How to Find Your True Calling

17 Mar How to Find Your True Calling

You know how some people grow up just knowing what they want to do as a career? Like that kid in your fourth grade class who’s already decided he’s going to be a doctor. That’s not how it goes for most people.

Not for lack of trying, however. They usually know they’re destined to do something great—or just something different than what they’re doing right now—they just don’t know how to figure out exactly what it is.

I was in this boat for most of my life. Growing up, I didn’t gravitate obviously toward any particular interest or skill set. As a young child, I remember thinking I would become a teacher someday. I enjoyed school very much and excelled in most every area; you could say I was a bit of a brown-noser. That idea eventually faded, however, and it was pretty much crickets until high school when I decided that my love of reading and writing would make me a great journalist. But I swayed away from that path, also.

For many years, I felt like I was casually floating through life with no real purpose. I was never content with this though, as some people are. I’ve always felt that what I do for a living should feed my soul. It should make me want to leap out of bed in the morning, excited to make the most of each day. But none of the paths that I’d tried thus far in my career had delivered that. Nor had they been very creative, another element that I recently came to realize is essential to my fulfillment.

So how exactly did I land on career coaching? What convinced me that leaving the corporate world to pursue this dream, and help others achieve theirs, is what I’m meant to do? Well, it took work. A lot of it. Over the years I challenged myself, or was challenged by others, to work through many introspective questions and activities. As I only happened upon them along my journey by consuming resources or talking to other people who’d been in a similar situation, it took me a long time gain clarity about who I am and what type of work spoke to me.

But I’m hoping to make that process more efficient for you by collecting the questions and activities I encountered into the list below. I hope they’ll help you discover your calling—or callings, because you’ll likely have many throughout your life—so you can move forward with an unconventional career that you feel conviction about.

1. What did you enjoy doing as a child?

I already mentioned what my interests were when I was young, but the reason it’s important to pay attention to these things is because there are certain characteristics of who we are that are determined at birth. And when we’re young, with no inhibitions and unlimited creativity, we can demonstrate some true talents. Ask a parent or childhood friend to remind you of the things you loved doing as a child, and any mementos or keepsakes from those years.

2. What do you spend your spare time doing? What are your hobbies?

Once we reach adulthood, time becomes a seriously hot commodity. But if there are certain things that we always make room in our schedules for, no matter how busy we are, that demonstrates their importance to us. Don’t overlook these interests. They may seem casual to you, but you never know how they could apply to a career path or as the product or service of a business.

For me, these hobbies were always reading and writing. From a young age up to now I have always carved out time each day to enjoy a few pages of a book and write in a journal before bed. Who knew that journaling in a notebook would one day evolve into developing coaching programs and resources to help others with their careers? You just can’t know the boundaries of a passion until you push them to see how far they’ll go.

3. What are the things you can’t shut up about?

Or, put another way, what are the things that you light up about when you speak? Is there something you’re so passionate about that you jump on any opportunity to engage in conversation about it? Maybe you’re known amongst your friends and family for your knowledge on a certain topic.

If you’re the type of person who knows a lot about a lot of things and can carry full conversations about pretty much anything, here’s how to know the difference between just any topic and those that may indicate your calling: they give you an adrenaline rush. Your heart starts pounding, maybe your hands and legs get a big tingly, and thoughts you didn’t even know you had start pouring out of you. You’ll likely also notice yourself smiling during these discussions, and those around you will gather a bit closer to feel your energy.

4. Take a personality test (or several)

Personality tests are a quick and easy way to discover more about yourself. The key is to answer the questions honestly, selecting the options that are truly reflective of who you are. If you choose answers that you think are right or believe will get you a result you desire, it will not be an accurate representation.

Perhaps you’ll be surprised by what you learn, or maybe the results will further reinforce things you already knew about yourself. Either way, the results should be informative and help you further narrow your potential career focus. Personally, I like to take several tests to see if the results are similar across the board. If certain traits are consistent among several tests that’s a good indication they’re very dominant parts of your personality.

5. Do the books, podcasts, videos, etc. that you consume share a common theme?

There is an overwhelming amount of content available to us these days, and yet somehow we manage to sift through it all and find things that are particularly interesting to us. I think that, in itself, speak volumes. Perhaps not everything someone clicks on or picks up is something they’re passionate about, maybe it just has an intriguing title, but that’s why I encourage you to keep track of it all.

The reason? Because patterns or themes can only be identified when there’s plenty of data to analyze and connect. I started doing this a couples of years ago. In a notebook I keep with me every day, I write down the title or every book, article, podcast or video I consume. What I’ve noticed is that I have deep interests in happiness, well-being and personal development. And this information helped me leave my desk job to seek out work that incorporated them.

6. Ask people to describe you

For some, this may be the most intimidating task on the list, since it involves a degree of vulnerability. I recommend asking at least five people who are close to you, including a mix of family, friends, co-workers, and your significant other (if you have one). The reason asking a variety of people is ideal is because they know you in different capacities. For instance, your friends will often see a different side of you than, say, your parents. As with the previous activity of recording the content you consume, this exercise is intended to help you identify areas of overlap.

7. If there were no obstacles, what would you want to be doing?

A few years ago I attended a workshop centred around finding or creating work that you love. One of the questions in the package we worked through was “What kind of job would you love to do if there were no obstacles stopping you?” Those obstacles being things like time, money, skills, and education. In all honesty, up to that point I hadn’t allowed myself to dream of a career beyond such things. What I’d been doing was looking at the obstacles and choosing my paths based on them. It’s no wonder none of them worked out.

Had I truly asked myself that question several years ago, I’m quite certain that my answer would have guided me toward an entirely different career. One in which I was allowed to exercise my creativity through writing and helping others. Your answers may not point to an entirely “normal” job, one that has a clearly defined training and job description. Unconventional careers rarely follow this structure, so you’ll likely have to carve your own path in one way or another. And personally, I think that’s the best part!

That’s not all…

These are by no means the only ways to work toward discovering your calling, however. In one of my favourite books called The Crossroads of Should and Must, for instance, author Elle Luna dedicates several pages to different ways to uncover your ‘Must,’ like paying attention to what you do when you’re procrastinating or and acquiring a new skill each month to learn what you enjoy.

While this is by no means a comprehensive list of ways you can tap into your calling, it’s certainly a good place to start the journey of exploring what makes you come alive.

And remember that, where there’s a will there’s a way. Not every pursuit can be easily connected to a pre-existing path, but that doesn’t mean it’s not viable. If it’s something you are soul-bursting passionate about and 150% committed to, there’s a way to make it work. You just have to allow yourself to live and think outside the box. And isn’t that just what unconventional peeps like you and I are known for?