A refresher re-look again at vocation. (Source: Be a manly man!)
A Job. Those who see their work as a job are those who belt out “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend” with great gusto. They live for breaks, for vacation. The job is simply a means to the end: a paycheck. They need to support their family/pay their rent, and this is the ticket they punch to do it. The job may not be terrible, but it offers the worker very little real satisfaction.
A Career. The careerist derives meaning not from the nature of the work itself but the gratification that comes from advancing through the ranks and earning promotions and raises. This motivates the careerist to put in extra time; work doesn’t necessarily stop when they punch out. However, once this forward progress stops, the careerist becomes unsatisfied and frustrated.
A Vocation/Calling. A vocation is work you do for its own sake; you almost feel like you’d do it even if you didn’t get paid. The rewards of wages and prestige are peripheral to getting to use one’s passion in a satisfying way. Those in a vocation feel that their work has an effect on the greater good and an impact beyond themselves. They believe that their work truly utilizes their unique gifts and talents. This is what they were meant to do.
“The deepest vocational question is not “What ought I to do with my life?” It is the more elemental and demanding ‘Who am I? What is my nature?’” -Parker J. Palmer
- As a boy, what did you love to do? Write? Read? Sports? Working on models? Playing with a chemistry set? Spending time outdoors? Pretending to be a solider or a spy?
I still remember a blue long notebook I had as a child. I would fill the book with ideas ranging from designing my own hotel, airport, etc to inventions such as a auto pancake maker & auto dispenser selling umbrellas, etc. Secondly was writing & playing paper (!) D&D/homespun RPG stories.
- During school group projects, what job did other students assign to you, or did you volunteer for?
Planning, leading the project, writing, presenting
- What aspects of your current job do you love, which do you loathe?
(Previous employment): loved planning & seeing the division grow; loathed traveling (driving)
- What kinds of projects and jobs at work and at home do you get excited about? What kinds do you dread?
Excited on new projects, new teams & change. Dread simple, boring tasks which take up a lot of time/a lot of running around
- Have you ever talked to a friend about a topic, a dream, or an aspiration and everything just clicked inside of you, and you felt a surge of excitement throughout your body?
About setting up a new business – cafe, bakery, training center, etc
- What things do you see other people doing that make you ache with jealousy because you wish you were doing them?
People who have built businesses & processes where they do not need to work at it daily & have the business self-running. Making only important decisions with big impact. Passive income!
- What dream has nagged at you for as long as you can remember, the thing that always pops into your mind no matter how many times you dismiss it?
Owning multiple large businesses, investments & real estate generating significant passive income.
- What fills your thoughts in the quiet moments when you’re riding the train or lying in bed? What do you think about incessantly, what captures your imagination? Politics? Spirituality? Relationships?
Growing current business venture. My beloved.
- If time, money, education and any other obstacle was a non-issue, what kind of work would you choose to do?
Business owner & investor
- What were you doing the last time you totally lost track of time?
Thinking about vocation
Or a Big Bang Theory marathon session 😉
Question
What do you think about your calling/vocation?