2 Golden Ideas to Help You Find a Career as a Spiritual Person
Carving out a career that is uniquely you is tough, but these ideas make it less tough
The Big Problem
If you’re reading this I am going to assume that you are in tune with some form of higher purpose or spirituality, and that you want to use your life to help make the world a better place in some way.
But people like you and me are faced with a major problem: How do we make money doing something that we enjoy while also working towards the betterment of humanity?
I don’t possess a clear cut answer to this question, and I have not fully figured out this problem myself, but I do have a couple resources and guidelines I can share that may be helpful as you try figure out your own answer to this question.
Inner Purpose vs Outer Purpose
A simple idea that gave me immense clarity on the path for carving out a career for myself came from Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. In this book, he made a distinction between our “inner purpose” and “outer purpose”.
Our inner purpose refers to our own spiritual growth. To work on our inner purpose is to expand our consciousness, take on holier perspectives, heal our traumas, become more loving, live less in ego, and move closer towards enlightenment. This is our main purpose, this is the striving we must never lose touch with, for the impact we have on the world will directly reflect the amount of work we have done on our inner purpose.
Our outer purpose is simply the job/career we have that we channel the work from our inner purpose into. This outer purpose will likely be something you already have a deep passion or natural talent for.
The Golden Venn Diagram
This venn diagram was created by a friend of mine, and I was struck by how clear and cohesive it was. The three main principles of the diagram; Freedom, Purpose and impact, and Presence and Bliss could not have better summarized all that I am looking for in my life purpose.
First and foremost, freedom, in both the sense of being financially free and having plenty of time on our hands to do what we love most, is something we all desire. Next, when it comes to our purpose and impact, we want whatever we do to have a benefit the collective in some way. And lastly, we want to do something that genuinely brings us joy, something that thrusts us into flow state and forces us to be present.
If you tie all of this together and carve out an occupation that checks all these boxes, you come away with a career that gives you freedom, both financially and in terms of time, is in alignment with the inner purpose work you have been doing, is something you find enjoyable and may in itself be a spiritual practice for you, and benefits the world at large in some way.
Obviously, actualizing these ideals is much easier said than done. We live in a society today where it can be extremely difficult to find fulfilling work that pays well. If you take this diagram seriously, you will have to work pretty damn hard in order to place yourself in a career that checks all the boxes. You will likely have to get creative. Allow these concepts to be ideals to strive for.
For me, I love telling stories that open people up to new perspectives, inspire, and blow minds through the mediums of writing and filmmaking. I also have recently found enjoyment in working with people 1-on-1 to help them deal with a specific problem or reach a certain goal in life. Given these passions, I am currently in the process of building a business that centers around creating spiritual and personal development content online, while also coaching people on the side.
And although my current outer purpose required me to be very creative and combine my passions together, I also could have envisioned myself channeling my inner purpose work into a more “simple” career such as a teacher, professor, or therapist.
The possibilities are endless, and it is you and only you that can discover your outer purpose. Follow your interests and passions. Be prepared to undergo a series of trials and errors. Be creative. Work hard. Work smart. Do not give up. And most importantly, do not lose touch with your inner purpose!
