what is your life's true calling essay

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What is Your True Calling in Life? How to Find Your Passion

Some of the most important questions that you ever ask yourself on your journey through life are, “Why am I here?” “What do I really, really want in life?” “Where am I going?” “If I achieve all my goals, what would it look like?”

The most successful people are invariably those who spend the most time thinking about who they are and where they are going. They then constantly evaluate and re-evaluate their progress in light of who they are and what they really want.

To have a fulfilling life, you must find your passion . Today, I want to show you how special you are, identify some things that may keep you from finding your passion , and give you 10 steps to find your true calling and more fulfilling life.

You Can Do Amazing Things

The starting point of great success is for you to realize that you are truly extraordinary!

There has never been anyone in the entire universe just like you. You have remarkable abilities, skills, aptitudes, insights, and ideas that make you different in important ways from all other people who have ever lived.

You have the capacity within you, right now, to accomplish more than you have ever dreamed of in the past. You are engineered and designed as a “success organism,” endlessly attracted to doing more and more of the things that will bring you more and more of the success and happiness that you want.

Clarity Leads to a More Fulfilling Life

The one common characteristic of the most successful men and women is clarity. They are absolutely clear about what they stand for and believe in and where they are going.

And you must achieve this clarity as well.

What is your “heart’s desire?” It is defined as the one thing that you and you alone were put on this earth to do. It is that something special that you are uniquely suited to do in an excellent fashion.

Your job throughout your life is to discover your heart’s passions. It is only then that you will be truly happy, completely successful, and totally fulfilled. What is yours?

What Keeps You From Finding Your Passion?

Many things keep human beings from finding their true passions in life. One of the most significant is day-to-day life. Life’s responsibilities and our routines can leave us with little free time to explore the things we are passionate about.

Procrastination can also keep you from taking action. You may think “someday” I’ll pursue what I really want to do in life. But someday can only come when you set goals and make a plan.

You might also let negative thoughts keep you from exploring new opportunities. For example, you might not believe you have a special skill set or the ability to make new and exciting things happen. But this simply isn’t true. A positive, open mind can be the key to unlocking your future.

Staying in your comfort zone also deters you from finding your passion. While it can be scary to venture into uncharted waters, discovering what you are passionate about will bring you a more fulfilling life. The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.

A limiting mindset can convince you that finding your passion is not important. It may seem like living day to day life, working a job, and having a few hobbies is enough. However, this can leave you feeling stuck and less than passionate about life.

You might also feel like you’re being selfish to pursue your passions when others like family and friends need your time and care. Being your best self, however, will help you give more to the people you care about.

How to Find Your Passion

You were put on this earth to do something wonderful with your life. Your job is to find out what that wonderful thing is and then to throw your whole heart into doing it extremely well.

Your life may have a single purpose, like that of Mother Theresa of Calcutta who devoted her life to helping the poor. Or, your life may have multiple, sequential purposes, one after the other as you evolve and grow and develop into a higher and better person.

Whatever your life purposes are, it is passion that leads to a fulfilling life.

Discover how to find your passion and lead the most fulfilling life possible with the following 10 steps.

Understand What Being Passionate Looks Like

When you are passionate about something, you are excited to do it, even if it is difficult or doesn’t bring you a lot of money or notoriety. When you find passion, you will know it because:

• Time seems to fly by and you easily lose track of time when you are doing it.
• You look forward to doing it, including going to work, and you feel excitement when you think about it.
• You don’t mind putting in the time or effort it takes to accomplish what you are trying to achieve.
• It just feels right in both your head and heart, you feel fulfilled, and your well-being is improved.
• You feel a sense of purpose as you pursue your passion.

When you look back on your day, the high points are likely what you are passionate about.

Identify Your Core Values

The next step to take to find your passion is to recognize what you value most in life. What things matter most to you and do you consider essential to you?

For some, core values may be serving family, having joy, being loyal, or spending time with friends. You may feel it is imperative for you to make a difference in the world or be faithful to your spiritual or religious beliefs.

Having fun and keeping humor or positivity in your life can be a core value. Or you may feel compelled to create through art, writing, dance, inventing, speaking , acting, or other means to feel truly fulfilled.

Additional values include compassion, dependability, love, humility, honesty, kindness, selflessness, integrity, curiosity, fairness, hard work, peace of mind, optimism, stability, and many more.

To help you identify your core values, which will lead you to discover your true passions, ask yourself these questions:

• What is important to me?
• Which values will I not compromise?
• What tangible things do I not want to live without?
• Who are the most important people in my life?
• Who do I most admire and why?

Rank Your Top Human Needs

Similar to your core values are your needs as a human being. Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s classic definition of basic human needs is ranked in order from fundamental physical needs to higher-order inner fulfillment needs:

1. Physiological needs

Breathing, food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep

2. Safety and security

Health, employment, property, family, social stability

3. Love and belonging

Friendship, family, intimacy, connection

4. Self-esteem

Confidence, achievement, respect from others, need to be unique

5. Self-actualization

Morality, creativity, spontaneity, acceptance, achieving purpose and inner potential

As you read this list, notice the needs that resonate with you. What stands out as essential to your joy? These are the things you are passionate about.

Make Your Bucket List

The next step to finding your passion is to make your bucket list.

Most people dream of things they hope to do before they die. This is their bucket list, those things they look forward to in the future that will make them feel they’ve lived complete lives.

Discover what your bucket list is by asking yourself what you have always wanted to do. If money, risk, time, and responsibilities were not issues, what would you do right now that you feel passionate about?

Find your passion by identifying your “someday” items.

Decide How You Want to Be Remembered

Now, imagine you have lived your life and the people who have known you are talking about you or thinking of you. How do you want them to remember you? What are the most important things you hope they will say about you?

Imagine yourself in your 90s. What do you want your own memories to be? What regrets would you have if you reached the end of your life — whether that is soon or later — but left something undone?

These important questions help you figure out and become more aware of your true passions.

Learn More About the Things You’re Interested In

By looking at the lists you have made so far, you should have a good idea of what your passions are. What are the items you find yourself repeating as you identify your interests, core values, human needs, bucket list, and important memories?

These are your true passions. Now, find out what it would take to do them.

Talk to others who are already doing these things and get their advice. Observe how they lead their lives. Do you research online. Get a mentor to help you. Put your free time to good use by learning more about your passions.

If you feel a new job will help you find more joy, for example, read job descriptions or talk to a career coach to get a better idea of the educational requirements or other experience you will need to make a change.

Discover what you need to do to not only find your passion but follow it and make it happen.

Make a Plan

All great accomplishments begin with a goal, and achieving your goals requires a plan. People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.

Determine how you will incorporate what you are passionate about into your life. This will likely require some changes to your day to day life, how you spend your free time, and what you focus on.

If spending time with your children, friends, family, or loved ones is your passion, add this to your daily or weekly schedule. Set aside time that is only for them and stick to it. Remind yourself to listen with care and focus when they are talking. Be aware of creating good memories with them.

If you are passionate about writing comic books, a novel, or your autobiography, get the advice you need and plan to spend time on your interests.

If you want to start a business, explore new career paths, find a more fulfilling job, or become a public speaker , write out a plan of how you will do this. If it means transitioning from your current job, do it responsibly.

Take Action

Now it is time to move beyond thinking about how to find your passion and do it.

You will know your passion when you try it and it feels right. When you take action on your passions, you will have a better understanding of what your passions truly are.

Most people who spend time on their true passions find they learn faster because they are excited to understand a specific subject, pursue an interest, learn a new task, or develop a talent.

To take action requires you to get out of your comfort zone, but the effort of pursuing your passion is worth it.

Surround yourself with people with a similar passion. Add it to your schedule. Create momentum by starting now.

Challenges will come any time you strive to make a change or do something important. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

Expect the challenges, welcome them, and persevere through them. As you do, you will begin to notice that the results are worth the efforts.

Anyone who has ever accomplished something great has had to persevere through times of doubt, adversity, setbacks, and even ridicule.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan is an excellent example of persevering through failures to achieve great success. He says, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Steve Jobs is another famous example of the power of perseverance. His first Apple computer was a huge failure and had to be recalled. But if he had not persevered beyond that point, he would have amassed a net worth of $25 million by the time he was 25 nor a lifetime net worth of $10.5 billion.

Develop your interests, pursue your passions, and persevere through your challenges. You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.

Bring Passion to Everything You Do

Finally, realize that regardless of where you are in life — whether you are pursuing your passion or going through your normal routine — you can bring passion to the things you do.

This includes your job, career, hobby, and day to day tasks.

Whatever you are doing, do it with excitement. Be present in the moment. Practice mindfulness and choose your attitude.

Passion can be part of your life every day through the conscious choices you make.

How to Find My Passion: Next Steps

Finding your passions is sometimes related to your career, interests, hobbies, and talents, but it also extends beyond these. By going through these steps, you can come closer to identifying your passions.

One of the most important steps to fulfilling your passions is having a plan. To help you get started, I invite you to download my free Personal Development Plan Template to map out your success and achieve the joy you deserve.

And remember, it doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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The true calling of your life and how to find it (1/2)

What our true calling is..

I have been enjoying your insights.

My situation is this:

I am a wife, mother, and work outside the home part-time in a business situation.

I have continually been feeling the push and pull between keeping on with the status quo of all the conventional things you are expected to do in small-town life and what I feel may be out there.

I have not figured out any specific calling at this time, but do know I want to serve the world is some way that I am not currently.

I love my husband and children, but am struggling to figure out how to deal with these conflicting forces.

We have already begun living a more intentional life by simplifying our belongings and how we use our time, but I continue to feel that there is another step coming.

I still need to work at my position (for financial reasons) and I do care about it, but feel there is more.

I appreciate any advice you may have for moving this process forward. 

You’re so very welcome, I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it 🙂

I would love to have known a little bit more details about everything, but that’s how it is when a conversation is via writing.

The more personal details of the challenge, the easier it is for me to respond. 

But it’s never possible to get as clear picture of a situation as it would be if we were talking to each other face to face.

That’s the greatest benefit from private mentoring/guidance/coaching, it’s the direct and immediate interaction between two people.

It’s of course a completely different kind of connection than what writing can ever provide.

In sessions I’m able to give more unique guidance to your specific life situation and guide you towards the path that holds the greatest promise for a fulfilling and meaningful life for you.

Get in touch if this is something you would like to do 🙂

Moving on to the article:

So you’re in a transitional phase of your life.

A new chapter is about to open up but you can’t see what it will be about yet and t he feeling of not-knowingness can be a very uncomfortable place to be in a to move through.

