“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” -James A. Michener
Seventy percent of white collar workers are unhappy with their jobs, but they continue to spend more and more time in the office. This startling pronouncement is made by career coach Dan Miller in his book “48 Days To The Work You Love”
- A job is a chore done so you can pay your bills.
- A career is motivated by money, prestige, and advancement.
- A calling is work done as an end in and of itself.
Miller explains that the word “vocation” comes from the Latin vocare which means “to call”. It suggests that you’re listening to something that is calling out to you. Vocation, then, is not something that comes from wilfulness, but from listening.
This is the same sentiment expressed by Randy Komisar, the Silicon Valley “Virtual CEO” whom I wrote about in my blog post “Zen Capitalism – Randy Komisar”. He says the following: “Passion pulls you toward something you cannot resist. Drive pushes you toward something you feel compelled or obligated to do.”
So then, ask yourself: Is the work you’re currently performing your life’s passion? Or is it just a paycheck or status symbol? Do you look forward to getting started with your work each morning? Or do you feel that you’re postponing your happiness until you get that big promotion you have your eye on?
In another one of his books, “No More Dreaded Mondays: Ignite Your Passion”
- Are you where you thought you’d be at this stage of your life?
- Have you ever had a sense of calling?
- How did you hear that calling?
- Is your work a fulfillment of that calling?
- Do you go home at night with a sense of meaning, purpose and accomplishment?
- If nothing changed in your life over the next 5 years, would that be okay?
- If you want different results next year, what are you willing to change about what you’re doing right now?
If you’ve concluded from what is written above that you currently have either a job or a career, here’s what you can do in order to discover your life’s vocation or passion:
Conduct Lots of Experiments
One of the best ways to discover what you love to do–and what gives you a true sense of meaning and satisfaction– is to get out there and try new things. Here are three people who advocate this approach:
Scott H. Young
Scott H. Young, from the blog “Get More From Life”, argues in his blog post titled “How to Discover What You’re Passionate About” that the best approach to finding your passion is to try a lot of different things to see what you enjoy. He says the following:
“Dabbling is key to the art of finding what drives you. Dabbling means committing to something for 3-6 months. This amount of time isn’t enough to become really good at anything. But it is enough time to get over the sharp learning curve in the beginning.”
Once you get over the initial learning curve–that is, the frustrating period at the beginning during which you’re just getting your bearings–you can decide whether or not this new activity is something you truly enjoy.
Scott advises that if there aren’t any activities in your life right now that you feel passionate about, then you should create a list of activities outside of your comfort zone which you can practice for a few hours each week. Commit to these activities for at least three months. He adds that, if you dabble in several things, you’ll be creating a broader base to work from in order to determine where your true passion lies.
Allan Bacon
A similar approach is suggested by Allan Bacon, the winner of Chris Guillebeau’s “Unconventional Writing Contest”. Bacon explains in his article “Moving to Paris Without Quitting My Day job: A Lesson in Becoming a Nonconformist” that most people take the wrong approach when trying to determine their life’s passion: they use tests and coaching to look back at their history in order to find the next job that would make them happier.
He argues that this is the equivalent of trying to decide if you like mango ice cream by analyzing your past food choices. Of course, that makes very little sense. If you want to know if you like mango ice cream, you should taste it. This realization led him to conclude that what he needed to do was to “taste” different areas which might bring him more satisfaction. That is, he needed to conduct life experiments. Here’s a quote from Bacon’s article:
“So I started doing Life Experiments by working them into the cracks and crevices of my busy schedule outside of work: visiting art galleries on a lunch break, taking photos on the weekend, exploring Tokyo paper shops between sales calls on a business trip. My guiding principle was to find the fastest, cheapest way to take action and try the essence of all the interests and job ideas I had.”
Randy Komisar
Let’s refer to Randy Komisar and the previous post I wrote about him once again. Randy–who holds a BA in Economics from Brown University and a JD from Harvard Law School–explains that he got to a point in his life where he had no idea what he wanted to do. Therefore, he began pursuing different opportunities until it became clear to him that those opportunities weren’t going to give him the fulfillment or satisfaction that he wanted.
He would then try to find, pursue, or create new opportunities for himself that would lead to a fulfilling life. By following that approach he found his life’s passion: today, he loves his life as a Virtual CEO. Incidentally, he also teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford and is the author of the bestseller “The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living”
Conclusion
If there’s already something in your life that you feel passionate about–such as knitting, comic books, video games, and so on–but you’ve never seriously considered that you could make a living from it, then you need to take a look at my post “Freedom, Nonconformity, and Unconventional Living“.
However, if you just don’t know what you’re passionate about, then follow Scott’s, Bacon’s, and Randy’s lead: start experimenting with different activities in order to discover your life’s passion. You can start out by doing some of the following:
- Seek out new experiences and activities.
- Take a class at a local college or attend seminars and lectures.
- Apply for a part-time job.
- Try a new hobby.
- Help a friend with work.
If there are things you think you might truly enjoy but you have previously denied yourself the opportunity to try them out, find ways to test your suspicions. Go out and get yourself a spoonful of mango ice cream.
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photo credit: scaredy_kat
Related Posts:
- Your Anti-Career Guide – A Holistic Approach to Discovering Your Life’s Works
- How to Leverage the Power of Focus
- How to Enter the “Flow State”
- Have You Thought of Taking a Sabbatical?
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My ebook “How to Be More Creative – A Handbook for Alchemists” explains that creativity is not the sole domain of the arts but is important in any field. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better. Discover practical advice on how to be more creative in every life endeavor by reading my ebook.
The Sedona Method is a simple, powerful, easy-to-learn technique that shows you how to let go of any negative, unwanted or painful feelings you may be experiencing at any particular moment. It consists of a series of questions you ask yourself that lead your awareness to focus on what you’re feeling in the moment and gently guide you toward letting it go. Read my review of the Sedona Method here.
