A Step By Step Guide To Finding Your Calling

Contributed Post, April 19, 2018

Finding your calling seems like a huge deal. It is a huge deal, really. Finding something you do every day that lights you up, makes you feel amazing, and gives your life a meaning and a purpose. A meaning and a purpose is one thing that is missing from lots of people’s lives these days. People may not be unhappy in their jobs, but that doesn’t mean that something isn’t missing. If you want to make the most of this life (we only get one, FYI) then it can be a good idea to start working on finding your calling ASAP. It’s going to take work, and it’s going to take time, but it’ll be one of the most worthwhile things you ever do for yourself.

Read on for the steps you can take to find your very own calling!

Consider Things You’ve Always Thought About But Never Pursued

You’ve probably had ideas of various roles and careers enter your head, but you’ve never pursued them. Maybe they are just fleeting thoughts and images – it doesn’t matter. Start considering them seriously. Research them. Figure out what it would take to get to where you want to be with them. Would you need to go back into education? Would you need to start from the very beginning? Would you need to handle a lot of rejection and spend a lot of money? Whatever it is, finding your calling is worth all of these things and more. Write a list of things you’ve thought about in the past. Then, do your research on them and get a good idea of the pros and cons that you could face if you actually ended up in a similar role.

Write Down Your Values, Skills, And Talents

Make sure you own your skills and talents, and have a good idea of your values, too. In your true calling, you’ll be able to combine the majority of these things for the ultimate job satisfaction. Know what truly matters to you and what you want to contribute to the world. Own the things you’re good at and figure out how you can use them in your ideal career.

Consider The Things That Make You Happy

It’s so important that our calling makes us happy. What’s the point in life if we’re not making ourselves happy? We weren’t put on the earth to pay bills and die! Notice what sets your soul on fire and pursue it. What lifts you up? What could you talk about for a long time without getting bored? What can you lose track of time in? These things are all important, and they can give you clues to what you’re supposed to be doing.

Write Down Things You’ve Liked In Each Job You’ve Held

If you’ve held numerous jobs, write down things you’ve liked in each job you’ve held. You can also write down things you really didn’t like so you can avoid them. You can then come up with career ideas that include the good and as little of the bad as possible. However, it’s important to remember that with most things, you’ll need to accept at least a little bad. It’s all about knowing what kind of bad you’re willing to deal with to have the job of your dreams.

Explore Courses And Workshops

You don’t have to leave your current job right away in pursuit of your dream. You can explore courses and workshops to give you a better idea of what’s right for you and what you’re going to enjoy. You could do online courses, one day workshops, and even night time courses to help you come up with answers.

Meditate

Meditation is a great tool for organizing the mind, reducing stress, improving happiness, and gaining more clarity on things you may be experiencing in your life. It might sound strange, but it could help you to come up with more ideas and gain clarity on things you’ve already considered. Download an app or use a YouTube guided meditation to help you.

What Would You Do For Free?

It’s a tough question, but consider what you’d do for free if money wasn’t an object – if it didn’t exist. Is there something you wouldn’t mind giving up your time for? Think about it seriously and you might just come up with an answer that you need to pursue. However, it’s important to remember that your calling might not even be work related. You can definitely find work that helps you to achieve your calling, but you may need to work on your calling outside of work, too. For example, your calling might be to help people become the best version of themselves. There are lots of jobs that can incorporate this, but you’ll be doing it in your own time, too.

What Sort Of Lifestyle Is Your Dream?

Consider the kind of lifestyle you’d love to have. Do you want to work with people all day? Perhaps you want to work with animals? Maybe since you were a little girl you’ve wanted to wear womens scrubs. Think of where you’d love to be in a year or two and how you’d like to be living your life and take action that aligns with that.

Follow The Breadcrumbs

You can’t take one giant leap. You’re not going to find your calling fast or easily. You simply need to listen to your gut, follow the breadcrumbs, and trust that you’re going to end up where you want to be at the right time.

Create Your Own Opportunities

If there’s not a job out there that’s right for you? Create your own. All kinds of people are creating their own opportunities these days thanks to the internet. Starting your own business could be the key to your success, and anybody can teach themselves to do this with resources like YouTube.

Start Exploring

Start exploring as soon as you can. You can do this a number of ways; you can look at informational interviews, and find ways to get experiences. You could shadow someone, volunteer for free, get an internship, take classes (you may even be able to find some free classes), freelance on the side, or come up with another idea. There are tons of ways to explore and experiment that will help you to figure out what your heart really wants to be doing.

It’s good to get good at failing small and failing fast. The more you do it, the more helpful it is for you. If you do this enough, one of your experiments will click into place, however long it takes. You’ll start to feel excited and you’ll find your calling.

The Process

Finding your calling is by no means an easy process. It can be hard to know what your powers, passion, and purpose are. You’ll have many ideas and you won’t know which of them to explore a lot of the time. It takes longer than you think it will to do, too. You might begin to feel stuck, like this is all a waste of time, or you’re not really getting anywhere.

The important thing to remember is that your calling will trigger fears and highlight patterns, as it also usually has something to teach us. It helps us to grow and takes us right out of our comfort zones. You need to remember this and try to feel good about it when you start to feel frightened!

Having A Great Support System

Having a great support system in place will really help you when you’re on the hunt for your calling. Your family and friends are invaluable during this time. You get community encouragement and guidance, but it’s also important to practice patience and self compassion. Be kind to yourself. Celebrate wins, even small wins. But a positive spin on everything, because everything is a lesson. As long as you’re doing your best, you have nothing to feel down about.

Finding A Mentor

If you’re struggling on your own, finding a mentor is something that the most successful people tend to do. A great mentor can look at things objectively and help you to see where you could be going wrong and where you could improve. Make sure they have great reviews and that they have experience in what you’re trying to do, as different mentors specialize in different things. You should also get on well with your mentor if you plan on working with them for a long time. Some offer one off sessions, but you may want to work with them consistently until you get to where you want to be.

Are you ready to find your calling? Hopefully, this guide has given you some useful actionable steps. Don’t wait any longer. Start now and you could find your calling before you know it. Just make sure you’re having fun during the process. It shouldn’t be a chore! Leave any of your tips and thoughts below. Come back soon!