It can be very tense (and intense) and sometimes even frustrating where there’s a deep feeling of meaninglessness and hopelessness.

Like nothing is ever going to change, that nothing is moving and never will.

But it will, and it is.

The feeling of ‘more coming’ wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t time for the ‘more’ to come. 

Here’s what I suggest you do:

Instead of looking for a big calling, or a specific calling, start small.

What do you feel drawn to do today, now?

Maybe you feel drawn to crate a blog where you share your thoughts about living in a small town for example. 

Start there, start writing, even if no one is reading it. 

I never knew that my writing would lead to me creating a membership site where people ask me questions for example.

That was never my intention, I never had a dream of having my own membership site where I would write articles for people.

I just loved writing (since I was a little girl), and at some point many years ago I remember I wanted my own column in a magazine and applied for those types of jobs.

Even if I knew I wasn’t qualified, and because of the obvious reason that I can’t write correct English nor Swedish anymore and haven’t been able to for more than a decade.

But the calling was there that I wanted to do something like that.

I liked the idea of giving advice to people through my writing and the columnist idea sounded very interesting to me, something I felt drawn to do. 

At that time I don’t even think I knew that membership sites existed, but the calling lead me to start investigating the options I knew were out there, and one of them was to write for magazines.

So naturally I wanted to see if I could get a ‘foot in’ and did what I could to pursuit the calling. 

There’s something within you too that wants to be expressed, and it could be something small.

A small voice inside you that says something similar to you as it did to me.

Just see where it took me to follow the little voice that said “that would be fun” and “this is something I would enjoy doing”, and then from there things unfolded.

And today I have my own “magazine column”, but in a different way than I thought it would be! 🙂 

I had no clue about how things would unfold, I just followed what I enjoyed (writing), and I kept doing it until something else started to come to my awareness, something that took it to the next level.

But in the beginning “the next level” wasn’t even in my thoughts.

That was never my calling until I had grown enough to be able to hear it and then take the ‘next level’ step.

See what I mean? We grow into things. 

It all started with me just wanting to write and then more and more people started to read what I shared and then they started to ask me questions and then one day the idea of a membership site came to me. 

It’s the same with anything really.

Instead of thinking of building an empire (or finding the big calling), just start doing things you enjoy.

Start baking the cookies, throwing the parties, training the dogs, writing the blog etc, w hatever it is for you. 

Then the ball starts to roll and when you continue to enjoy what you do then the next idea will naturally come to you that will help you build the career/business (money-making) side of it.

Some people start selling their baby’s clothes on eBay for example simply because they heard a small voice inside them say something like:

“Hey, maybe someone wants to buy these clothes now that my baby has outgrown them?”and then they enjoy it and learn more about selling baby clothes and so on and suddenly a business is starting to emerge and grow from that.

But it started with a smaller calling, an interest in something or an idea that popped into their mind. 

It could be about anything.

Maybe you like baking cookies, or singing karaoke, or maybe you’re technically skilled and love creating video games!

Or maybe you love baby-sitting or taking care of elderly people, or maybe you love creating beautiful flower bouquets.. the list is endless.

What is the thing(s) that you like doing, or would like to do more of? 

On some level you know, we all do, and we’ve always known. 

Sometimes it takes courage to acknowledge these things for ourselves because we’re afraid people will laugh and think we’re silly, or that we will fail and make a fool out of ourselves.

But screw that! 🙂

Whatever it is that you like doing, whatever it is that interests you, do more of those things.

Start doing those things more and look for options that would allow you to do the things you enjoy and make money at the same time. 

Then something new will start to unfold from there. 

Some people had an inner knowing already as a child where they knew what they wanted to do in life and were supported in pursuing and developing that.

More often though, a persons calling comes out of difficult and painful life experiences.

That has been the case for me. 

All the things I’ve been through has made me able to help and support others in the way that I do.

My struggles were necessary so that I could help others, they have enabled me to show others that they don’t have to struggle or suffer. 

I could not have shared what I share had I not gone through the awakening process and all the other challenging things I’ve been through in life.

How can someone really give another person true, genuine guidance and advice if they have only learned things by reading books and taking courses?

You need the real life experiences so that you can grow and so that you can share your insights and knowledge from a place of actual personal experience.

What are those for you? What have you “survived”?

What has been your most painful experiences in life? And what did they teach you?

Is there something there that you can use as a way of expressing and living out your calling or purpose in life?

What good came out of those painful things, the struggling years, the agonizing healing journey, or the challenging times and tribulations that you went through?

I had no clue I would be doing what I do today, no clue!

I just always knew I was meant for something bigger (and that is still in the development stages by the way, you ain’t seen nothing yet! LOL).

Even as a child I knew that, I just didn’t know in what way, and I don’t even think I was actively searching anything later on when I became older. 

In a way I’ve always felt guided in the moment and I’ve also never seen myself as a seeker.

I was never a seeker, in fact I disliked that word (and still do, but it’s a word and sometimes you need to use it :).

I was a founder, and I was very curios and interested in life and  knew I had a mission to fulfill, but I didn’t know what it would be about . 

And when I was at my lowest point (when I was a drug addict) a voice inside me kept saying that I have to live, that I have a destiny to fulfill. 

That voice was what kept me alive in the years before and during the time I was in rehab.

But not every person has to go through hardship to find their calling of course.

Of course not!

But most of us do have a story, we’ve all been through things, and through those things we learned something that made us grow and become a better person.

Our calling is calling us Now. 

I’m living my purpose, my calling, right now, but I did that five, ten and fifteen years ago too. 

It just looks different.

I have never known the specifics of my calling, I don’t believe they can even exist!

No one can know the specifics of their life path.

Life is an unfolding, and what I do now is my calling, but that can change tomorrow.

I’m forever open to what Life wants to do through me, and in all moments, I’m all in.

Life is about following what is calling us right now.

W hat do you feel called to do today?

Bake cookies? Read a book? Break up with a toxic friend? Stop smoking? What?

What is the calling of the day?

What nudges and impulses do you have?

Pay attention to the inner drive that comes from within to do something, and remember, it can be something small and seeming insignificant and unrelated to a “calling” or “purpose”. 

Pay attention to what is trying to get heard.

Sometimes other people can be nudging you towards your calling too so p ay attention and listen to what others are saying to you and about you.

Things like:

“You know so much about wine, you should make your own!”

“You can sing! You should really do something with that voice.”

“Wow, what beautiful poetry you write. You should put all your poems in a book!”

“My GOD these cookies are delicious! No one can make them as you, you should start selling them!”

“You’re such a good listener, I feel I can share anything with you. Have you ever thought about becoming a counselor?”

Or maybe you hear things like:

“You’re so good with children/money/pets/website stuff/technology/organizing/throwing parties”, etc etc.

What are people complimenting you about? 

Pay attention to those things and see if there’s something there that you could start developing. 

There’s a second part to this articles series and it will be published shortly, probably (hopefully) tomorrow.

Until then, ponder the things I’ve shared with you, and also, here’s a couple of (very old!) free PDF’s that could be inspiring for you to read.

You’ll find the link to them at the end of this short blog:

“Find out why you’re here (and then do it)”

To recap today’s’ article, here’s my suggestions.

Check in with yourself:

• What seems to call you the most at this point in your life?
• What small thing can you do today that you would enjoy doing?
• Is there an idea simmering within you? What is it about?
• What is the small voice inside you nudging you to do?
• What impulses do you have today? Where are you drawn?
• Is there something that you know and maybe you’ve always known, but never done anything with?
• What painful experiences have you had in life and how have they helped form you into the person you are today? What good came out of those experiences and can you use them somehow to support and help other people? (If helping others is something that you feel called to do).
• What is the curiosity about that you feel inside of you?
• How does the universe/Life speak to you through other people? Are they nudging you in a certain direction?

Look into these things and stay tuned for part 2/2 of this article series!

You can read it here when it’s published:

“Our True Calling PART 2/2”

And as always, please feel very welcome to share any thoughts or if you want to clarify or ask something in the comments below!

Would you like me to write an article for you too?

Submit your questions and topic requests here:

> > ASK MARIA <<

Could not more highly recommend

Maria is the real deal. You will sense it the moment you lay eyes on her. She offered much, much more than I’ve derived from other teachers; highly specific and personal recommendations. It is as though I got a crash graduate course from spirit. Could not more highly recommend!

The whole session felt as if it was operating on another level

If you can trust one thing in your life right now, trust Maria. You can trust her with your heart and soul. It’s hard to explain, the whole session felt as if it was operating on another level. I’ve never had that kind of experience before. It just felt so much bigger than I anticipated. I can tell you with absolute honesty and conviction that having a session with Maria is life-changing!

Beyond grateful for the transformational journey we shared

Maria, I am beyond grateful for the transformational journey we shared. it was nothing less than a miracle that has allowed me come into who I really am. I wake up every morning with a big smile on my face, feeling immense gratitude for just being alive, I can’t explain it, I´m just enjoying this fully. Your guidance has so profoundly changed my life, and I cannot thank you enough.

Maria is leading people to a new way of being

Maria is changing the world by her presence. She’s leading people to a new way of being. She’s able to see where you are at in your journey and can show you the way forward. I feel so incredibly grateful that she has been a companion during this time of change. If you feel drawn to connect with Maria I encourage you to move forward with confidence.

Now I know what is creating my reality

I’m overflowing with gratitude and joy! Life has changed dramatically for me after our time together. I have truly realized on a fundamental level what is creating my reality and it has given me confidence for the first time in my life to finally be ME, I feel liberated to be my authentic self!

I have never felt more aligned to my true self

Maria’s awareness of energies and the conditions of the mind are truly impressive. She knows exactly what’s going on. She is so attuned to other peoples’ energy that she just knows where you’re at. After working with her I have never felt more alive and aligned to my true self.

You have really made a difference in how my mind works

I don’t know if I make sense, but all I can say is that I feel blissful. And I can’t thank you enough for that. I don’t know exactly how you managed this, but you have really made a difference in how my mind works.

The feeling of peace and freedom is priceless

This feeling of peace and freedom is priceless. Maria is beyond amazing. Had I not experienced it myself, I would probably not believe it. I recommend anyone who is trying hard to be truly free and really start walking down the path of self fulfillment and happiness to book a session with her.

I had a complete turnaround to my situation

I had a complete turnaround to my situation so many thanks for helping me transform something I had lost hope about. It’s a miracle and the outcome could not have turned out better! If you want to see a real shift not just psychological but spiritual shift, then Maria is the lady to see. I am so glad I found you!

