5 Practical Steps To Uncovering Your Calling
We’ve all met them. One of those people that has no problem waking up on Monday morning because they love their job so much they get to bed extra early on Sunday night.
If you’re anything like me before I started in recruitment and career coaching, the second you hear someone utter the words ‘I love my job’ your eyes roll straight to the back of your head. With immense amount of cynicism and doubt you respond ‘Oh wow that’s great, wanna swap places ha ha?’
It’s hard for us to imagine a world where we spring out of bed, excited to get to work as soon as possible. A big reason for this is that for a lot of us, that scenario is nothing more than a pipedream. A 2019 study found that a shocking 85% of the working population doesn’t feel engaged at work.
But I’m here with some news and you better believe it’s the good kind.
You have every opportunity to be one of those ‘Spring Out of Bed On Monday’ people. And turning into one of them is easier than you might think.
1. Step One: Audit What You Click On
The best thing about finding your passion is that it is not actually trying to hide from you. Take an active look at the articles you read, podcasts you listen to, blogs which keep you scrolling, and topics which keep you ranting.
The content you engage with without needing a specific reason or purpose is a great clue in your journey to discovering where your true passions lie. Don’t mistake this activity for things which keep you procrastinating (we’ve all been down a YouTube rabbit hole about a topic you’ve never heard about). Instead, stay mindful of the topics and content areas which energise you or you find yourself bringing up to friends or family without effort.
Once you start to get a good idea of the types of things that magically draw your attention, dig a little deeper into what roles or industries involve them on the day to day.
2. Step Two: Write Your Own Book Blurb
When we’re stuck in the hum drum of daily living, it can be easy for the bigger picture to get a little cloudy.
An easy, fun activity to do to snap your future into clearer focus is spending 15-20 minutes writing the blurb you would imagine appears on your own autobiography.
Imagine you’ve lived the next 20/30/40 years building exactly the kind of career that has you lose track of time because you’re so engaged. Write a 300(ish) word blurb looking back at all of your achievements, dreaming as big as you can. Include multi-million dollar businesses, best-selling books, lives touched, and anything else you feel you’d be able to do if the sky was the limit and you were living your passion.
Being able to see a succinct, no holds barred version of what your career ‘could’ look like, is a practical way to start believing what it ‘will’ look like.
3. Ask Friends & Family
The people that know us better than we know ourselves are an incredible resource when discovering our passion and calling.
Once you’ve audited what you spend your time on without being forced to, and where you see yourself at the end of your career, reach out to your closest circle or network for some objective feedback.
Asking family and friends what they always thought you’d end up doing can be illuminating (and sometimes hilarious). Whether they totally miss the mark or end up hitting the nail on the head, these conversations are another step in opening your eyes to what is possible.
4. Step Three: Live A Week on a Student Budget
One of the most common reasons I hear for not making a leap of faith towards pivoting or re-building a career is related to money. There is an immense amount of fear about losing income, stability, and financial freedom.
Of course these are normal things to worry about. However, a few questions need to be asked.
If you did make a crazy leap towards following your passion, gave it everything you had for 12 months and it didn’t work out, what would stop you from getting a position similar to the one you have now?
How ‘free’ do you feel doing a job you don’t like purely for a paycheck?
After living in a year like COVID, how ‘stable’ do you think any of our jobs ever truly are?
A practical way to soothe your money worries when thinking about where your passion may lie is setting yourself a student budget for a week. Set money aside for the absolute bare essentials (rent, electricity, phone, and whatever you’d get into major trouble for not paying) and test your budgeting skills to see what kind of income you could really live on. More often than not, you realise that what you need isn’t as much as you think, and making a commitment to a few months of 2 for 1 deals is a small price to pay for pursuing your dream career.
5. Step Four: Set Calendar Dates
I’m a big believer of ‘less talking more doing’.
You could talk and ideate and dream and plan and discuss for years without ever seeing the rubber hit the road. So, take out your phone/tablet/laptop/desk calendar and start putting some things in.
Schedule in dates for a savings goal, a resignation or transition to part-time date, a website launch, a friends and family event where you tell people your idea.
Of course, as you get to each date your timelines may change, but the physical reminder of where you had wanted to be or the goals you had set for yourself are powerful motivators to keep on track and avoid getting complacent.
