How to find your calling at work. How to find your calling through meditation? What then is the difference between vocation and mission? What is your mission, what is your calling?

How to find your calling?
How do you know what your purpose is? How to use your talents and how to find them? All the time in some kind of search, but life goes on ... ”- a lot of such questions about the search for one’s destiny come to the editorial office of the Foma magazine. We decided to find out why this question, which, it would seem, is usually asked by teenagers, haunts so many adults. And of course, we will try to figure out how to quench this thirst for acquiring a vocation.

Psychologist Alexander Tkachenko answers letters from readers about the search for a vocation

A very important component is missing from a lot of the discourse about finding one's calling today. This word itself seems to say: something has already been prepared for a person in advance, it remains only to clarify what it is, then find the field prepared for you and become happy.

It would seem that everything is obvious.
But…

But the logic of the Russian language naturally assumes that where there is a calling, there must also be someone who calls. And just about this in numerous publications on the topic “how to find your calling” there is not a word at all. Although the answer to the question “who called me?” allows you to better navigate this search. After all, the caller certainly had some reasons when he prepared this or that calling for each person.

For example, in the fairy tale about Pinocchio, Pope Carlo cut a wooden man out of a log so that he would walk around the yards with him and delight the inhabitants of the city with his dances and songs to the barrel organ. Therefore, Pinocchio knew exactly his calling and did not hesitate to publicly declare to any audience: “I was created for the joy of people!”

Unfortunately, in real life such an approach to clarifying one's vocation is hardly possible. Our parents, of course, hoped that we would grow up to be good and useful people to society. But even the most caring dad and mom do not have the necessary level of competence to talk about them as a source of life's calling. When giving birth and raising our children, we do not invest in them a calling and, at best, are only able to help them realize it themselves (and at worst, we impose our ideas about it, interfering with their own search).

The state is also ill-suited to the role of a caller here. The maximum that it is capable of in this sense is, for example, to draft a person into the army when he reaches a certain age.

It remains, perhaps, only fate. Which in its current understanding looks somehow vague and indefinite. In this sense, it was much easier for the ancient Greeks: fate for them was not a philosophical abstraction, but a very specific deity, or rather, even three deities at once - moira, spinning the thread of human destiny. In mythology, they are described as three sisters: Lachesis (“giving lots” even before the birth of a person), Clotho (with a spindle in her hand “spinning” the thread of human life) and Atropos (“inevitable”, steadily completing life path man, cutting the thread of his life with scissors). Accordingly, Lachesis was responsible for the appointment of a person’s vocation, Klotho contributed to its implementation, and after the person fulfilled (or did not fulfill) what he was called into the world for, Atropos closed the project, transferring the person to the afterlife department of Hades.

Nowadays it is difficult to find a person who would profess faith in fate in such a complex way. However, the religious motive in understanding their destiny and vocation is still present in many people today. By and large, any reflection on the source of human vocation ultimately boils down to two possibilities.

Option one:

God called people to life. Accordingly, He prepared a certain mission for each of those called, and the task of a person is to understand this plan of God about himself, fulfill it to the best of his ability, and at the end of the path give God an account of the results.

Option two:

the world does not have a reasonable Creator, which means that there is no reasonable goal both in the existence of the world itself and in the life of an individual person. Fate in this view is just a certain sequence of events, due to cause-and-effect relationships. And vocation is the most optimal way of existence in the world, since in this version the vocation comes from the person himself, or rather, from his needs that need to be satisfied. And you just need to listen to yourself more carefully in order to understand what they are calling you to.

Thesis one:

to find a way of self-realization does not mean to find meaning.

It would be natural to assume that according to the first option, vocations are sought by believers, and according to the second, atheists and agnostics are looking for. However, in real life, the picture is much more complex. It is not at all uncommon, for example, when a believer has been looking for his vocation for years precisely as a way of the most comfortable self-realization. For example, every day coming to the office, she dreams of a job related to travel. Or, doing routine work, say, at a construction site, he believes that his vocation is music or painting. Which is generally understandable. As people say, a fish is looking for where it is deeper, and a person is looking for where it is better.

Such search activity is quite natural and natural for both believers and non-believers. Finding a profession that would be to your liking is a great boon for any person. However, many people, quite consciously trying to understand what they are called to, have been looking for their calling according to this scheme for years, trying on various professions and occupations, and still remain dissatisfied with their work. Neither magazine life hacks, nor consultations with a psychologist, nor custom-made prayers in the temple help.

