Have you found your true calling in life yet?
Still haven’t found your true calling in life?
Here are 15 strategies to get you on the right path if you are still searching for personal and career fulfillment.
When you’re just starting out in a career of any sort, it’s not unusual to—at times—feel worried or uncertain about your current path. How do you know if you are making the right decision about where you’re committing your valuable time and energy in the workforce? Are you genuinely happy—at least for right now?
Being honest with yourself (and others) about your end goals is something to be proud of, and it’s also a step in the right direction. Sometimes it’s beneficial to experiment with different opportunities—even ones that turn out to be the wrong fit.
To offer some further guidance, 15 Fast Company Executive Board members share additional ideas for finding clarity as you begin to figure out where you want to see yourself five, 10, or even 20 years from now. In the meantime, proactively devote your best self to whatever it is you are currently doing now, while you’re searching. You never know what your diligence in the task at hand may lead to down the road.
1. FOCUS ON STRENGTHS
Simply know your strengths, lean into them, and don’t try to be good at everything. By focusing on what you’re good at, you become stronger at what makes you unique, allowing your passion and life calling to emerge. You do not need to be good at everything or make things harder to feel accomplished. When things feel easy and flow, you are tapping into your true calling. – Taja Dockendorf, Pulp+Wire
2. SEEK GUIDANCE FROM MENTORS
Look for inspiration and role models who embody the qualities that resonate with you. Engage with mentors or seek guidance from individuals who provide valuable perspectives that you respect. – Britton Bloch, Navy Federal
3. ENGAGE WITH OTHERS WHO HAVE A SIMILAR INTEREST
Find one person (or more!) who is as excited about what you love doing and do it together. You’ll accomplish more in less time working as a team and you’ll find the shared energy electrifying. – Felix Lin, Arta Finance
4. LISTEN TO THE PASSIONS, HEART, MIND, AND AREAS OF INTERSECTION
I learned the following from a revered professor, and his words still resonate with me: Tell me what you pay attention to and I’ll tell you who you are. Now, I ask, What do you love and enjoy doing? The notion of a true calling is a journey, and there is no one true path to it. Follow your passions, heart, mind, and those areas of intersection to dial in on and create your evolving calling. – Karl Giuseffi, Talent Plus Inc
5. PRACTICE THE ‘BRAINWRITING’ METHOD
With so much conditioning or “shoulds” put upon us, uncovering our calling can feel elusive. So ask yourself: Where have I felt deeply connected to my true calling? Commit to answering this same question for 20 minutes a day for 30 days. This “brainwriting” method will help you to peel back the layers, get under the stories, and uncover themes. After a month, reread your answers and you’ll begin to notice the pattern of themes! – Camille Preston, AIM Leadership, LLC
6. TAKE A SABBATICAL OR SPEND A WEEKEND TO ASSESS END GOALS
You need time to do self-reflection to assess your mission and desired end goals in life. However, you also need to factor in your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to those plans. You can’t do it when you are fighting fires at work or busy with something else. If you can’t take a sabbatical, maybe just use your weekends or free time to think things through. – Zain Jaffer, Zain Ventures
7. FORGE A PATH THAT FULFILLS MULTIPLE PASSIONS
Within us, numerous callings resonate, each with varying degrees of intensity, some often equal to others. Our industrial society fixates on the notion of a single “true calling,” yet the happiest, most accomplished individuals I’ve encountered embrace their diverse callings. They forge paths that fulfill multiple passions, unlocking unparalleled personal happiness and success. – Joseph Santana, Joseph Santana LLC
8. BE HONEST AND PROUD OF WHAT YOU REALLY WANT
When you think about your true calling, make sure you’re not unconsciously asking for permission from others to follow what’s important to you. Oftentimes, we know what we want, but we’re scared to admit what that is because it immediately changes the status quo and makes everyone uncomfortable. If you can realize this and be honest and proud of what you want, you’ll find your true calling. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
9. REFLECT ON PROBLEMS TO SOLVE AND PEOPLE TO HELP
We have to set aside the space and time to tap into our true calling in life. We can’t be patient, passive recipients of it. It doesn’t come to us. It’s within us, and discovering it requires intentional effort. Reflecting on the problems I care about solving and the people I am passionate about helping helped me uncover my purpose. Doing so, regularly, deepens my clarity and commitment to it. – Ross Overline, Scholars of Finance
10. IMPLEMENT THE HEDGEHOG CONCEPT
I use the Hedgehog Concept from the book Good to Great by Jim Collins as a framework. Define the following: 1. What am I deeply passionate about? 2. What drives my economic engine—why do companies hire me? and 3. What can I be best in the world at? Look at the Venn diagram between those three, and you’ll have a lens for your calling and how to evaluate opportunities and activities in your life. – David Fossas, Restore
11. OFFER TO SERVE OTHERS
Being of service to others has helped me tap into my true calling. After having two near-death experiences, I’ve realized that life is short and the experience that I’ve accumulated over my years should be used to add value to others rather than kept private. Joy and fulfillment can only be realized by bringing out those emotions in others and not through self. – Ryan Crownholm, Crown Capital Adventures Inc.
12. ALIGN PASSION WITH SKILLS AND VALUES
Finding your true calling in life can be challenging but essential for leading a fulfilling and purposeful life. One way to tap into your true calling is by identifying your passions and aligning them with your skills and values. Doing so can create a roadmap to guide you toward a career or lifestyle that brings you joy and fulfillment. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
13. OPEN UP TO NEW EXPERIENCES—EVEN ONES THAT MAY NOT PAN OUT
Sometimes it takes trial and error, and that’s okay. Personally, I didn’t know I was going to love a singular path and feel truly called to it until I tried and failed with multiple ventures. Being open to new experiences, even ones that may not pan out, is a great way to find your calling. – Ryan Carroll, Wealth Assistants
14. POUR INTO WHAT YOU ARE ALREADY WORKING ON
Stop overthinking it. Rather than chase a perfect job or a true calling, bring love and passion to whatever you are working on right now—not “if only” or when “that job” comes or any external thing happens. Pour into where you are now. From there, incredible things tend to emerge. – Liza Streiff, Knopman Marks Financial Training
15. WORK BACKWARD TO ACHIEVE YOUR END GOALS
Define your end goals first. Then work backward on how to achieve said goals. You’d be hard-pressed to find an entrepreneur who is passionate about running a plumbing business, but they may be fulfilling their end goal of financial freedom and home ownership by way of having a solid company that solves a problem in their community. – Matthew Gallagher, Watch Gang
