This Working Life

Winner of the Australian Career Book of the Year Award 2022 (RSA Oceania)

This Working Life is the book you need to navigate your career with courage, openness and a good dose of laughter in these chaotic and uncertain times. Springing off the success of her ABC podcast, Lisa Leong, together with journalist Monique Ross, is bringing a deep curiosity to the world of work.

You spend most of your waking life working – a jaw-dropping 90,000 hours for the average person. You deserve to feel joy during that time. But how?

This Working Life empowers you to experiment in the lab of life. You’ll reflect on your highs and lows, harness your superpowers and pinpoint your guiding values. You’ll learn the importance of empathy as you craft a job or curate a portfolio career that can grow with you. You’ll unlock the power of rituals, community and self-care, and build resilience that will help you face life’s inevitable curveballs.

Lisa and Monique get personal, sharing hard-won learnings from their own lives. This Working Life also features insights from world-leading thinkers like Dorie Clark, Jeremy Utley and Dan Klein, and practical activities to help you take action.

No matter where you are, or where you want to be, This Working Life will help you get there.

About the Authors

Lisa Leong is the host of ABC Radio National's This Working Life. Lisa is a former intellectual property & technology lawyer (Melbourne, London, New York) whose purpose as a broadcaster, media commentator and business consultant is to help people find the sunshine in work, in relationships and in themselves. Her work and 'unique approach' has been the subject of a Harvard Case Study and my TEDx talk: 'Can robots make us more human?'. Lisa is a graduate of the Customer-Focused Innovation program of Stanford University's GSB and the Stanford d.school, the Australian Film Television & Radio School, and the University of Melbourne Law School. Her superpowers are curiosity, creativity and delivering key messages by way of song.

Monique Ross is a journalist, writer, editor - and certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide. She worked across ABC News Digital and ABC Radio National for more than a decade, covering everything from federal politics to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. She loves helping people surface and share the stories they have within them. At the end of 2020 she branched out (pun intended), retrained, and founded Heartwood Nature Bathing. Her gentle sensory immersion walks support the health, happiness and healing of both people and the planet.