What is the reason for these failures? The fact is that with this approach, vocation is understood only as a kind of innate predisposition of a person to one or another kind of activity. Understand it, find a profession corresponding to it - and you will become happy. Your needs will be met and you will enjoy your work in peace. For a Christian, however, this is a very truncated view of the calling. Indeed, in addition to the innate predisposition, he also received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in baptism. But these gifts suggest a completely different direction of their application: Serve one another, each with the gift that you have received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10).

The gifts of God are given to us to serve each other through them. And if we believe that our calling is from God, then we should seek this calling first of all through understanding our gift and the corresponding service to our neighbors.

This does not mean that our inborn tendencies will necessarily run counter to the gifts of the Spirit received in baptism. On the contrary, God gives each of us exactly the gift that best suits our abilities and inclinations. However, it is the gift that gives them the vector of service, complements these abilities with another, most important property - makes them meaningful and directed towards a high goal.

After all, self-expression, let's be honest, is a rather mundane goal. Finding your vocation in order to simply enjoy it - such a position is not much different from the thesis "find where it itches and comb it enough." Actually, the result with such a utilitarian approach to vocation is often similar: a person seems to have found his favorite thing, “scratched” from the heart, calmed down and got bored again, turning his head in search of another occupation through which he could express himself. But where a person consciously puts his abilities to serve other people, the picture changes dramatically.

Second thesis:

service is not just a beautiful ideal or lofty motivating words. This is a completely objective spiritual need of any person.

Moreover, the need is as urgent as the desire for development or self-expression. Each of us has a natural desire to bring benefit and joy to other people. This is how God designed us. And without the satisfaction of this need, no vocation found will make us happy.

In itself, the predisposition to any activity is just a tool with which we can carry out our service to others. No doubt, the tool is also important and even very important. But a person who concentrates his efforts on finding the right tool and does not think at all about how he will use this tool runs the risk of being disappointed even after his search is successful. Musical ability or the talent of a doctor - all this is nothing more than a professional accessory, the same as an expensive guitar or a surgical knife made of high-quality steel. However, with a surgical knife you can save people's lives, but you can also cut out an indecent word on a bench in the city garden. On an expensive guitar, you can play beautiful music, delighting the audience, or you can just pose with it in front of the camera, posting photos on Instagram.

Understanding what you are more predisposed to does not mean finding your calling. God called us into this world not only so that we would know our abilities and find among them the most pleasant for us. Any person has a lot of talents, because each of us is created in the image of God. But just sorting through them one by one, trying them on for yourself, is a meaningless and even dangerous occupation, since our earthly life is limited by time. So, an artist who is overly carried away in the dressing room by choosing the most suitable costume runs the risk of being late for the stage and missing his own performance.

A vocation is not a talent in itself. A vocation is a service to others that you can most effectively carry out with the help of your talent.

It is this substitution of concepts that confuses even believers who know the Gospel and read the parable of the talents. At the Last Judgment, the Lord will not ask a person how many paintings or novels he wrote, how long he ran a hundred meters, what heroes he played on stage, how many opponents he defeated by technical knockout. Each of us has to give an account of much simpler things: have you fed the hungry, have you given drink to the thirsty, have you helped the homeless, the sick, the unfortunate?

In Christianity, any talent in itself is not yet the basis for any evaluation of a person's life from the point of view of eternity. He is just that same measure of silver from the parable that each of us receives from God at birth.

It is not silver itself that will determine our fate, but the profit that we can get from it, that is, the works of mercy that we are able to perform with the help of the talent bestowed on us.

If these things do not happen, then even the most stubborn pursuits of art, sports, science will turn out to be useless for us and will by no means increase talent, not “transfer silver to merchants” for the purpose of profit, but just a senseless polishing of coins received as a gift.

Here is how St. Theophylact of Bulgaria writes about this: “The gift given to him is doubled by the one who, having received either the gift of speech, or wealth, or power from kings, or some other knowledge and ability, benefits not only himself, but tries to be useful and For others. On the other hand, the one who has buried talent in the ground is the one who thinks only about his own benefit, and not about the benefit of others; and he will be condemned."
By profit, all church interpreters unanimously understand here the good deeds that a person does with the help of the talent they have received. And if there are no such cases, then all efforts to find one's calling and to develop the received talent will be in vain. An artist can perfect a line and stroke for decades, a musician can work on cantilena and sound for years, a writer can work on the rhythm and expressiveness of a syllable, an athlete will, at the cost of incredible effort, add grams or centimeters to his result, slow down hundredths of a second. But all these labors in the spiritual sense can turn out to be absolutely fruitless, unless their goal is to benefit one's neighbor.