Something happened within me that I cannot explain

During and after our session, something happened within me that I cannot explain nor would it even make sense to anyone. There was a part of me that felt my being been taken over by a real peacefulness that I’ve never encountered before. Sounds odd but it’s the truth.

You are truly a gift to us all!

I can’t even begin to express how much I have gained internally after my session with you. You have been an instrument of peace in my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I’ve never had a conversation like that before

I just wanted to say thank you so much again for our session yesterday, I’ve never had a conversation like that before and it was truly amazing. I could feel weight lifted as we were talking and for the first time my mind did not try to make sense of things, it was all truly felt in the heart space.

This journey with you has been amazing

Words cannot fully express the profound impact of my session with you – it has been nothing short of magical. You helped me remove the blockages that held me back, helped me recognize my true worth, and providing so much insight that has been truly life-changing!

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Discovering My True Calling: a Journey of Self-realization

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Speeches > Jeffery A. Thompson > What Is Your Calling in Life?

What Is Your Calling in Life?

Jeffery a. thompson.

BYU Associate Professor

June 1, 2010

When it comes to asking what our calling in life is, Jesus Christ is in the answer. The grace of Christ, that same power that helps us do things we otherwise couldn’t, is what will guide us to our callings and enable us to excel in them.

Twenty-five years ago my dad dropped me off at Deseret Towers for my freshman year at BYU. I felt lonely in my dorm that first night, so I took a walk around campus at dusk. I remember looking at all of these stately buildings and envisioning their walls reverberating with great thoughts and words of wisdom. I was awestruck. In fact, I think that was the night I fell in love with BYU.

Now, as a BYU professor, I have the humbling responsibility to be one of the voices reverberating within the hallowed walls. I often question whether I measure up. But I’m unspeakably grateful to do the work I do and to do it here at BYU. I believe I have found my calling in life, and it brings me immense joy.

I’d like to ask each of you a personal question. What is  your  calling in life? If you don’t know yet, how will you find out?

I have asked those questions to hundreds of students over the years. Usually, it creates a lot of anxiety. Some of you lose sleep over which class to take next semester, let alone what you should be when you grow up. Some of us grown-ups haven’t really figured it out either. For many, deciding what to do with your life can feel like a personal crisis that doesn’t go away.

As I begin my remarks, I want you to understand that finding my calling in life was not easy. My career path was circuitous, and I often felt great anxiety about it. I always knew I wanted to care passionately about my work, but for years I had no idea what that work should be. Several times I felt utterly adrift, as if I had somehow missed the path I should have taken and could never get back on it. In hindsight, those moments are important parts of the tapestry of my career. Each thread that felt out of place at the time now provides structure to the pattern of my life. They helped me distinguish and define my calling. I learned, to quote Romans 8:28 , that all things do indeed “work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the  called  according to his purpose” (emphasis added).

My aim today is to encourage you to think about your future life’s work  without  the anxiety—because when we ponder our calling in life through the lens of the restored gospel, we don’t need to feel anxious.

First, we need to explore what we mean by a “calling in life” to see whether the idea fits within the framework of the restored gospel. Actually, the idea of a professional calling is not ancient. It was brought into focus by Martin Luther, who revolutionized how the world looked at work. Prior to Luther, people viewed work as a necessary evil at best. The ancient Greeks considered work a galling distraction from the more sublime pursuits of the mind—a view that allowed them to justify slavery so that the elite class could focus on thinking great thoughts. Some early Christian traditions believed that work kept men from the holier pursuit of contemplating God’s greatness, and thus justified a monastic life devoid of labor, and sometimes even service.

Luther, however, saw the fallacy in these beliefs. His study of the Bible convinced him that work is how we participate in God’s providence toward His children. Lee Hardy, a scholar of Luther’s teachings, noted, “As we pray each morning for our daily bread, people are already busy at work in the bakeries” (Lee Hardy,  The Fabric of This World: Inquiries into Calling, Career Choice, and the Design of Human Work  [Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990], 48).

Luther also taught how to find your calling. It was pretty simple: your calling was to do whatever your station in life dictated. If you grew up in a cobbler shop, your calling was to devote yourself to making shoes. And doing so, you participated in the work of God by covering the feet of His children. Luther believed that virtually any type of work could be a calling, so long as it rendered service to mankind.

John Calvin elaborated on Luther’s ideas in a way that may make them seem a little more applicable to us today. For Calvin, it wasn’t our position in the social structure that determined God’s calling for us. Rather, he argued that God endows each of us with particular talents and gifts, and that it is our calling to discover those gifts and to seek out ways to use them in the service of our fellowmen. As he put it, “For as God bestows any ability or gift upon any of us, he binds us to such as have need of us and as we are able to help” (quoted in Hardy,  The Fabric of This World,  62; also in  Sermons of M. John Calvin upon the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians  [London: Lucas Harison and George Bishop, 1574], 307; translation modified).

So the very roots of the idea of a professional calling are distinctly religious. Ironically, the world still embraces the notion of a professional calling, but it has almost entirely abandoned the spiritual roots of the idea. As sociologist Max Weber put it, “The idea of duty in one’s calling prowls about in our lives like the ghost of dead religious beliefs” (Max Weber,  The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,  trans. Talcott Parsons [New York: Dover, 2003], 182).

Because society has drifted from the spiritual moorings of calling, it has developed some odd and distorted doctrines about  finding your calling. In fact, I would like to refer to a few of these doctrines as heresies. That may seem like a strong word, but I believe it’s fitting because if we were to embrace these worldly doctrines, they would lead us far afield from how the Lord intends us to view our life’s work. I submit to you that these heresies are the very things that cause us so much anxiety when we are trying to decide what our calling in life is. So if we appeal to the restored gospel to dispel these heresies, we can replace anxiety with faith and hope.

The first heresy I’d like to discuss gets right to the heart of our anxiety. It is: “You might have a calling if you are lucky, or you might not.” To dispel this heresy, let’s look at a scripture I use as the theme for many of my classes. You have heard it many times, but I’d like to point out something that you may have missed. In D&C 58:27 , the Lord asks His children to “be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” You might be tempted to think, “Well, that scripture refers to church work. It’s not really relevant to my career.” Are you sure about that? Would the Lord so pointedly command us to be  anxiously  engaged in good causes if he wanted us to spend a huge portion of our waking hours—eight to five, for instance—simply punching a clock? The Lord asks us to do “many things” in service to good causes. Why should our work not be one of them?

Now, here’s the part you may not have thought about—I certainly hadn’t until a few years ago: After the Lord charges us to anxiously pursue good causes, the next verse begins: “For the power is in them” ( D&C 58:28 ). Think about that. The Lord hasn’t just told you to pursue good causes, He has equipped you with power to do so. You—you personally—are full of divine capacities to do good that you probably don’t even fully appreciate.

These verses testify that you are  not  part of a lottery system for life callings. You have a calling in life: to pursue good causes. And you have been given power to do just that.

But knowing that you have power to do good works is one thing; knowing specifically what you ought to do is quite another. How do you find your  particular  calling? That’s the burning question for many of us.

Some are lucky enough to know at an early age what they are meant to do. Doctors, writers, and artists, for instance, often realize during childhood that they have a gift and never have to agonize about what work they will do. Most of us are not so fortunate, though. We are perplexed by a dizzying array of college majors, service opportunities, and job choices—many of which seem interesting, but perhaps none of them speak definitively to our souls. That was how I felt as an undergraduate at BYU. At various times I seriously considered becoming an attorney, a businessman, a linguist, a federal government official, and a seminary teacher—never a professor, by the way. I liked all of those ideas but was overwhelmed by uneasiness every time I got close to committing to one of them.

The anxiety you might feel about choosing a career brings up the second heresy that we can dispel through an appeal to gospel truth. It is: “You have to find your one true calling in order to be fulfilled.”

This heresy should remind you of your favorite fairy tale in which the princess finds her “one true love.” Let’s consult the scriptures again to see if they support the idea of a unique perfect fit.

D&C 46 enumerates many spiritual gifts that you might have been given—gifts of teaching, healing, or language. Some of these gifts don’t seem particularly relevant to choosing a profession. But let’s see what else the Lord tells us about spiritual gifts. Verses 11 and 12 read:

For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

Note that there are many gifts, that they are distributed differently among us, and that they are given so we can bless one another. But the Lord does not say that He has listed every possible gift. In fact, Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that “spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in variety” (Bruce R. McConkie,  A New Witness for the Articles of Faith  [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985], 371). Could this endless and infinite list include spiritual gifts relevant to our professional lives? We know that all things are spiritual to the Lord, so yes, of course our spiritual gifts have everything to do with our professional callings.

In fact, finding our calling in life involves the same process as discovering our spiritual gifts. Elder Robert D. Hales has provided some insight on this process:

To find the gifts we have been given, we must pray and fast. . . . I urge you each to discover your gifts and to seek after those that will bring direction to your life’s work and that will further the work of heaven.  [Robert D. Hales, “Gifts of the Spirit,”  Ensign, February 2002, 16]

As you consult your spiritual gifts, you may find that you don’t feel an urgent pull to practice medicine or educate children, for instance. Maybe instead you just like working with people. That is the most common thing I hear from students who are perplexed about what type of work they should do. If you think your spiritual gifts lie somewhere in that ambiguous area, I challenge you to delve much deeper into what your specific gifts are.  How  do you like working with people? Our strongest gifts tend to appear early in life, so it might help if you think back on your childhood and about how and what you played. Were you the kid that always got the neighborhood baseball game going? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for organizing others into collective action. Were you a natural storyteller? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for presenting ideas in a compelling and dramatic way. Were you the person who other kids always sought out for sympathy and acceptance? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for listening and discerning others’ emotions. Other types of gifts that you may notice in yourself include the ability to praise others effectively, to identify and encourage others’ talents, to organize information in a concise manner, and to see a problem from multiple angles.

These sorts of gifts may not suggest a particular career path to you, and that may seem like a disadvantage. I challenge you to try thinking differently. The gifts I have just listed have market value. They are also highly portable. You might express those gifts in many professions or organizations. Consequently, finding your calling in life  may not  be a matter of finding the one right job. Instead, it may be that your calling is to bring your unique spiritual gifts to whatever position the Lord blesses you with.

If you exercise faith in the Lord, follow His spirit, and seek to amplify your gifts, you will be led gradually to a place where you are well equipped to serve. I have seen it happen over and over. I have a colleague, tremendously respected in his field, who became an auditor—not by long-term planning, but by a series of minor circumstances that led him gradually and unintentionally to his profession. He could never have predicted the fulfillment his career would give him. We usually can’t predict exactly where our gifts will lead us. But in retrospect, we will see the hand of the Lord leading us from door to door and opportunity to opportunity as we exercise and hone our spiritual gifts.

