What should an accountant who is "not very accurate with figures" and driving her boss "crazy" do about her career?

Kathy, who works as part of a financial team with a large company, explained her problem to Andree Harpur, a Dublin-based careers consultant; her story is just one case study which is outlined in Harpur's new book, Work: Inspiration and Transformation: An innovative approach to your work, your life and yourself. Kathy did not need to change her job, Harpur writes. "What she needed was to see that the essential gifts that she had been given played an intrinsic part in the way the world was run. She did not have to abandon her gifts to realise her deepest personal dreams."

Harpur's book, aimed at the 32-to-45 age group, outlines a number of different case studies - people who "put themselves and their contribution to the world under the microscope". Harpur wants to show others that "they need not stay in work which they hate, that their lives and their existence on this earth is far too precious to waste and that by embarking on this process of self-discovery they can begin to really live the lives they were meant to live."

She outlines the main fears people have about career change. One of the key fears is that "we are not intelligent enough". Another fear is that what really motivates and stimulates us "would be impractical and could never be incorporated into the world of work".

The book is written, says Harpur in her introduction, "to inspire us to have the courage to rely upon ourselves and to know that the knowledge we have to contribute to the world is valid and can be trusted". Readers should "simply wake up to the fact that we already have all of the skills that we need. All we need is a little help with our confidence to be able to use them."