Thesis three:

from the Orthodox point of view, the best way to bury your talent is to find it and develop it intensively only for your own sake, for the sake of your own ambitions, pleasure or creative quest.

God calls us to serve one another with the talents we have received from Him. This means that the search for a vocation is not limited to a mere careful study of one's talents. In the same way, these gifts themselves must be carefully examined in order to find out which of them will be most convenient for us in serving others. This will be our calling, which organically combines both the most important spiritual needs of a person - self-realization and self-giving. The spiritual life of a person can be compared to a pond. If it is closed and has no outlet, the water in it gradually begins to deteriorate, smell bad and eventually become rotten. Even if it was originally crystal clear. But where the water flows further from the reservoir to water the fields and gardens, the picture is completely different. Because in place of the given water comes a new one - clean and fresh. And the more water the reservoir gives, the more transparent and cleaner it becomes.

All our talents are not exclusively our property. We did not earn them by hard work, but simply received them as a gift from God. They, like the precious water of life, entered us at birth. When we share them and give this water to those who lack it, God immediately replenishes what was given - and replenishes with excess. But this happens only when we share what we really have. If you do not have the gift of speech, you are unlikely to be able to serve other people in areas related to the ability to speak well. If you don't have the gift of compassion, you risk burning out in a job that involves helping people who are suffering. If there is no gift of courage and courage, it will not be possible to serve people, protecting them from criminals or foreign invaders.

Although, of course, all Christians are called to instruct each other in faith and piety, and to mercy, and to courage. However, each of us receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit in accordance with our individual characteristics. Here is what Ambrose of Optina says, referring to the Monk Macarius the Great: “... and grace itself does not change two properties in human characters - harsh and soft: one who has a severe and accusatory character cannot be calm when he is silent, but one who has a soft and evasive character can lose peace of mind if he sharply denounces others.

It is reasonable to assume that our other natural attributes also matter for our Christian service to others. And therefore, the difficult, and sometimes even painful search for a cause to which a person has a soul, is never meaningless for him.

God has prepared for each of us a service to others that will match our talents and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This means that the one who seeks a business according to his own heart acts wisely, well and correctly. It is only necessary later, when this matter has already been found, that it is also necessary to find a way to use it to serve other people.

So that the water of the life received from God does not stagnate in our soul, but generously poured into the souls of our neighbors, filling them with joy, peace and gratitude. And so that God could constantly replenish in us this gift given to others, and over and over again we were convinced of the truth of the words of Jesus Christ: ... it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). This is the kind of activity that will be our true calling.

Illustrations by Maria Sosnina

Calling is a passion, a flame, often it becomes the purpose of existence. The life of a person who has determined his vocation is changed forever. What happens is divided into “before and after”. There is not an iota of exaggeration in this.

Finding your calling and devoting yourself to it without a trace is the road to inner harmony, happiness against the backdrop of material security. It is easier for a person who realizes his destiny and performs work according to his vocation to achieve success in life.

Vocation work - what is it

There are four indicators that characterize the work of a vocation:

Time at work goes unnoticed. It seems to a person that he spent an hour on work, but in fact a working day has passed.

The surrounding people are critical of the person’s occupation, they even offer to change the field of activity, they condemn him for a fanatical passion for work, but he, indifferently perceiving the opinions of other people, continues to move in the chosen direction without hesitation and doubt.

The activity increases energy, causes pleasure, gives a feeling of comfort. Positive results and a decent income motivate additionally.

People around ask for help, advice, share their problems.

Each person is able to find the work of his life. The way by which you can understand how to find your calling is elementary - you need to carefully analyze the sides of your personality, skills, based on their characteristics.

What hinders the search for a vocation

The factors that prevent a person from finding his calling, happiness and spiritual harmony include:

Disbelief in one's own strength, the presence of complexes. People are afraid of change, every day going to a disgusting job, not trying to find another, they motivate inaction by the lack of experience, education, vacancies.

The habit of constantly comparing yourself with other people, because the desire to be like a work colleague, the hero of a popular TV show or an Instagram blogger deprives a person of the chance to find his place in life.

Lack of perseverance in achieving goals. From the first failures, a person gives up.

