Have You Found Your “Calling?”
Derek Semmler dot com had a thought provoking post tonight about finding your calling. He paints a great visual about being terminally ill and asking yourself, “Would I want to do what I am about to do today?” I’ll open that up to my readers as well. If your answer is no, what would you have to change to make that be true. If the answer is yes, what steps were necessary for you to get to that point? As some of you may have read in the About section, I am a 4th grade teacher. My answer was yes, and this was my comment at his blog explaining why (with a few minor additions and edits):
My answer is “yes” if I was to die I would want to be going to work tonmorrow.
The steps necessary for me to get to that point . . . were:
1) Reading 3 life-changing books at age 27: “What Color is Your Parachute,” “The Road Less Traveled,” and “Do What You Love the Money Will Follow.”
2) Being open to trying teaching as a sub almost 10 years ago.
3) Being willing to jump into the job and learn as I go . . . being willing to change and admit wrong and get help when needed.
4) Defining why I am there. Not just “for the kids” but a mission statement. For me it is raising each kid one bar on the California Standards Test.
5) Marrying a wife with similar values about work and money.
I think universally (because how many teachers are going to read this?) the concept I would offer to those unfulfilled in their work is that of setting a mission statement for what you do. Life’s a journey not a destination, but you need a destination to assess your success or lack thereof.
Damien, thanks for linking to my post and expanding upon the steps you took to get yourself to the “Yes”.
I’ll have to revisit your reading list, as I had checked out “What Color Is Your Parachute” from the library but never got the time to read that one. I have a feeling this process of career/goal planning at work is going to be keeping me busy for quite a few weeks. :)
You’re welcome Derek. Thanks for the initial challenge to your readers, it motivated me to start something over here. I think it’s a crucial topic. Those three books are good reading. Good luck, keep in touch on what you find.