Books dealing with settings goals, making plans, and being a success at one's business or career and the business of living a good life.
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WhatColorIsYourParachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. Think carefully about several times in your life when you were delighted at the way you did something really well. Use the handy checklists to identify the skills you used in dealing with people (e.g. providing information in person, consulting with a group), things (e.g. helping plants grow, setting up tools), and information or ideas (e.g. doing research, or filing information so it is easy to retrieve). Combine these with considerations about what type of physical environment you thrive in (indoors? with lots of lights? quiet? close to take-out Thai food?), what values matter to you most (love? beauty? truth? ethics?), what types of results you would like to accomplish. Voila, you have a clear picture of your ideal job. Now you can do quick informational interviews with people doing this kind of work to learn more about it, leading up to employment interviews where you can discuss why the organization appeals to you based on your research and how your skills can help them solve their problems. It's a lot of work, but far more likely to lead to satisfying work than starting with what you imagine to be "available out there" and trying to squeeze yourself into someone else's mold. This spectacular book is inspiring and fun to read with lots of old-fashioned clip art to get your imagination visually involved, written with wit, tremendous good cheer and the wisdom of thirty years researching everything known about the job hunt process.
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The three boxes of life, by Richard Nelson Bolles. A more general book from Dick Bolles about having a lifelong balance between continuous learning, work, and play rather than having life divided into three isolated boxes of all-study, all-work, and all-play (retirement).
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The new dynamics of goal setting, by Denis Waitley. A good overview of flexible goal setting and how chaos theory applies to having an adaptaple approach to life.
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How to Live, by Arnold Bennett (1925). A collection of essays and comments by the British novelist (and amateur Stoic), including the contents of his earlier books How to Live on Twenty-four Hours a Day, The Human Machine, Mental Efficiency, and Self and Self-Management. Well-written, thoughtful, and inspirational. (see http://zhurnal.net/ww/zw?TopicBennett for pointers to several Bennett excerpts)
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The Use of the Margin, by Edward Howard Griggs (1907). A gentle call to conscious living. (see http://zhurnal.net/ww/zw?MarginAlia )
Contributors to the book list: ChrisBaugh, MarkZimmermann