Business coach Olga Monakova, who has been working in coaching for a long time, notes that many clients confessed to her that they had a long-term desire to do what they love. At the same time, desires remained unfulfilled without objective reasons. She is sure that by studying someone else's unsuccessful experience, you can understand in which direction you need to move in order to achieve success and how to find your calling.

How to determine purpose

To search for a vocation, you will need free time, its limit is individual for each. You will also need a pen or pencil, clean paper and perhaps the opinion of your loved ones.

1. Get to know your "I"

To begin with, write down your character traits on a piece of paper:

How do different emotions manifest themselves?
what are your favorite activities?
the opinion of relatives on this matter. It can be obtained by asking people to describe you with a few adjectives.

This procedure will allow you to determine the dominant character traits and look at yourself from the outside.

Life Management Academy coach Natalya Sevastyanova advises people in her classes to analyze their best qualities and, based on this, choose professions in which they can be used in the best way. She recommends seeking advice from specialists or, if this is not possible, from friends, close relatives, since brilliant ideas can come from outside.

Anna Morozova, co-owner of the Path to Success training center, recommends analyzing your skills and understanding how ready the results of these knowledge and skills are. The specialist emphasizes that it is quite simple to determine whether an occupation is a person’s true vocation. When thinking about this occupation, a person certainly feels an energy upsurge, joy. He is ready to do what he loves to the detriment of rest and other things, not counting on excess profits. A person simply cannot help but do it.

2. Explore your own skills and desires

On another sheet of paper, write down at least 30 of your skills, interests, abilities, and desires. This applies to everything that a person does with pleasure and skill:

Favorite activities from distant childhood;
activities that bring pleasure today;
what attracts you, what you want to learn;
all skills and abilities;
questions that others most often ask for your advice on.

This list should include all, even seemingly insignificant or naive dreams and desires, as well as activities, albeit frivolous at first glance. This may be the ability to masterfully ride a bicycle or car, creatively lay a table for guests, organize holidays. This includes dreams of skydiving, enrolling in art school and starting painting, as well as plans to take up landscape design or open courses to teach people, for example, a foreign language.

3. Honest conversation with yourself

It is necessary, being extremely frank with oneself, to answer several questions:

What in the surrounding world is not pleasant, unacceptable, seems imperfect;

What activities cannot be abandoned without compromising inner harmony, peace of mind, even if the results of efforts are not interesting to others;

What kind of work are you ready to do not only for yourself, but also for others, how can you help them;

How can you change the world for the better.

Each person is able to understand how to find his calling and place in life, to become happy. In this quest, it is important to listen to inner world, be as honest as possible with yourself, do not give in to difficulties, get rid of fears and complexes, do not neglect the help of qualified specialists and loved ones.

Apollinaria Batyushkina, meditation and esoteric expert

Our meditation and esoteric expert Apollinaria Batyushkina has prepared an audio-meditation-journey for you, with which you can come closer to understanding your destiny. Find out how to get started on your journey!

A man died, went to Paradise and asks an angel:
What was the meaning of my life?
Do you remember how you were on the train, went to the restaurant car, and the woman at the next table asked you to pass the salt?
- I seem to remember.
- Did you pass?
- Yes.
- Well, here it is.

Yes, life sometimes seems meaningless and merciless. Someone is destined to do great things, and someone sits in the office, shifting papers, and sincerely does not understand why he lives at all. Of course, everyone wants to achieve something really significant in life, and not be content with the metaphorical transmission of the salt shaker. Not everyone is aware of their purpose, individuality, uniqueness. He does not understand how to fill his life with real meaning.

But it's never too late to embark on a journey towards your true self, towards understanding what you really want. How to find your calling? Meditation is a great help on this journey!

What prevents us from finding our calling?

From childhood, we are told how to live, what is good and what is bad. Moreover, this “good and bad” turns out to be very subjective value judgments. Usually parents “know” what their child should be like so that they can be proud of him. Alas, this "knowledge" most often does not coincide with the desires of the child. And instead of helping the child find himself, parents do everything to make him move in a direction that is false for him. They project their ideas of an ideal life onto him, so he studies without pleasure - just to be praised. And he enters the institute, not always understanding why he needs this specialty. And then a boring life begins according to a scenario pre-written by parents and society, and it seems that it is impossible to break out of the vicious circle. We only ask ourselves the question “how to find your calling?” and live in a constant routine.

But it is never too late to wake up and start living consciously. Even if you are already retired.

