What is my calling?

Finding answers to the question of one’s own calling and then implementing them is a key step on the path to greater satisfaction. Many people work primarily to earn money and survive. However, for many who long for professional fulfillment, this is not enough.

Steps on the path to your calling!

For people who do not yet know their calling, we recommend first decoupling this question from earning money and from their current life situation. This is important because if the framework conditions are too narrow, it is virtually impossible to penetrate to one’s own heart’s desires.

This means that we first ask what truly brings people fun and joy. At this point, it is not yet about how these wishes can be implemented professionally, but about discovering where hidden longings lie. For people who feel they are living past their calling, these are often hidden quite deeply. However, it is essential to penetrate to that level.

Exercise: Your 3 greatest wishes

You can begin with the following exercise. Take something to write with and a few minutes of your time. Note down your 3 greatest wishes, regardless of whether they are realistic. At this point, it is also not important whether the wishes are of a private or professional nature. Ideally, take only a short amount of time and note down the impulses that come as spontaneously as possible in bullet points. If you find this exercise difficult, you are welcome to ask a friend to help you.

Vetting the wishes

Check your wishes to see if they are actually your own concerns. Some people tend to write down wishes for others as their own. An example would be wishing for someone else’s health to be restored. This is, of course, not a bad thing, but in such a case, it would be good to recognize your own underlying wish—for example, to be free from worry.

Priorities

Try to find out which of the wishes is most important to you. Perhaps the following scenario will help: You are visited by a wizard. He is willing to grant you one of your wishes, but only one.

Once you have found the wish, it is ideal if you formulate it in the form of an affirmation, a positive belief.

What must I do for the wish to be fulfilled?

Then the work is done for the moment. Of course, there are various tools to help you give weight to your concern. But the process of becoming aware described here triggers a great deal in itself.

False wishes?

Sometimes it happens that you recognize wishes and then implement them, only to find that they do not bring you long-term fulfillment. That does not matter. Some things must be tried in order to gain the experience that they do not really lead anywhere, even if you believed they would beforehand.

Example of a “false” wish

Imagine that in the course of your search for your calling, you come to the conviction that you have always wanted to go sailing. So, you don’t hold back, attend various sailing courses, and get a boat license. Soon you dive into your first charter experience and take your first trip with a crew. But then your inspiration leaves you, and your enthusiasm and motivation for sailing fade (the process described here would likely take longer in practice than suggested here, possibly spanning several years).

After such an experience, do not be frustrated, but start the process again. With some experiences, it is simply important that you have them, even if it turns out in the end that they were only an intermediate step. You can assume that other concerns will now come to light, waiting to be tackled. And so, you gradually get closer to your calling.