What is Your True Calling? It is Your Job to Find Out

 

 

I truly believe that everyone has a calling – or passion which is the word I prefer to use.
I also believe that everybody can be an entrepreneur – especially if they follow their passion.

The question I used to ask myself

There was one question I frequently asked myself – “what is my passion?”

I have stopped asking because now I know but actually asking didn't help much. It is a bit like saying all the time “I want to be happy”, then you are definitely not going to be happy. It is about enjoying every moment of life, being present and grateful, and then suddenly we realize that we are happy. The same goes for your passion or  your true calling if you like that better, if you desperately look for it, you are not going to find it. Your life will constantly give you hints and it is your task to notice these hints – and then you will know, what is your passion.

Stop looking for your passion. Start to notice the hints you are given.

 

Finding your true calling may take time

It took me a long time to realize what my passion or actually passions are or let's say accept them because they were actually there all the time. I think some of us might know when we are six years old and others when we are sixty. We might also know our passions and choose to ignore them for a while until we feel the time is right to pursue them. Then there are others that say they don't have a passion for anything.

I don't believe that. I think these people are blocking the hints that they are given and/or need to try something new in life in order to get more hints. This is essentially what we do for our children, we let them try all kinds of sports, music or other hobbies early in life in the hope that they will discover their passion, in case it is not one of the subjects at school.

Choosing to pursue your passion

It is a choice, to follow your passion or not. Following your passion doesn't always mean that you have to give up your current job and follow your passion full-time. For various reasons it might make more sense to keep the passion as a hobby or something you do besides your job. I think many of the older generation knew their passions but choose to ignore them their whole lives because it would have disrupted the life that they had planned for themselves or others or out of loyalty to employers or family. I think most of us are in a different place today and have realized that pursuing our passion is what we need to live a happy and fulfilled life.

One author who has written extensively about this subject is Steven Pressfield. If you haven't heard about him before then I highly recommend you check out his three books on overcoming resistance and doing the work which essentially means stop procrastinating and pursue your passion; Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles & Do the Work. I read them all in one-go and can highly recommend them for anybody who is fighting the lizard brain (see my last blog post).

One passion versus many

I think and hope most people have one true calling. My challenge is that I have several passions. They call to me equally. Maybe one is louder than the others for a while, but when another one this ignored too long, it will let me know that attention is needed. This website and my company is a way for me to combine all my passions under one platform and with one brand – myself – and share with you everything I am passionate about – in the hope that you find your true calling too.

Everyone has a true calling - even if he or she don't know what it is @stevenpressfield

 

How I found my true calling

In hindsight, everything is easy. But panic sets in when you wake up one day and want to know what you were meant to do in life and you don't know. My passions were there all the time. I just hadn't paid attention to them. I was too busy getting a degree, making a career, or living somebody's else's life. When your life is suddenly turned upside down, you start asking yourself questions. Why am I here? What am I meant to do? What will give me purpose?

This is the journey that many of us start on some time in our life and we call “finding ourselves”. “I don't really like this term, because it suggests we became lost. But, it does accurately describe what happens in our mind. We suddenly find ourselves in a void; our vision shatters because someone left us, we lost a job, or someone died. We urgently need a new vision, a new mission in life and we look inside for answers. And since we haven't done this before we need help, often through self-help books, personal development courses, yoga, mediation or coaching.

Healing and finding confidence

About 12 years ago I went through a break-up. This left very deep wounds on my soul, and some of the scars have still not healed. I looked for help with a psychologist but she sent me away after three sessions. Her advice was to read Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy and I wouldn't need her any further. The book was very good for someone with a mild depression, and I have since recommended the book to numerous people.

Half a year later, I was promoted and felt I needed a self-confidence push. I took the 12-week Dale Carnegie course. By then, I thought I had recovered from my break-up. But when I broke down in front of the class after telling them my story, I realized that I needed to do more work to get rid of my baggage. I had started my self-discovery journey. For the next 5 years, I took numerous courses and read dozens of books. I even became a certified Dale Carnegie trainer.

What is your true calling? It is your job to find out @oprah

 

Write your own obituary

During my self-discovery journey, I did many exercises involving writing about my past life and making a vision for my future. Every exercise helped. The more you write about the same topic, the clearer the topic becomes. In the end, you know what you need to know. One of the best exercises was to write your own obituary. Since I am generally a very optimistic person, I didn't want to write my obituary. Instead, I wrote a speech to be held on my 90th birthday. The essence of the exercise is to imagine you are in the future already, looking back on your life to see what you have done with it. Two of my passions became very clear, just through this exercise. Try it out! Even if you don't find your passion you might learn something important about yourself.

Do you have a strong opinion on something?

Having a strong opinion about particular topics can also become a passion. But you don't need to search for this kind of passion. It is either there, or it is not. If you don't feel strongly about any topic, then no worries. You can also be neutral and still be a passionate person. One of my passions is topic related and I have had my strong opinion since I was a teenager. Do you have a strong opinion about something? Why not share it?

Revisit your childhood

Trying new things that you haven't tried before are a part of finding your passion. As children we constantly try new things. If we like it, we continue doing it. If don't like it, we stop. As grown-ups, we have to continue trying new things. Otherwise, we might miss out on a potential passion that is out there waiting for us. Sometimes we have tried something in the past and we liked it. But, for some reason or other, we stopped doing it. Years or decades later, we try it again and suddenly – boom! This is it! This is our passion. Is there anything you liked in the past that you haven't done for a long time? Try it again!