Of course, it's scary to go beyond the usual paradigm. However, if you really want to be happy, to be cleansed of the husks of public opinion and false beliefs, then it is simply necessary to change. Here you must immediately understand that you will almost inevitably face the condemnation of others and this should not scare you. Gradually, your social circle will change dramatically, all unnecessary people will themselves fade into the background or stop communicating with you altogether. But like-minded people will definitely appear who will motivate you, pull you up, not down.

Do you want to learn useful practices, draw up your natal chart and find out the future? Then watch our free webinar and get answers to the most important questions. Register and we will send you a link to the webinar

Where to start your journey

In my opinion, the fastest and gentlest way to find yourself and transform your life is meditation. When you are in meditation, your brain goes into an altered state of purity and peace, it starts to work at completely different frequencies. And it is in this state that you begin to hear yourself, your true desires. And you can see the path of your soul and its purpose. You may receive important information about yourself, interesting and unexpected ideas that can change not only your life, but also the lives of other people. And most importantly, you find the answer to the question "how to find your calling."

Not always in the current incarnation your soul needs to achieve incredible career heights, money and fame.

Perhaps she was born now to take a break from the vicissitudes of past lives and find fulfillment in family comfort. Or maybe its purpose is to broadcast works of art into this world, or simply to help people through charity. Or great accomplishments, wealth and glory await your soul. Moreover, it may be that it is cozy family life will be in harmony with this very fame and career in conjunction with creativity. Why not? If you are told that you need to choose one thing in life, do not believe it! Trust only your inner voice and follow your intuition! Don't be afraid to experiment! Don't be afraid to listen to yourself.

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Living in harmony with oneself is one of the greatest blessings that a person can achieve. And in many ways the possession of this good depends on what he devotes his life, time and energy to; is he happy doing it. And no matter how we look at this problem, it will in any case lead us to the search for a destination. It is unlikely, of course, that we will offer a ready-made way to find your calling, but nevertheless we are sure that the reflections and advice from this article will allow you to answer at least some of the disturbing questions.

Why are we looking for ourselves

Today there are many articles and materials on how to find your calling in life, in your profession, etc. There are even special tests on this topic, for example, the well-known . Some tips and tricks are more effective than others. But be that as it may, any reasoning about the meaning of life boils down to the fact that the search for one's vocation is a natural state of a person.

Thinking and developing people do not doubt that there must be some kind of global business of life, to which one can devote oneself with pleasure; for which it will be easy to wake up at 6 in the morning and rush headlong, somewhere to do something; which will not be a pity to waste your time and effort. Such activity can become the meaning of human existence.

It is this premise that indicates that in order to find happiness and contentment, one must seek one's calling. It should correspond to aspirations, talents and abilities. In addition, in many cases, the business of life allows you to earn a livelihood, and quite comfortable. However, finding a destination can be quite difficult, as common life experience shows - many people never find it in their entire lives.

Next, we will talk about the obstacles to finding a purpose and overcoming them, but first we invite you to watch a short video in which personal development expert Itzhak Pintosevich talks about how to find your mission.

What do you want?

Difficulties in finding one's destiny, contrary to popular belief, are not due to luck, karma, or the fact that a person was not lucky enough to find an occupation that corresponds to his aspirations, needs and desires. The problem needs to be looked for much deeper, although the answer, in fact, lies on the surface.

Strange as it may sound, but almost no one asks himself why seek a destiny at all. People simply take the idea of this search for granted, believing that it is necessary to become an entrepreneur, scientist, politician, doctor, actor, etc., and then devote a lifetime to this profession. In other words, a specialty equates to a vocation. But the belief that the purpose of life is to find and find a calling is a serious obstacle on the way to the destination. Let's understand a little what this means.

Most people fail to find their calling because of the wrong questions. For them, they look something like this: “Which social role best suits my abilities and talents?”, “Which social role suits me the most?”, “Which role will allow me to fulfill myself?” etc. The answers to these questions are not easy to find because they are wrong.

To find a job or a life you love, you need to ask questions differently, namely: “What do I want in life and what do I need to do to achieve this?”, “Is there any social role that will help me achieve my goal ?”, “If there is no such role, with the help of what else can I achieve my goal?”. Asking ourselves such questions, we no longer put the social role at the forefront, but focus on our desires. Moreover, we can not only subordinate the role to our goals, but also, if necessary, get rid of it altogether. That is why it makes sense to talk a little specifically about goals.

The Importance of Life Goals

A little talk about goals will help us better understand the essence of the above. For example, you already know what you want out of life. You love life and learn new things. You want to be independent and free, so it is important for you to live and enjoy life, communicate, travel and explore the world around you. You want your actions to make the world at least a little better.