This principle is particularly important in today’s economy. We faculty are keenly aware of how challenging it is for our students to find jobs today. You cannot control the economy. As a result, there is a temptation to feel like a victim or to give in to despair. When you are negatively affected by unstable economic conditions, focus on your gifts, which  are  stable. You may have to take a job that is below your level of qualification. If so, perform the work with drive, and use your gifts to put your unique stamp on your contributions. Doing so will increase your chances of finding better employment later.

You may even suffer joblessness for a time. Research shows that unemployment can have a devastating long-term impact on self-confidence, on health, and on happiness. I submit that having a sense of calling is part of your inoculation against the vicissitudes of the job market. Know yourself. Know what your gifts are. And define yourself by your gifts—not by your lack of a job. Contrary to what the world might tell you, you don’t have to have a job to express your calling in life. If the world at present is not willing to pay you for what you can do, then donate your spiritual gifts to worthy causes—perhaps through public service or volunteering—until the value of those gifts becomes so evident that people want to pay you a fair wage for them. Even in a booming economy, you may have to create your own opportunities to fulfill your calling in life. Despite what most fairy tales imply, real-life princes and princesses don’t just wait around for their dreams—or dream jobs—to come true.

Speaking of dream jobs brings us to the third heresy: “When you find your calling, work will be bliss.” This is a particularly pervasive heresy today. The media implores you to build a career that is exciting and intensely fulfilling. Now, I am certainly an advocate of enjoying your work! But it is a distortion of the idea of calling to think that work should always be fun.

As an example, let me share with you the story of some people I have recently studied: zookeepers. I chose to study zookeepers because they are passionate about the work they do, even though they make little money and have few opportunities for career advancement. Learning about what “calling” means to zookeepers was eye-opening. As you might expect, zookeepers find their work very meaningful. They care for their animals as if they were their own children, and they feel great satisfaction when they can enrich their animals’ lives and maintain their health. They believe deeply in conservation and see themselves as educators of the public about species preservation. By and large, they are almost outrageously satisfied with their work.

But is every day fun for them? Hardly. When zookeepers talked about their work as a calling, they spoke not just about satisfaction but also about sacrifice—caring for sick animals in the middle of the night, doing unsavory work, foregoing a comfortable living, and the list goes on. I learned something tremendously important from my study of zookeepers. For them, the pain and burdens and sacrifice were not threats to their sense of calling—they were  part  of it. The work was meaningful  because of  the trials and burdens. That is an important lesson. We can’t expect deep meaningfulness from our calling unless we are willing to assume its burdens as well.

Joseph Campbell, a professor of literature who studied and taught about hero myths, introduced the phrase “follow your bliss” back in the 1970s. The idea was that heroes don’t chase money or prestige; they look into their hearts to find their passion and then pursue it (see Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers,  The Power of Myth,  ed. Betty Sue Flowers [New York: Doubleday, 1988]). Now you see the phrase “follow your bliss” everywhere. Later, Campbell developed misgivings about how people were using the phrase. It was reported that he quipped, “What I should have said was, ‘Follow your blisters.’” Brothers and sisters, you may do the most important, exciting work in the world. Nonetheless, some days will be mundane and no fun at all—kind of like the days I spend grading papers. You will be called upon to sacrifice. Don’t expect deep meaning without paying the price for it.

A related heresy is: “Finding a calling means that the world will take notice.” If you expect the world to loudly applaud your calling in life, you may be disappointed. This point reminds me of one of the zookeepers I interviewed. One day when he was busily caring for an animal, a nun came by with a group of her students. Within earshot of the zookeeper she said, “See the kind of job you get when you don’t finish your education!” Ironically, the zookeeper actually had a college degree.

I would like to tell you about my friend Barb, who was a custodian at my previous university. She was a tiny dynamo of a woman probably in her early 50s. Every afternoon she came into my office, a smiling flurry of activity, to take out my trash. She often asked if there was some special task she might do to make my office cleaner. I rarely took her up on her offer, but I came to realize that it really made her happy when I did. One day I asked her, “Barb, how do you feel about your job?” She beamed. “I love it,” she said. “I’m so happy to be a part of this school and just really like making it a better place. Plus,” she added proudly, “I’m really good at it.” And she was! Barb did make the university a better place. It occurred to me that when I saw her enthusiasm, it made me want to be a better professor. I wish I had told her that, but I don’t recall ever doing so.

I challenge you to look for examples of nobility among those who do the so-called menial tasks all around you. You will find many inspiring examples of people who use their spiritual gifts to serve in quiet but remarkable ways. We do great violence to the souls of those who offer their callings in less-glamorous ways when we consider them invisible or treat them as minor cast members in the great drama of our professional lives. The Savior saw nobility in “the least of these” ( Matthew 25:40 ). And getting to know the Barbs in your life will inspire you to be your best in whatever you are called to do.

If you find your calling leads you to work that is less than glamorous, take heed to what John Calvin said: “No task will be so sordid and base . . . that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight” (quoted in Hardy,  The Fabric of This World,  90; also in John Calvin,  The Institutes of the Christian Religion,  ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960], 3.10.6, 725). The Book of Mormon also promotes an egalitarian spirit about work. Among the Nephites, priests probably held more status than anyone but the king. And yet, Alma 1:26 tells us that even priests were to labor for their own support, with the priest “not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, . . . and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.” It is a heresy that work is meaningful only when it gives us status and esteem. When we work to impress or outshine others, we violate the Lord’s vision of work.

Now, I’d like to speak to you about the last and most insidious heresy about work. It’s insidious because it’s  almost  true. The heresy is: “Meaningfulness in life is to be found at work.” This idea has become a foundational doctrine of the world. Many people identify themselves primarily by their professions. Once again, I emphasize that I am in favor of working passionately. However, there is a danger that meaningful work might distract us from the weightier matters of eternal life. As one wise person noted, in the eternal scheme of things, our jobs will someday seem to us like playthings. Work is simply one stage upon which we can act out our service to God and our fellowmen.

The fifth heresy is almost true because our worthwhile work can indeed give us a sense of meaning. But the idea that meaning comes primarily from our work entirely misses the point, because it focuses on the self. Imagine, if you would, a great artist who creates stunning and inspiring masterpieces but then hoards them in her attic, where only she can enjoy them. Certainly she may take pleasure in her creations, but it is through enriching others that the artist makes her contribution to the world. As the fifth heresy suggests, we can indeed find personal meaning in our work, but the real point is that the Lord expects us to render meaningful service through work. True meaning, as always, comes from service.

Allow me to share a simple experience from my mission. As I was nearing my release date, I anticipated a sense of loss when I could no longer give all my time to serving God. At a zone conference, my mission president opened the floor for Q&A on any topic. I raised my hand and asked, “After our missions are over and we are no longer full-time servants of God, how can we keep a sense of purpose?” Before the mission president could answer, his wife leapt to her feet and, literally elbowing him aside, said, “I’ll take this one.”

I will never forget her response. As near as I can recall, she said, “When I do the laundry, I am building the kingdom of God. When I scrub the floors, I am serving the Lord. When I tidy the clutter, I’m an instrument in His hands. I do a lot of mundane jobs, but if my eye is single to God and I’m trying to serve my family, then I feel as much purpose in my work as a missionary can.” Those words remind me of what King Benjamin said about laboring in the fields to support himself—a decidedly unkingly occupation. He said, “I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God” ( Mosiah 2:16 ).

So perhaps the state of our hearts is as important as the tasks we do in determining whether our work is truly—and eternally—meaningful. D&C 117 reinforces this idea. In this section, the Lord extends a professional calling to Oliver Granger. He is called to Zion, where “he shall be made a merchant unto my name . . . for the benefit of my people” (verse 14). What’s striking is that two verses later, the Lord promises to “overthrow the moneychangers in mine own due time” (verse 16). So what is the difference between a merchant unto the Lord’s name and a moneychanger whom the Lord will expel? The work they do must look very similar. But in the case of Oliver Granger, he was called to do his work in the service of God and man,  not  in the service of himself, and certainly not in the service of his own bank account.

We need to be very cautious about our motives for the work we do. It’s tempting to say, “I serve my family when I’m at home, I serve God when I’m at church, and I serve my career when I’m at work.” This approach moves us perilously close to becoming moneychangers. We must see our work as but another extension of the Lord’s commandment to serve His children and “bring to pass much righteousness.”

How does this measure up to the world’s teaching that you have to take care of number one, climb the corporate ladder, get ahead? One of the great gospel ironies is that when we lose ourselves, we find ourselves. Work is much the same. I testify that when you focus your work first and foremost on blessing others, you will become extraordinary at what you do and will find fulfillment and success much more reliably than if you spend your time at work trying to get ahead or get rich. My brothers and sisters, work to serve! Remember the words that greet you at the gateway of the university: “Enter to learn; go forth to serve.”

In closing, I testify that our Heavenly Father is intimately involved in the doors that open for us and in the circumstances that lead us to the places we should be—the places where we are equipped, with power, to serve. Have faith that your unseen Navigator will lead you gradually to your life’s calling.

I also testify that, as with all important questions, when it comes to asking what our calling in life is, Jesus Christ is in the answer. The grace of Christ, that same power that helps us do things we otherwise couldn’t, is what will guide us to our callings and enable us to excel in them. You can call upon the grace of Christ to help you with your professional calling. In fact, He pleads with us to do so. In Alma, He invites us to pray over our flocks (see Alma 34:20 ). Even if we are not shepherds by trade, we all tend professional flocks, and He is mindful of them. Knowing that helps us expel anxiety.

Lastly, may I conclude with a personal word to you students here at BYU. We, the faculty, love you. You are  our  flocks. You are our calling in life. And the finest expression of our labors will be the good that you do in the world with the things you learned at BYU. My dear brothers and sisters, follow your bliss, follow your blisters, and go forth to serve. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

© Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.

Jeffrey A. Thompson was a BYU associate professor in the Romney Institute of Public Management when this devotional address was given on 1 June 2010.

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Four Steps to Discovering Your Life’s Calling

Four practices may help connect us with what makes life meaningful..

Posted September 3, 2019 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

Although philosophers and theologians have written about it for millennia, finding a sense of purpose, meaning, or calling is often viewed as a pretentious and even self-absorbed topic.

