loyalty. How do you usually address these objections?

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Dwight: These are valid concerns, but they can largely be addressed with courage and creativity.

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Aiko: I agree—it sounds like you’re encouraging people to think outside the box and trust in their adaptability.

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Dwight: Considering how crucial it is to do work we love, this approach deserves serious thought. Right now (2024), 37% of people in the U.S. are unhappy in their jobs. Based on my personal feedback, I’d guess that in much of Asia, over 70% of people are unhappy and "working just for the money."

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Aiko: Those numbers are striking, Dwight! It shows how widespread job dissatisfaction is and highlights the need for more people-centered approaches like yours.