A Job, a Career, or a Calling: How To Tell the Difference

In their book Creative Confidence, the Kelley brothers (founders of IDEO and design thinking innovators) note that people generally have one of three distinct attitudes towards their work. They tend to view work as:

A job,

A career,

Or a calling.

If you view your work as a job, you’re working merely for financial sustenance. You’re living for the weekends or your hobbies. It’s a necessary evil, a way to pay the bills and maintain yourself, your family, or your lifestyle. But you’re not truly engaged.

If you view your work as a career, you’re focused on promotions and getting ahead. You care about your title, getting that corner office, and moving up the salary ranks. You’re more interested in achievements than pursuing deeper meaning. You experience and work towards growth, but in mostly superficial terms.

If you view your work as a calling, your work is “intrinsically rewarding in its own right — not just a means to an end.” When work is a calling, it fulfills you both professionally and personally, and often makes you feel as though you are contributing to a larger purpose or are part of a larger community.

Yet, perhaps the most interesting part of this argument, is that it’s not your role itself that affects which work attitude you feel applies to you. If you see meaning and value in what you do, then it is absolutely a calling, even if someone else may look at it as merely a job.

The Kelley brothers relay the experience of flight attendant, Yumi Yumiko. What some may view as just a job, she viewed as a way to positively impact the lives of others, something she derived true value and meaning from, and something that motivated her to hit the pavement day in and day out, despite all of the challenges, setbacks, and exhaustion.

In the words of the Kelley brothers, “what matters most about your career or position is not the value that others put on it. It’s how you view your job. It’s about your dream, your passion. Your calling.”

Why does this matter?

Before answering that question — I’d like to take the time to note that none of these attitudes towards work are wrong. Maybe some people prefer to compartmentalize work from other areas in their lives. Maybe people derive more value from their hobbies and families than from their day to day work. Or maybe financial obligations or dependents prevent people from actively pursuing a more fulfilling work life.

And that’s 100% okay!

However, in my view, when we spend the majority of our lives working, why are we just expected to be miserable and disengaged? Why is it “normal” to view work as a necessary evil, a chore to be done so we can go about the rest of our lives?

Back to the original question….

How we view work — either as a job, a career, or a calling — matters because it’s all about your perspective.

One of the greatest challenges we face when navigating our careers is dealing with external pressures — namely familial and societal expectations.

We want to make our families proud. We want society to view our work as valuable. We want to prove that we’re good enough, smart enough, accomplished enough to have a “real” job. We want to please others and believe that in doing so we’ll find our own sense of joy.

And yet, it is exactly these external expectations that prevent us from pursuing our calling, whatever that may be. We’re focused on how others view our work instead of working towards something that we view as truly valuable and worthwhile.

It’s for this reason that my former job at Remote Year, I talked to people every single day that followed all the rules — they went to school, found a good job, settled down, etc. — and yet still feel like something is missing in their careers and in their lives.

That something is missing because they never gave themselves the freedom to explore their true talents and strengths. They never allowed themselves to entertain ideas outside the norm.

And if you’re looking for meaning or fulfillment in your career, this is a major problem.

That’s why a popular exercise for career shifters is to imagine taking a year off. Imagine that money is no object. No idea is crazy. No one will judge you. What would you spend your time doing? What projects would you undertake? What would you want to accomplish?

This exercise is powerful because it lifts the effects of external expectations. It eliminates how those pressures might affect our decisions. It frees us from familial and societal judgment.

And this is hugely liberating.

So if you’re a career shifter, are simply searching for more fulfillment in your career, or want to get to the point where you view your career as a calling, take a step back, imagine eliminating those external pressures, and envision where you’d like to make an impact on the world.

From there, it’s all about making a series of micro-decisions to move you in that direction — always believing that living your calling is in reach for us all.

Do you feel that you’re living your calling? How else might you find it? Let me know below or by emailing unstuckproject2019@gmail.com.