These are your life goals. But what can you do to implement them? What social role would suit you: writer, teacher, psychologist, director? What profession and what business correspond to your main needs? As you can see, the answer is difficult to give. But what if you try to come up with a profession that suits you? What will this profession be?

First, your work must not . You will start a family and have children, and naturally you will want to spend more time with your loved ones. Therefore, your vocation should leave you with more time than the usual work allows. In addition, you have a desire to devote your time to hobbies and hobbies, such as self-development, hiking, reading books, sports, movies, music, chatting with friends, etc.

You have absolutely no desire to “attach” to the workplace, and spend 5-6 days a week there from morning to evening, come home angry and tired, have two miserable weeks of vacation for 6 months of endless work. Your favorite job or life's work should allow you to enjoy every day, take regular rest, discover new places and connect with your family. Based on this, it is better to make the source of income remote and autonomous, at least in part.

But you do not prioritize independence and freedom, and are quite ready to devote as much time and effort to your vocation as you need. But this is so only if the occupation allows you to realize your ideas, receive inspiration and return. Therefore, it is best that your business belongs to you, if it does not, it should in any case give you the freedom that you dream of.

You have probably noticed that so far we have been talking only about working conditions, but its content remains in question. So what exactly are you supposed to do? You can become a programmer or copywriter (or choose another freelance direction), or you can. The most important thing here is that this business allows you to earn and remain free.

But what about personal preference and benefiting people? And here lies the trick - in fact, no one says that it depends on work. Think for yourself: by starting to do the ideal business that gives you freedom and prosperity, you will also get a lot of time that you can devote to what interests you.

Of course, it would be good if the source of income itself already allowed doing this, but, firstly, today's realities are such that there is very little such "work", and secondly, this is not necessary. For example, you can try to monetize this business in order to achieve your goals. But along with this, you can master the art of photography and start selling your services as a photographer. For the sake of this, of course, you also need to work hard, but then you will have time to write.

It is possible to develop what has been said for a very long time, but even now we can draw one fundamental conclusion: vocation must necessarily be subordinated to life goals. And here the issue of choosing this vocation, both in life and in the profession, deserves special attention.

The ability to choose

The method of earning does not have to match your talents or vocation, but it should allow you to achieve your goals. Going back to our examples, it's likely that you don't have a photographic flair, and photography isn't in your blood. But you must admit: wouldn’t you become a professional photographer if it allowed you to be independent and free, have a lot of time for your favorite things and make the world a better place by bringing beauty into it? Most likely, you would not mind such work.

Each of us needs a livelihood - this is the truth of life. You may not be hovering in the clouds with happiness, running around brides and grooms with your “photo gun”, but if this business does not require constant employment and allows you to live well, then why not, right?

A lot of people work 6 days a week, and how wonderful it would be if such a job was high for them, because they practically live on it. However, this is not at all the case, but still they work, although this is not their choice in the full sense of the word. Despite this, looking for a vocation, they try to make their lives better so that the need for an unloved job disappears forever.

And this is where the question of choice comes in: in search of their destiny, people begin to change one job for another, one employer for another, one six-day or five-day schedule for another. Does it make sense? It will not be an exaggeration if we say that there is no point here, because it's running in circles. It would be naive to believe that, as a seller, we will find our calling by changing one trading floor to another. Sales is just an example, but it applies to any area.

Perhaps there is a healthy grain in changing the profile altogether? But even here you can drive yourself into the same trap: now you are no longer a seller, but an office manager, and now you are no longer a manager, but an IT specialist in a large office, but what has changed? But nothing has changed - you still get up in the morning, rush to work and do something that anyone needs, but not you, continuing to dream that someday the search for a destination will be crowned with success.

Engaging in any activity that does not bring you closer to achieving your goals, you are wasting your time. Making a choice between different forms of the same activity, you will never find your calling, because you choose where there is simply no choice. And this is the second main problem that prevents you from finding your purpose. And from here another fundamental conclusion follows: calling can be in completely different things.

But do not think that the problems we have considered exhaust the question of finding your favorite job or life's work. There are several other equally important things that make it difficult to find a destination.

Limitation and routine

It happens that a person seems to find his calling, but, contrary to logic, it becomes not a source of his happiness, but a stumbling block. Try to understand an important thought: finding in life what you like and what you will need to give your all to, you risk losing your freedom and independence. A new activity may just limit you, and after a while of joy, you realize that you have painted yourself into a corner again.

