I recently heard something I thought was quite profound but also simple. It was about how to discover your true calling in life.
We have all heard the mantra of ‘do what you love.’ Most realize that this alone is inadequate in charting our way through life.
There is also the availability of work people look at when making career decisions. However, if this is all we care about, that is pretty shallow.
Others advocate following your skills, reasoning that the work will be there if you are competent and that you tend to grow to enjoy what you excel in.
An interview I watched a while back suggested to do all three. Ask yourself these questions:
- What do I love?
- What am I good at?
- What does the world need?
The intersection of the answers to these three questions is where your calling lies.
So, if you are just starting out in life, I hope you give these questions some serious thought. If you already have a career, perhaps ask yourself if it includes all of these components. Remember, it is never too late to follow your calling.
Believe in yourself. Live in the present. Enjoy life.
Would be curious to know your answers to those 3 questions.
Obviously, I could converse about this for an entire evening. But in brief, here are my answers.
1. What do I love? Music, philosophy, theology, health, and consciousness
2. What am I good at? Accompanying/Sight reading, diagnosing problems, finding root causes and motivations, explaining concepts to logical minds, being fairly unbiased (obviously this last one could be objected to, but I really believe I am willing to change and challenge anything I believe, though I do hold strongly to some things as the most plausible and favorable positions)
3. What does the world need? The world needs a lot of things. But what I personally see the world needing is people to be voices of reason and understanding, with a desire to bridge gaps instead of make false dichotomies (e.g. creation vs. evolution, conventional medicine vs. alternative medicine, liberal vs. conservative). The world needs people who can connect the West to the East, combine science and logic with experience and spirituality.