Several years ago, I found myself sitting in a cafe, listening to two people chat about their lives. I could barely stop my eyes from rolling when one of them asked, “Dude! What really is the meaning of life?” And the other responded, “Dude! That’s deep.”

Behind the potentially pretentious nature of this conversation, however, lie some very practical questions about how to lead our lives. When we face difficult decisions, what’s truly meaningful to us often comes into play. Should I or shouldn’t I get married? Am I ready to have kids? Should I take this job or not? Should I go back to school or not?

Not surprisingly, research shows that people who have a greater sense of purpose or meaning in life tend to be happier, less depressed , and less anxious .

Diane Dreher, author of Your Personal Renaissance: 12 Steps to Finding Your Life’s True Calling , believes that all of us have the potential to find our sense of purpose.

“In whatever season of life you find yourself now,” she writes, “You are poised on the edge of possibility, ready to begin the journey to become more fully yourself.”

But Dreher, who is a professor of Renaissance literature in addition to a counselor, is quick to add that society doesn’t necessarily support us in this quest.

“In the Renaissance, theologians and artists realized that we all have particular gifts and particular strengths and that discovering them and using them gives us a sense of joy and meaning in life,” Dreher told me in an interview on KPFA Radio’s About Health program. “Today, our culture reinforces us for consumerism , which is not the same as finding our calling. To look outside ourselves to find ourselves—by buying the latest product—is really distracting.”

Indeed, dozens of studies now show that money, along with the “stuff” it can be used to buy, doesn’t necessarily make us happier.

In a recent article in the journal Nature , for instance, researchers analyzed data from the Gallup World Poll, a representative survey of more than 1.7 million people around the globe. Their results indicate that money only makes people happier to a point. Once a person earns $60,000 to $75,000, on average, emotional well-being stops increasing at higher levels of income.

Although these numbers differ from country to country, there is always a point at which more money no longer yields more happiness . In other words, once we earn enough money to survive and feel comfortable, the recipe for happiness may not be to enrich our bank accounts further.

What people really desire is a sense of personal meaning in their lives, Dreher asserts. Yet, she argues that instead of pursuing activities that will help cultivate this sense of meaning, “people feel empty inside, and so they go out and buy more things.”

Finding meaning isn’t easy, of course. Most of us get caught up in our busy days, our many responsibilities, and the numerous pressures we face. We may spend the bulk of our time pursuing goals that are more important to others—our bosses, families, or friends—than to us.

Although it’s not necessarily unhealthy to do things for other people, it’s easy to forget ourselves in the process. We too easily wind up doing what we feel we should do, rather than pursuing what could really bring us happiness.

But Dreher suggests that four simple practices might help bring us a little closer to discovering what might be truly meaningful to us.

1. Reflect on Your Childhood

The great psychologist Abraham Maslow called them “ peak experiences ”—moments when we’ve felt closest to being self-actualized. Most of us have at least glimpsed these experiences, which people sometimes describe as exciting, exhilarating, or even mystical: looking over a vast ocean, helping someone in need, or feeling the joy of solving a difficult problem.

What constitutes a peak experience obviously can differ dramatically from person to person. But Dreher suggests that many of us were more connected to these experiences as children than we are today. And we can use this to our advantage.

“Really think about what you used to love doing as a child,” she advises . “When you were a child, did you like to go out exploring, did you love nature, did you like to play games, art, musical instruments, reading, what?”

Getting in touch with these experiences can provide powerful clues about what we might find most meaningful in our lives today.

2. Create an Exploration List

One of the major themes of the Renaissance was exploration, whether on the high seas or in the science lab. But, in our modern lives, we rarely allow ourselves to explore.

“Most of us are so locked into routines and responsibilities that we lose touch with our curiosity, intuitions, and deep personal interests,” Dreher writes .

One antidote to this tendency is to create an exploration list. Similar to a bucket list, but a bit more experimental, such a list can contain anything you’d like to try out—activities you enjoyed as a child but have left by the wayside, things you’ve always wanted to do, undertakings you’ve been putting off.

Dreher advises not to get too caught in practicality or self-criticism when creating this list. “Some of these ideas will seem simple, others scary, some even silly,” she writes. “Just write them down.” Once you’ve finished, consider actually trying at least one of them.

3. Reflect on Challenges

Discovering our callings can be challenging. It always has been.

“Michelangelo had problems in his early life, because his father wanted him to become a cloth merchant,” Dreher told me. “Every time Michelangelo would be drawing a picture, his father would beat him and say, ‘This is worthless, and you’ll never come to anything.’”

But reflecting on our challenges can provide clues regarding what we most value in life. Consider any major challenges you’ve faced. Besides being potentially very painful, did they change your view about what’s important, valuable, or meaningful in life? If they didn’t, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if they did, consider what this knowledge might mean for how you can live a fuller life today.

4. Be Mindful of Your Energies

We’ve all noticed our energy levels change as we go about the day. Sometimes this is due to mundane things like not getting enough sleep or missing our morning coffee.

Other times, however, our energy levels are affected by more significant concerns. One secret to discovering our sense of calling is to pay attention to what we’re doing when we feel a rush of energy, and, conversely, what we’re doing when our energy flags.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this sense of energy “ flow ,” a state of absorption in an activity or situation, such that nothing else seems to matter. Sometimes called being “in the zone,” Csikszentmihalyi’s research shows that people are happiest when they are in a state of flow.

Flow is most likely to occur when the task we’re performing is something that both meets our desires and draws on our gifts. In other words, we get “into the flow” when we’re doing something we both value and feel capable of doing.

As you go about the day, pay attention to what puts you in a state of flow. What activities energize you? What activities drain you? What activities can you count on to lift your spirits? “Your energies are vital messages from your core self,” Dreher writes. “They tell you whether you’re using your gifts and following your heart or living by someone else’s design.”

Nobody is pretending that these four practices will instantly revolutionize your life. But they’re a good start. Finding meaning or purpose is one of the hardest things any of us will ever do. It takes significant time, and it’s probably not something we’ll ever fully accomplish. After all, what’s meaningful to us can shift as we grow and change.

Life is a journey—sometimes fun, often challenging. But these four practices may help us connect with what makes that journey meaningful.

David B. Feldman, Ph.D. , is a professor in the department of counseling psychology at Santa Clara University.

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What Does the Bible Say About Our Calling: Discovering Your Purpose Through Scripture

Have you ever wondered what your true calling is? Many people grapple with this question, feeling lost or unsure about their purpose in life. It’s a common struggle, and the good news is that the Bible offers guidance and insights that can help you find clarity.

In this article, you’ll explore what the Scriptures say about your calling and how you can align your life with it. Whether you’re seeking direction in your career, relationships, or personal growth, the biblical perspective can provide valuable wisdom. By understanding these teachings, you’ll be better equipped to embrace your unique path and live a more fulfilling life. Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible has to say.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding Your Calling: The Bible teaches that everyone has a unique purpose, which involves a blend of individual talents, interests, and the needs of others, requiring faith and reflection for clarity.
• Types of Callings: Callings manifest in various forms, including spiritual, vocational, relational, moral, and creative, guiding individuals toward specific roles and missions in life.
• Biblical Foundations: Key figures like Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah exemplify how God calls individuals, emphasizing the importance of trusting God’s plan and fulfilling His purpose.
• Personal Growth: Your calling promotes spiritual maturity and character development, encouraging reflection on personal strengths and embracing challenges as opportunities for growth.
• Service to Others: Fulfilling your calling involves serving others and glorifying God, actively participating in community outreach and positively influencing those around you.
• Discerning and Living Out Your Calling: Engaging in prayer, reflection, and seeking guidance from Scripture and community support is essential in understanding and actively living out your divine purpose.

Understanding Our Calling

Understanding your calling starts with recognizing its biblical foundation. The Bible emphasizes that everyone has a unique purpose, and discovering it requires faith, reflection, and action.

Definition of Calling in a Biblical Context

In a biblical context, a calling refers to God’s invitation for you to fulfill His purpose in your life. This concept is evident in passages like Ephesians 4:1, which urges you to live a life worthy of your calling. This calling often involves a combination of your talents, interests, and the needs of others, guiding you toward specific roles or missions. Identifying your calling requires you to seek God’s guidance through prayer and scripture.

Different Types of Callings

Callings can manifest in various forms. Here are some common types:

• Spiritual Callings : These involve a direct relationship with God, often leading to roles like ministry or leadership within a church community.
• Vocational Callings : This type pertains to your profession. It can range from teaching and healthcare to business and art, each reflecting your unique skills.
• Relational Callings : These focus on your interactions and relationships with others, such as parenting, mentoring, or community service, emphasizing love and support.
• Moral Callings : This involves a commitment to ethical living and justice, guiding you to advocate for causes that align with your values.
• Creative Callings : Creative callings pertain to using artistic gifts to express faith, whether through music, writing, or visual arts.

Understanding these callings can help you identify where your passions align with God’s purpose in your life. Consider reflecting on your skills and interests to uncover how they can serve others and fulfill your unique calling.

Biblical References to Calling

The Bible provides a wealth of insights about calling that can guide you on your journey to discover your purpose.

Old Testament Insights

In the Old Testament, God’s calling is evident in several key figures.

• Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12:1-3): Abraham received a direct call from God to leave his home and embark on a journey. His promise of becoming a great nation signifies how individual callings can lead to significant outcomes.
• Moses as a Leader (Exodus 3:10): God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. This call highlights the importance of responding to God’s purpose, even when it feels daunting.
• Jeremiah’s Commission (Jeremiah 1:5): God appointed Jeremiah as a prophet before his birth. This example illustrates the notion that everyone has a divine purpose from the very beginning.

These stories showcase how God calls individuals, often in unexpected ways, urging you to trust His plan for your life.

New Testament Teachings

The New Testament emphasizes the fulfillment of calling through Christ and the church.

• Ephesians 4:1: The apostle Paul encourages believers to live a life worthy of their calling. This verse stresses personal responsibility in aligning actions with your unique purpose.
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-27: Paul describes the church as a body, with each member having a specific role. This metaphor illustrates that your calling contributes to the greater good of the community.
• Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission): Jesus commands His followers to spread the gospel. This clear directive showcases a collective calling for all Christians to share their faith.

Each New Testament teaching emphasizes the active role of believers in living out their calling, highlighting the importance of community and personal action in fulfilling God’s purpose.

The Purpose of Our Calling

Understanding your calling plays a crucial role in personal development and fulfilling God’s purpose. The Bible offers clear insights into why your calling matters and how it intersects with your growth and service.