Or the business of life does not mean finding a new wheel in which you need to run like a squirrel. It is worth remaining careful, going headlong into new hobbies and making “all bets” on them. There should always be room for maneuver, and this means that you do not need to limit yourself to one thing. As we said, calling can be in different things, but in order to find them, you need to have space to search.

In addition, almost any activity always includes an element of routine, and you can simply get tired of any work, even the most creative one. Of course, it is possible to find a business that will bring pleasure until the end of your life, but it is very, very difficult, and there is a high probability that there will be no trace of the former fuse in a couple of years.

In search of a purpose, you must always keep in mind the idea that over time you will want to change something again. The desire for change is a normal state for a person, and therefore we once again say that you do not need to squeeze yourself into the framework of any one occupation or one profession. It is fundamentally wrong to believe that the meaning of life consists in one thing.

From all this, we can conclude that you need to try to look for several directions that correspond to life goals, and do what you want at the moment. But how do you find such things? This question is absolutely appropriate, because talking and thinking is one thing, but doing is completely different.

Finding the Right Direction

Determining the right direction for movement is not easy, because you need to find something that will meet your goals. We think you will agree with us that any person strives for happiness - this is a natural need. But the ways to achieve this state in each individual case will differ.

We (and not only we) have said more than once that for the most part the state of happiness is due to the internal state of a person, rather than external factors. Happiness is inner harmony, an adequate perception of the surrounding world, but not the presence of a car and a country house or the status of a director of a large company.

If a person is unhappy within his being, no worldly goods will change the situation. Maybe sometimes it will seem to him that he is happy and everything in life is fine, but these moments are so momentary that they will disappear when the joy of owning something passes. As a result, the understanding will come that this is not happiness, and the whole cycle will begin again.

We want to say that it is not quite right to set ourselves the goal of achieving certain material benefits. The most important thing is to find happiness in oneself, and after that an understanding will come of what to strive for in life, what to devote it to, what is the purpose.

The life experience of a huge number of people says that no spiritual and life searches bring success if a person does not know what exactly makes him happy. People change professions and jobs, move from place to place, hoping that now everything will be different. But the joy never comes, everything is repeated anew, and disappointment and depression come.

So the whole fuss is that these people could not find their inner source of happiness. And so that the situation does not worsen, you need to ask yourself: “Why am I unhappy? What is the cause of my suffering? Am I on the right path or am I trying to open those doors that will forever remain closed to me?

No, we will not argue that the internal state is very much influenced by what we do, and the state of security, and the possession of material wealth. But this is not the root cause, and the understanding that you live your life not in vain should in no case depend on money, or on cars, apartments, iPhones, or even on achieving goals. Happiness must be inside, otherwise even the found destination will not change anything.

It is necessary to look for your favorite job or life's work, to search for a purpose and determine your life goals and priorities, starting with yourself. What makes you happy? Only you can answer this question, and in order to find the answers, you need, again, to ask yourself:

What would I like to change in this world?
What do I want to change in my life?
What did I enjoy doing as a child?
What did I dream about when I was little?
What do I enjoy doing and what could I be the best at?
What could I do over the years?

Take this kind of test, write down the answers to the questions, and then take the time and think them over in detail. And also remember that life is fleeting, and the older we get, the faster time flies. Would you be doing what you are doing now if you suddenly found out that you had six months to live, or a maximum of a year? If the answer to this question is no, think about what you would do if such a situation happened, and why are you even doing something that does not matter to you?

In most cases, people always know what they want from life. But with age, many aspirations and desires are “overwritten”, dreams seem unrealizable, reality becomes a necessity to do some business, solve problems, earn money. Life turns into a road to nowhere. But this can be changed by asking yourself the right questions, taking responsibility for yourself and your desires, accepting the idea of passing time and building actions in accordance with all this.

Bottom line reflections

At the beginning of our article, we said that we could hardly offer a ready-made method for finding your destiny. And this is true, because the search for a vocation is a purely individual matter, even to some extent intimate. There are no patterns or techniques that you can simply follow and everything will be resolved, as if by magic.

But still, we think that our reflections on the meaning of life and happiness will be able to direct your thoughts (and future actions) in the right direction. To understand what you need, note those moments when a feeling of harmony, peace and that everything is fine comes to you.

