Do you have a job, a career, or a calling?
Posted on February 25, 2022 by Paula Castillo, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
Do you know if you have a job, a career, or a calling? Learn the difference between the three and start discovering how to move into your calling.
This blog post is the first in a five-part series exploring callings.
If you are looking for your calling, then the challenge is, as research shows, that we know exactly what we don’t like about our jobs, but we don’t know what we actually want to do.
What exactly is a calling?
The sociologist Robert Bellah recounts that while the term “calling” is a nod to the church, it’s evolved to generally mean work that deeply fulfills you (Bellah, 2007). Bellah also conveys that callings are one of three ways to relate to work; the other two are jobs and careers:
A job is transactional; you do it because you get paid.
A career is motivated by benefits and future advancement; you do it because it offers you stability and possibilities of future growth and better benefits. A career might also act as a stepping stone to other jobs.
A calling is fulfilling – you’d likely do it even if you weren’t receiving payment. While a calling can include professional growth, the thought of a promotion is not what motivates you. It can have aspects that are tedious, but it is mostly fulfilling.
While jobs and careers can be important in our lives, a major difference between these work orientations and callings is how they make us feel. Having more money doesn’t make us happier after a point, but work that we feel is worthwhile does.
Additionally, a calling can have these characteristics (Wrzesniewski, et al, 1997):
- It’s inherently rewarding.
- It’s hard to disentangle life and work because the work is so enjoyable.
- You believe it makes the world a better place.
- You feel like you would choose the work again if given the opportunity.
- You enjoy talking about it.
- You enjoy it so much, you would do it even if you didn’t get paid.
People who associate their work with callings tend to be happier at work and in life (Choi, 2018), even if they also have challenging aspects. And while callings can be an integral part of our identity, they are just one dimension of a meaningful life (Cech, 2021).
Why is a calling different from a job or a career?
Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski and her colleagues at Yale University picked up where Bellah left off, studying what made callings different from other work (Wrzesniewski, et al, 1997). They discovered that callings were different because they are meaningful (Rosso, Wrzesniewski, et al, 2010). What’s more, two different people can have very different perspectives about the same work.
Embodiment practice to connect to your calling
What does a calling feel like to you? Emotions are felt in the body, and we have the power to discern them (Barrett, 2017).
I invite you to take a few moments to connect with the sensations of your body. Explore the sensations that are present in your body, from the top of your head down to your toes, with kindness and without judgements.
- When in your life have you felt fully engaged and alive?
- What activities were you doing?
- Were you at work?
- Were you participating in one of your hobbies?
- How did this feel in your body?
Do you have to quit your job to find your calling?
The short answer is no. In my next post I’ll give specific, science-based strategies to help you start finding your calling without having to quit your job.
If you’d like coaching on how to incorporate these steps into your life, I offer a free Discovery Call to see if we’re a good fit (details in my profile)