Personal Growth and Spiritual Maturity

Your calling promotes personal growth and spiritual maturity. The journey encourages self-discovery and the realization of your God-given talents. As you engage with passages like Ephesians 4:1, you recognize that living in a manner worthy of your calling fosters character development.

• Reflect on Talents: Identify your skills and strengths. Utilize them in ways that align with God’s purpose.
• Embrace Challenges: View obstacles as opportunities for growth. Overcoming difficulties strengthens faith and resilience.
• Seek Community Support: Surround yourself with others on similar journeys. Sharing experiences nurtures spiritual growth.

Serving Others and Glorifying God

Your calling also embodies a commitment to serving others and glorifying God. Through service, you fulfill both God’s command and your purpose, as illustrated in Matthew 5:16.

• Engage in Community: Participate in local outreach or mission projects. Serving those in need enriches your understanding of love and compassion.
• Use Your Platform: Leverage your roles—at work, home, or school—to positively influence those around you. Your actions can reflect God’s love.
• Practice Gratitude: Acknowledge God’s blessings. Expressing gratitude enhances your perspective on service.

By aligning your growth and service with your calling, you cultivate a deeper sense of purpose that resonates throughout your life.

Discerning Our Calling

Finding your calling involves a mix of self-discovery and divine guidance. Engaging in prayer and reflecting on your life choices can provide clarity on your purpose.

Prayer and Reflection

Prayer serves as a vital tool in discerning your calling. It’s an opportunity for conversation with God. Through prayer, you can express your hopes and struggles. You can ask for guidance and clarity on your path.

Reflecting on personal experiences also helps. Consider your passions, gifts, and interests. Write down moments when you felt fulfilled or excited. Assess how these align with your values and what God might be calling you to pursue.

Take time to sit in silence and listen for God’s voice. Meditation and journaling can deepen this experience. By staying open to spiritual insights, you enhance your understanding of your purpose.

Seeking Guidance from Scripture and Community

Scripture offers numerous insights into understanding your calling. Key verses like Proverbs 3:5-6 urge you to trust in God’s guidance. Study these passages to uncover wisdom that aligns with your journey.

Engaging with your community can also support your discernment process. Discuss your thoughts with trusted friends or mentors. They can provide perspectives and encouragement you might overlook.

Join church groups or community events focused on personal growth. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals enhances your support system. Collective prayer and sharing experiences can help clarify your spiritual journey.

Incorporate regular Bible study into your routine. Choosing specific verses related to calling and purpose will deepen your insight and knowledge. Seek out devotional materials that resonate with your experiences.

Both prayer and community interactions play crucial roles in discerning your calling. By combining these practices, you enhance your ability to understand and follow God’s plan for your life.

Living Out Our Calling

Living out your calling involves practical steps and overcoming challenges. You can engage fully in life by applying biblical teachings to your daily routines and interactions.

Practical Steps to Fulfill Your Calling

• Identify Your Strengths : List your talents, interests, and experiences. Reflect on how these align with biblical teachings. For example, if you enjoy teaching, consider how you can impart knowledge within your community or church.
• Set Goals : Define specific, achievable goals related to your calling. Break these goals into small, manageable steps. If your calling involves community service, start with one volunteer activity per month.
• Pray for Guidance : Regular prayer fosters clarity and direction. Approach God with an open heart about your desires. Consider journaling your thoughts and feelings during this process for deeper insight.
• Engage with Scripture : Read and meditate on biblical passages that resonate with your calling. Verses like Ephesians 2:10 remind you that you are created for good works.
• Seek Community Support : Surround yourself with people who encourage your growth. Join small groups or mentorship programs. Sharing your journey with others fosters accountability and encouragement.

Overcoming Challenges and Doubts

Everyone faces challenges in fulfilling their calling. Acknowledge these hurdles and work through them constructively.

• Address Doubts : Recognize feelings of uncertainty as normal. Discuss your doubts with trusted friends or mentors. They can provide valuable perspectives and encouragement.
• Stay Resilient : Setbacks may occur, but resilience is key. Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. Remember Philippians 4:13, which states that you can do all things through Christ.
• Practice Patience : Understand that discovering your calling takes time. Be patient and allow God’s timing to unfold. Celebrate small victories along the way to keep motivation high.
• Revisit Goals : If you encounter obstacles, reassess your goals. Adjust them as needed, ensuring they remain aligned with your calling and values.
• Cultivate a Growth Mindset : Approach challenges as learning experiences. View difficulties as chances to strengthen your character and deepen your faith.

By integrating these practices, you can actively live out your calling, reflecting God’s purpose in your life.

Finding your calling can be a transformative journey filled with purpose and meaning. By embracing biblical teachings and seeking God’s guidance you can uncover the unique path He has laid out for you. Remember to reflect on your skills and passions while engaging with your community.

As you navigate this journey don’t hesitate to lean on prayer and Scripture for clarity. Surround yourself with supportive friends and mentors who can help you grow. Ultimately living out your calling not only enriches your life but also serves those around you and glorifies God. Embrace the adventure ahead and trust that you’re on the right path.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a calling according to the bible.

A calling is viewed as God’s invitation to fulfill His purpose, directing individuals to live a life that aligns with their unique talents, interests, and the needs of others. Biblical passages, like Ephesians 4:1, encourage individuals to embrace their calling for a meaningful existence.

How can I find my true calling?

Finding your calling involves self-discovery, prayer, and reflecting on personal experiences. Engaging with Scripture and seeking guidance from trusted friends, mentors, or community can provide clarity and help align your values with God’s purpose.

What types of callings exist according to the article?

The article outlines various types of callings: spiritual, vocational, relational, moral, and creative. Each type reflects different aspects of one’s life and service, emphasizing the importance of using personal talents to serve others effectively.

How does prayer contribute to discovering my calling?

Prayer is essential for expressing your hopes, struggles, and seeking guidance. It fosters a deeper connection with God, allowing for clarity and understanding of your unique path and the ways to fulfill your purpose.

Why is community support important in discovering my calling?

Community support offers valuable perspectives, encouragement, and accountability. Engaging with others can help you navigate challenges and doubts, making it easier to identify and live out your calling while encouraging personal growth.

What are some practical steps to live out my calling?

Practical steps include identifying your strengths, setting achievable goals, praying for guidance, engaging with Scripture, and seeking community support. These practices promote resilience and growth in fulfilling your calling and reflecting God’s purpose.

How can I use my talents to serve others?

By recognizing your unique skills and interests, you can volunteer or support community initiatives that align with your passions. This helps you serve others effectively while also fulfilling your divine calling as highlighted in the article.

What biblical figures exemplify discovering their calling?

Figures like Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah illustrate how God calls individuals in unexpected ways. Their stories in the Bible showcase the importance of responding to God’s invitation and embracing one’s purpose amid challenges.

Hi there! I'm Tiffany Christensen, and I have a passion for all the stories and lessons the Bible has to offer. Ever since I was little, I've been drawn to the way these ancient texts still resonate today. I've devoted my studies to Christian theology and enjoy translating that into everyday language that’s easy to connect with. My goal is to bring the pages of the Bible to life in a way that's both informative and engaging. I'm thrilled to share this journey with you through my writing on Biblical Pathway.

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How To Find Your Calling In Life: A Process That Really Works!

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Does something deep inside whisper to you that you’re not leading the kind of life you really want to lead?

Do you feel compelled to make changes and find your calling?

You’re not alone. Many people will experience this at some point in their lives.

But how do you go about it?

Let’s start by determining what a calling is, and then dive into how to find yours.

Consult a life coach to help you discover your calling in life. Use the quick and simple form on Bark.com to have qualified life coaches email you to discuss their coaching services and provide quotes.

What is a calling?

In simplest terms, it’s the pursuit that a person chooses that will bring the most meaning to their life, and will make the entire life experience fulfilling and worthwhile.

Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

Many people go through life feeling rather lost. They feel that they “should” be doing something, but aren’t sure what it is.

They might feel unfulfilled with the Groundhog Day type situation that they’re living, day in and day out, but aren’t sure how to change it. Or what they really want to change in order to be happy.

A calling is the antidote to these feelings.

How to find your calling.

To help you find your calling, we’re going to explore a Japanese concept called Ikigai.

If you’re not familiar with Japanese, know that Ikigai is comprised of two words: “iki” which means “to live” and “gai” which means “reason.”

As you can see, the compound word really does mean “reason to live.” In other words, one’s life calling.

Ikigai is the point at which four essential things overlap: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for.

Take a look at this handy Ikigai diagram to better understand:

So, to discover what your calling in life is, we’re going to ask four questions that relate to the four overlapping circles in the above diagram. Then, we’ll look further within those answers to find the common points.

Let’s go through them one by one.

What do you love to do?

What are some of the pursuits, hobbies, and interests that make you happiest? How do you feel when you take part in them?

And furthermore, do those interests correspond with things you dreamt about doing before the age of 10 or so? Can you remember why you felt so passionate about that subject back then?

When did you stop feeling passion for it?  Did you actually lose your passion? Or were you continually facing resistance or even mockery from the people around you?

Would you still pursue this passion if you actually had the support – both financial and emotional – that you need?

What are you good at?

Are you aware of your greatest strengths and skills? What are you best at?

What do people often ask you to help them out with? Do people turn to you for advice in these subjects? Do you consider yourself skilled in these subjects?

To help you, why not read our article: 10 Effective Ways To Find Out What You’re Good At 

What does the world need that you can offer?   

Which aspects of the world as it is now make you feel the most frustrated. Do you feel that you could help these issues or situations?

Do you have the skills that the world needs to improve, even if your efforts are small and local rather than grandiose and world-shattering?

What can you be paid for, in this vein?

Are there products or services that you could be paid for that would correspond with the answers above?

Is there a job that already fits in with these categories? Or would you need to create something completely new?

Putting it all together.

The key to this exercise is to look across all of your answers and find the commonalities. Or, if those are not immediately obvious, do some even deeper thinking to asses where there is a gap and whether it could be filled.

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

Say that you love basketball, both watching and playing. Let’s also imagine that your current job involves training, managing, and motivating people. Perhaps you are frustrated by gangs or youth crime in your local area. Bring this all together and is there a way for you to earn a living by creating a place where young people can come to learn and play basketball?

Or perhaps you feel a great unease at the mounting problem of waste in the world. You happen to be quite creative and good with your hands too. And you love the beauty to be found in old things and antiques. Where might this all lead? Perhaps to a business upcycling old pieces of furniture that would have otherwise ended up in landfill and selling them in a store or online.

Of course, there may be other signs that are making themselves known to you about your life’s calling…

What are your dreams telling you?