You can sit in the office for years, and one day, succumbing to the persuasion of a friend, jump with a parachute through force and realize that this is what you have dreamed of all your life. You can throw boxes in the warehouse, and one fine day write a short story out of nothing to do and understand that this is what you wanted to do since childhood. You can go on vacation and, lounging on the beach, come up with the idea of working remotely in order to be able to explore the world, and, as a result, come to the design of Internet sites.

In general, the answer to the question of how to find your destiny is, among other things, to have the courage and audacity to go to the call of your desires and dreams; to give free rein to your imagination; is to understand that your happiness is in your hands. Study yourself, communicate with purposeful and passionate people, expand your own boundaries, reflect on life, try new things, make time for what is important to you, what you like, and do not indulge your weaknesses and habits. This is what will allow you to find your calling.

And, of course, we simply cannot help but recommend you a couple of books on this topic. This book is “Set Goals! Find your goal and achieve it in 1 year” (Itzhak Pintosevich) and “Find your calling. How to discover your true talents and fill your life with meaning” (Ken Robinson). Also check out this video from Ken Robinson where this amazing man talks about calling and what it means.

We sincerely hope that our short philosophical and analytical essay has clarified for you some points about the search for your vocation, and you will be able to find something to your liking, your favorite job or life's work. We wish you good luck and be true to yourself!

Source: lyved.com/body_soul/
Translation: Balezin Dmitry

Understand your purpose in life, to understand why you appeared on Earth, sometimes it is as difficult as putting together a puzzle, the particles of which are scattered all over the world. Some people never collect this puzzle into a single picture, as they often lack the patience and desire. Or perhaps they are unnecessarily afraid of this ...

However, the five pieces of the puzzle called "my purpose in life", which you need to complete the whole picture, is pretty easy to find.

Here are the pieces that need to be put together

1. Identify your talents and passions

This is probably the simplest and the usual way identifying your calling in life. So start with it.

Following your talents and passions will lead you to contentment, happiness, and even allow you to earn a “bread” (and possibly much more). It doesn't matter if your talent is innate or acquired. You have a talent and it was given to you for a purpose.

To discover your talent and discover your passions, consider the following:

What makes you cry with joy?
What makes you smile?
What, according to the sincere statements of other people, are you really good at?
What makes you laugh?
What makes you stay up all night because you just can't stop?

2. Look into your past

Sometimes it's hard to remember your past. There are many such events that I would like to erase from my memory. However, that would be stupid. Instead, we must use our past to move forward in order to make sense of where we are today.

A look into your past, with an attempt to determine your destiny, also consists of some parts of the puzzle:

In what circumstances were you born?
Perhaps you were born into poverty. Then your destiny could be the task of getting out of poverty and leading others out of it, by your own example.

What are the biggest mistakes your parents made? What negative traits of their characters did they struggle with?

Did they behave abusively, perhaps they were addicted to alcohol, or were they addicted to any other destructive behavior patterns? If so, then your goal may be to break (not continue) this vicious cycle. You must break with this and become an example for others.

In what endeavor did you fail?

Failure or failure should not become something permanent for you. They only exist to separate those who really want something from others. If a certain setback affects you that much, then your life calling is to get back “in the game” and, using a new approach, win this time.

Who influenced you the most (in a positive way)?

Was he/she your teacher? An actor? By the author? Director? President? Local hero? If they have changed your life, then perhaps you should continue their mission?

3. There are three callings that unite us all

1. Be as happy as possible;
2. Live the way you want;
3. Change the lives of others;
4. Leave behind a world a little better than it was when we were born

And I say yes to all those negative people... Yes, not everyone realizes these callings, but everyone could.

4. Be open to multiple destinations

Many of us have several purposes in life, but often we still have one main life mission and several smaller reasons for existence. Perhaps someone's calling is to be a great parent, but at the same time they can change the world in their own way.

However, it also happens that several destinations merge into one, more significant one. I was often told that I was good at writing and that I should think about turning this ability into a career, but I constantly "refused" this. However, one of my desires has always been the desire to change the world. So one day, I just decided to combine the two and change the world through my writing.

Our vocation may also depend very much on age. Usually, our goals are very materialistic when we are young, but they stop being so when we get older.

All of this leads me to think about the fifth piece of the puzzle.

5. Find out what your calling is TODAY

What is the meaning of your being on Earth today is much more important than the goal that you must fulfill later in your life. Today - guaranteed, tomorrow - no.

We wait for the perfect moment, but it doesn't exist. Focus on your calling today... tomorrow, next month, next year at the very least. Life flows now, not tomorrow.