Quite often, we’ll be subconsciously aware of our life’s calling because there are many signs and omens that reveal themselves. These can often be found in our dreams.

If you haven’t been keeping a dream journal up until now, start doing so. Upon waking, don’t even think about looking at your phone. This is the time to grab your journal and write down as many details about the dreams you had that night as possible.

Over time, reflect back upon these journal entries to see if there are any repeated symbols or patterns.

Which images or situations keep coming up?

How do you feel about them?

Then, cross-reference these signs with what you truly loved when you were a child. If your calling is something that’s been with you since childhood, chances are that this Truth has been making itself known time and time again over the course of your life.

What would you be doing if you knew your time was limited?

Alternatively, your personal calling might be a more recent thing. Some people have epiphanies or directional changes after experiencing something that shakes up their lives in a major way. Near-death experiences, health scares, and intense traumas are really good for doing this.

When we experience these things, we often ask ourselves what we would want to do with the time left to us if we knew, with complete certainty, that we only had a year or two left to live.

It might make you nervous to think about the fact that none of us ever know how much longer we’ll be around, but our inevitable mortality can be a great motivator for change in your life .

A lot of people talk about all the things they’d do if they knew their end was approaching.

They might devote themselves to animal rescue and rehabilitation, or go on a pilgrimage through India. Or any other number of things that they have put on the back burner for the sake of a regular job, or fitting in with their social circle.

So… if you are fully aware that your time is limited, what do you want to do with it?

Follow a path that’s calling you on a molecular level? Or keep maintaining the status quo?

How specific do you have to be with your calling?

You can start with a general sense of what it is you’d like to do (such as “be an entrepreneur,” or “help people who have suffered trauma”). But then you need to get specific about the path you want to take.

You can approach this by asking yourself a ton of questions about your calling or path, and then even more to determine how you’d like to go about pursuing it.

Think of it kind of like preparing a meal.

You might start off with saying “I’m aching for Italian food tonight.” Okay, but what kind? Do you want pasta or polenta? Meat or vegetarian? Tomato sauce or creamy?

Once you know exactly what you’d like to make, you write a list of the ingredients you’ll need to buy. Do you need any specific tools or equipment to prepare this stuff? Like tongs for long noodles or a grater for cheese?

Just like that, take every aspect into consideration. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take to get there.

Get specific.

Let’s say that you feel called to help people who have suffered trauma.

Okay, what kind of trauma? Are we talking about childhood abuse? Physical damage like experiencing a fire or a life-threatening illness? Pregnancy loss?

Be very clear about exactly the type of trauma you want to assist others to process and heal from.

Sort out what you need to make it happen.

Once you’ve established the specifics of the subject – in this example, helping people through X type of trauma – figure out what you’ll need to do in order to manifest it.

Do you want to become a licensed therapist? Determine what kind of education you’d need to get your qualifications.

Do you want to start a support group or charity? How can you secure funding for this? Who else might you need to bring on board?

What personal support will you need to follow your calling?

Is this an endeavor that can support you financially? What about if you need to go back to school or college? Do you have a spouse or partner who can help with financial stability as you’re reestablishing yourself?

What about education costs? Will you need to take out a loan to make this happen?

Do you have enough savings to cover rent/mortgage, food, etc? What about your family members? Will you need to establish child or elder care?

What about organizations or mentors who might help you get started. What external help can you get?

How will it all work in practical terms?

Will you rent an office somewhere? Or do you have a spare room in your house that you’d convert into a therapy room?

Would you like to work in a prison? Or shelter? Do you have connections in these places? Or do you need to do outreach in order to connect with the people who can help you make this calling a reality?

These are the types of questions you should ask yourself when it comes to actually living your calling once you have found it.

By being very specific about what, exactly, you’re being summoned to do, you’ll be able to move in that direction much more smoothly.

Do you really need to earn a living from your calling?

Listen, we understand that not every calling is going to pay the bills. That’s the one slight difference between your Ikigai and your calling – your calling may not always be something you can earn a living from.

The basketball-loving coach from our earlier example might not be able to have that as a job or make that a business, but if they feel so strongly about the need to get kids off the street and they enjoy bringing out the best in these youngsters, it can be considered a calling in life.

They might have to work another job to cover life’s costs, but they may offer up nearly all their free time to their love of coaching basketball. If they feel utterly compelled to do it, like they simply cannot not do it, it’s a calling.

Can your calling change as you go through life?

Of course! In fact, one key aspect of Ikigai is that this “calling” happens spontaneously.

You may experience a life-changing event that turns your entire perception of existence around.

You might have spent years absolutely flourishing as a stockbroker, but suddenly just KNOW that you need to go volunteer in a Tibetan orphanage for a while. This could happen in any direction, at any time.

Just as an example, there’s a book called The Quantum and the Lotus that was written by Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Thuan.

Ricard was a molecular biologist who had a spiritual awakening after reading some Buddhist philosophy. He left his life in a science lab to become a Buddhist Monk in Nepal, working as a translator for the Dalai Lama.

In contrast, Thuan was a Buddhist monk who became fascinated with astronomy. He left Vietnam to pursue education in California, and became an astrophysicist.

There are countless stories out there about people who have changed their lives dramatically – sometimes several times over the course of their lifetimes – to pursue what their calling was at the time.

Check in with yourself regularly to make sure that your calling is still ringing true to you. If it isn’t, make some subtle – or even major – adjustments until you’re back on track.

The great thing about forward momentum is that once you’re in motion, you can always change direction.

So, now that you have a solid idea about your life’s calling, what will you do about it?

Hopefully you’re brave enough to dive in and make these dreams a reality.

Still not sure what your calling is? Want some help to find it? Speak to a life coach today who can walk you through the process. Simply fill out this short form to get quotes from several coaches along with details of how they can help.

You may also like:

• 8 Steps To Finding Direction In Life If You Have None
• If You Don’t Know What To Do With Your Life, Read This.
• 11 Examples Of Life Purpose Statements That You Could Adopt
• If You Feel Like You’re Wasting Your Life, Do These 10 Things
• 10 No Nonsense Ways To Live A Life Without Regrets
• 9 Ways You Can Leave A Positive Lasting Legacy Behind
• 10 No Nonsense Ways You Can Change The World For The Better
• 15 Things The World Needs Now More Than Ever
• “What Am I Doing With My Life?” – It’s Time To Find Out

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About The Author

Finn Robinson has spent the past few decades travelling the globe and honing his skills in bodywork, holistic health, and environmental stewardship. In his role as a personal trainer and fitness coach, he’s acted as an informal counselor to clients and friends alike, drawing upon his own life experience as well as his studies in both Eastern and Western philosophies. For him, every day is an opportunity to be of service to others in the hope of sowing seeds for a better world.

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What is Your True Calling and 8 Ways to Discover Yours!

In this article:, share this article, what is a true calling.

A true calling is a career or walk of life that a person feels compelled or meant to do. Finding meaning in life is something people often spend a lot of time contemplating. Or some individuals may feel the passion so strong that they know quickly in their heart what they were born to do. Others may feel that they have no true calling at all, not adhering to the notion of fate. But it may be wrong to assume that those jumping from job to job are seeking their calling and failing. In fact, these individuals may be multipotentialites, interested in many different careers. Whatever words you choose to describe your purpose, most of us are seeking it in one way or another.

Key Takeaways

• People seek their true calling to find purpose or fulfillment in life
• The journey to finding a true calling is unique to the individual
• A true calling may not be a traditional career
• You may discover your true calling in life through trying different careers, continually learning, being open to new opportunities, self-reflection, discovering your values, exploring your interests, investing in your passions, and asking others

Why do people seek their true calling?

People seek their true calling to find purpose or fulfillment in life, or maybe a way to explain why they are on this earth. As each individual is unique, so is the path and meaning of their true calling. Your true calling may not be a traditional career. Some people may be called to be travelers, humanitarians, volunteers, or parents. Whether you choose to call it your purpose, your true calling, or just the reason you wake up in the morning, everyone has a reason for living.

Where do people search for their true calling?

Since a successful career is idealized in our society, this is often where people start. However, even if your true calling is to be a teacher, you still may not feel fulfilled if the school isn’t the right fit. When the traditional careers don’t work out some individuals may go on a soul-searching quest. They may travel the globe or volunteer in another country. Another popular avenue for seeking a true calling is turning to the arts, such as music, photography, or painting.

When do people usually find their true calling?

Younger people are usually more apt to change careers , with individuals being less likely to change careers as they get older. This does not mean that people do not find their true calling later in life. After all, your true calling may not be your career. Certain life events may also trigger a realization of your true calling. A death in the family may inspire you to take up medicine, an end to a relationship may encourage you to take up travel blogging, or a vacation may ignite an old passion. Each individual’s journey is unique and so is your true calling.

How do you find your true calling in life?

1. try out different career paths.

Finding what works for you can take some time, so why not try out a few different career paths? Not only will this give you a wider range of experience, but you may stumble across an unexpected opportunity. For those multi-potentialites, embrace the fact that there may not be just one career for you.

2. Continual Learning

Even if you don’t want to experiment with different careers, you can still commit to continual learning in your life. This could be as simple as signing up for the next course, conference, or workshop at work, or reading the latest leadership book at home. You gain perspective by experiencing new things and broadening your knowledge and skills.

3. Be open to opportunities

When a new opportunity presents itself, no matter how out-of-the-box it may be for you, consider it. Take a moment to think about what it would be like to accept the offer. Sleep on it if you are able to, or take some time to think it over before immediately rejecting the idea. 

4. Self-reflection

Your true calling is often referred to as your inner calling because it is an internal feeling that drives the passion for our purpose. Self-reflection, therefore, is integral in finding your true calling in life. Take time to yourself to think about what brings you joy and be honest about what you are drawn to. Occasionally, we shy away from certain interests because we don’t think others will see value in them.

Want to start on your path of self-discovery today? Take our free DISC test today to learn about your personality type!

5. Discover your core values !

Through self-reflection and exploring different opportunities, you will discover your core values. These are the principles that drive your daily decision-making and are what guide your moral compass. Core values can change over time, just as people change over time, so don’t be afraid to re-evaluate these. A value that you held paramount when you were sixteen, may no longer be at the top of your list when you are thirty.

6. Explore your childhood interests

Interests that you had as a child may have been thrown to the wayside if they didn’t align with a typical career. It might be a good opportunity to revisit these interests and see if anything is sparked. It could be as simple as volunteering at the local animal sanctuary or joining a local theatre group.

7. Invest in your passions

Invest in your passions and things that bring you joy. As a society that expects immediate gratification, it can be hard to invest in something that doesn’t see instant returns. Taking a dancing or pottery class may not make you a dancer or a potter tomorrow, but if it brings you joy, then it may be worth pursuing.

8. Ask others

When in doubt, ask a trusted friend, colleague, or family member. You may be surprised what you learn from someone else’s perspective. For whatever reason, sometimes we aren’t always able to see our own strengths or gifts. An insightful friend that knows you well may be able to give you a gentle nudge in the right direction.

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Throughout my life, I often had always wondered what my calling was

shimshel 3 / 5   Jul 31, 2013   #2 My thought process of this topic of discussion My train of thoughts in regards with this discussion topic

dumi 1 / 6827   Aug 5, 2013   #3 Throughout my life, I often had always wondered what my calling was. What was my purpose in life? What is my destiny? Throughout my life, I often wondered what my calling was; my purpose in life? my destiny? My thought process of this topic of discussion was very divided. ... can't capture what you try to mean by this :( . But if one can dream, then allow me to express my thoughts. .... this one is too I believe I may never reach to a clear answer at hand ever [quote=ovoxo]My lifelong still ongoing process of self-discovery has fascinated me and still is it does . quote]

Jeny-Ann Q. Quindica

Saturday 16 february 2019, blog entry 4- video analysis, no comments:, post a comment, personal reflection about global and glocal teachers.

A global teacher is a competent teacher who is armed with enough skills and who think both locally and globally.Teachers with global prepare...

• Blog Entry 4- Video Analysis Watch the following videos in YouTube: “ Pilipino  Ako: Teacher Sabrina Ongkiko” and “  Discovering your life’s true calling  - Lou Sabrina...
• Personal Reflection about Global and Glocal Teachers A global teacher is a competent teacher who is armed with enough skills and who think both locally and globally.Teachers with global prepare...
• Blog Entry 2 1.       Does the teaching profession fulfill all the elements of a profession? Explain your answer. -Yes. The teaching profession ful...

How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love

By maria popova.

1. PAUL GRAHAM ON HOW TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Every few months, I rediscover and redevour Y-Combinator founder Paul Graham’ s fantastic 2006 article, How to Do What You Love . It’s brilliant in its entirety, but the part I find of especial importance and urgency is his meditation on social validation and the false merit metric of “prestige”:

What you should not do, I think, is worry about the opinion of anyone beyond your friends. You shouldn’t worry about prestige. Prestige is the opinion of the rest of the world. […] Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like. […] Prestige is just fossilized inspiration. If you do anything well enough, you’ll make it prestigious. Plenty of things we now consider prestigious were anything but at first. Jazz comes to mind—though almost any established art form would do. So just do what you like, and let prestige take care of itself. Prestige is especially dangerous to the ambitious. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, the way to do it is to bait the hook with prestige. That’s the recipe for getting people to give talks, write forewords, serve on committees, be department heads, and so on. It might be a good rule simply to avoid any prestigious task. If it didn’t suck, they wouldn’t have had to make it prestigious.

More of Graham’s wisdom on how to find meaning and make wealth can be found in Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age .

2. ALAIN DE BOTTON ON SUCCESS

In The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work , he takes his singular lens of wit and wisdom to the modern workplace and the ideological fallacies of “success.”

His terrific 2009 TED talk offers a taste:

One of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. A lot of the time our ideas about what it would mean to live successfully are not our own. They’re sucked in from other people. And we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing, etcetera. These are hugely powerful forces that define what we want and how we view ourselves. What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but that we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we’re truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough not getting what you want, but it’s even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted all along.

3. HUGH MACLEOD ON SETTING BOUNDARIES

16. The most important thing a creative per­son can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not. Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it. The more you need the money, the more people will tell you what to do. The less control you will have. The more bullshit you will have to swallow. The less joy it will bring. Know this and plan accordingly.

Later, MacLeod echoes Graham’s point about prestige above :

28. The best way to get approval is not to need it. This is equally true in art and business. And love. And sex. And just about everything else worth having.”

4. LEWIS HYDE ON WORK VS. LABOR

In this excerpt, originally featured here in January , Hyde articulates the essential difference between work and creative labor, understanding which takes us a little closer to the holy grail of vocational fulfillment:

Work is what we do by the hour. It begins and, if possible, we do it for money. Welding car bodies on an assembly line is work; washing dishes, computing taxes, walking the rounds in a psychiatric ward, picking asparagus — these are work. Labor, on the other hand, sets its own pace. We may get paid for it, but it’s harder to quantify… Writing a poem, raising a child, developing a new calculus, resolving a neurosis, invention in all forms — these are labors. Work is an intended activity that is accomplished through the will. A labor can be intended but only to the extent of doing the groundwork, or of not doing things that would clearly prevent the labor. Beyond that, labor has its own schedule. … There is no technology, no time-saving device that can alter the rhythms of creative labor. When the worth of labor is expressed in terms of exchange value, therefore, creativity is automatically devalued every time there is an advance in the technology of work.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a term for the quality that sets labor apart from work: flow — a kind of intense focus and crisp sense of clarity where you forget yourself, lose track of time, and feel like you’re part of something larger. If you’ve ever pulled an all-nighter for a pet project, or even spent 20 consecutive hours composing a love letter, you’ve experienced flow and you know creative labor.

5. STEVE JOBS ON NOT SETTLING

In his now-legendary 2005 Stanford commencement address , an absolute treasure in its entirety, Steve Jobs makes an eloquent case for not settling in the quest for finding your calling — a case that rests largely on his insistence upon the power of intuition :

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

6. ROBERT KRULWICH ON FRIENDS

Robert Krulwich , co-producer of WNYC’s fantastic Radiolab , author of the ever-illuminating Krulwich Wonders and winner of a Peabody Award for broadcast excellence , is one of the finest journalists working today. In another great commencement address , he articulates the infinitely important social aspect of loving what you do — a kind of social connectedness far more meaningful and genuine than those notions of prestige and peer validation.

You will build a body of work, but you will also build a body of affection, with the people you’ve helped who’ve helped you back. This is the era of Friends in Low Places. The ones you meet now, who will notice you, challenge you, work with you, and watch your back. Maybe they will be your strength. … If you can… fall in love, with the work, with people you work with, with your dreams and their dreams. Whatever it was that got you to this school, don’t let it go. Whatever kept you here, don’t let that go. Believe in your friends. Believe that what you and your friends have to say… that the way you’re saying it — is something new in the world.

7. THE HOLSTEE MANIFESTO

You might recall The Holstee Manifesto as one of our 5 favorite manifestos for the creative life , an eloquent and beautifully written love letter to the life of purpose. (So beloved is the manifesto around here that it has earned itself a permanent spot in the Brain Pickings sidebar, a daily reminder to both myself and you, dear reader, of what matters most.)

This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.

The Holstee Manifesto is now available as a beautiful letterpress print , a 5×7 greeting card printed on handmade paper derived from 50% elephant poo and 50% recycled paper, and even a baby bib — because it’s never too early to instill the values of living from passion.

— Published February 27, 2012 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/02/27/purpose-work-love/ —

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Discover Your Life Purpose and True Calling

by Elizabeth Hancock

As a coach I work with people that find themselves going through life transitions. Though change is constant, there are times in our lives where we experience more change than others and it’s during these often intense moments that we make life changing pivots and embark on a new adventure. 

These life transitions can occur at any age and can erupt at any time. When they do come, we often feel blindsided and a bit shaken up. We may question what our purpose is and what we are meant to do. We may question what our true calling is; if we even have one to begin with. 

All of these questions are a natural and normal response to change and invites us to take a look at our lives from a larger perspective.

Do we all in fact have a life purpose? Do we each have a “true” calling? If we did, how would we recognize it? Is there more than one calling in a lifetime?

I explore all these concepts and more in today’s video. Please join me in discovering your life purpose and true calling…  

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Jesus Asks Us: What Is Most Central in Your Life?

User’s Guide to Sunday, Sept. 22

Sunday, Sept. 22, is the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mass readings: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 ; Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6 and 8 ; James 3:16-4:3 ; Mark 9:30-37 .

In today’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus asks a crucial and probing question: “What is most central in your life?”  

The Gospel text opens: “ Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee.” This will be Jesus’ final journey through Galilee. He is heading south, unto his passion, death and resurrection. Our own lives are a kind of procession, as well. We, too, are making a journey through this life, our first and only journey. With every step we take, we move closer to death and, we pray, resurrection with the Lord.

The text then says: “He was teaching that the Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death, the Son of Man will rise .” Jesus is telling the disciples some of the very difficult things he will go through. Yet they are dealing with their own issues. They seem to draw back and become quiet. The text says that “ they were afraid to ask him any questions about this matter.” There seems to be a portrait here of Jesus in  pain and somewhat alone in that pain. 

At this moment, Jesus asks the crucial question, “What were you arguing about on the way?” It is as if to say, “What are you discussing as you make your journey in life? What are you passionate about? What piques your interest? What is going on in your mind all day long?”  The text says the disciples were debating about who was greatest. 

But what of us? It is both sad and embarrassing that so many of us who call ourselves disciples are so preoccupied with things that are futile, passing and of little importance. Even things that have some relative importance get an undue amount of our attention. Meanwhile, things that do matter, things that matter most to God, such as salvation, knowledge of him, preparation for death, judgment, repentance, love, justice, mercy, truth, goodness, decency, virtue, prayer, and frequent reception of the sacraments — all these things rank pitifully low in the lives of most people, even those who call themselves Christians and disciples. 

At the heart of the Lord’s crucial question is a diagnosis of our wrongful priorities and worldly thinking. 

The Lord turns everything on its end and says, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

We as a society tend to think of greatness in terms of how much money a person earns, how much authority he has, how much influence he has or where he lives. None of these things matters at all to God, who looks to the lowly, the poor, and especially those who serve and care for others. This teaching of the Lord’s is paradoxical from any worldly perspective. The greatest are those who serve, whether they are rich or poor; those who have others in mind, who seek not their own glory but seek the glory and will of God and goodness for others. This is greatness to God; everything else is foolishness to him.

So, what are you discussing as you make your way? It’s a crucial question. Is it what matters to God or what matters to the passing world? 

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Msgr. Charles Pope Msgr. Charles Pope is currently a dean and pastor in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, where he has served on the Priest Council, the College of Consultors, and the Priest Personnel Board. Along with publishing a daily blog at the Archdiocese of Washington website, he has written in pastoral journals, conducted numerous retreats for priests and lay faithful, and has also conducted weekly Bible studies in the U.S. Congress and the White House. He was named a Monsignor in 2005.

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