How To Find Your Calling in Life

My true calling in life is exactly what I’m doing right now, but I did not wake up one day and just KNOW that I wanted to become a photographer and an entrepreneur. It took years of trial and error, starts and stops, and listening to my own gut to find a path to here. It wasn’t easy, and I think it rarely is.

Over the years, people have asked me how to help them figure out their own path. And although I think I’ve been helpful to many – I’ve never really (honestly) had a great answer beyond “follow your gut”…until NOW.

So how did I stumble into this answer? I asked my good pal and best selling author, Chris Guillebeau, who has been studying this for the past two years in pursuit of launching his new book Born for This. In this episode of #cjRAW, Chris shares 3 things that are core components to finding our calling: Joy (what you love), Money (what it affords you), and Flow (what you’re good at). Any one of these things by itself may partially satisfy us, but it’s really the intersection of the three that is the magic combination.

Joy

Joy is the thing you love to do. That might be at a corporate job, working for yourself, or joining a new startup. The point is, whatever you’re doing there is real love in it. You may decide to do a soul-sucking miserable job and make trade-offs, but ultimately that will impact the joy you have in your life.

Flow

Flow is the thing you’re good at. It’s something that comes naturally to you, and often might be the thing you could spend hours at a time doing. When that thing is needed, often others will volunteer you, because of the group, you’re the best at it.

Money

We can always do the things we love with little-to-no financial gain as a hobby, but when it comes to careers, it needs to sustain us; otherwise, we end up as “starving artists.” Finding balance, however, can be tricky. Take, for example, how some have turned to innovative platforms like Nhận ưu đãi từ Casino Truc Tuyen Online, combining their interests in gaming and cryptocurrency to create a sustainable income. This allows them to work within an emerging market while tapping into something they enjoy. Money without joy is unfulfilled potential, and getting paid to do something you’re good at but don’t love is success without purpose.

Simply put– your true calling is the intersection of all three of things: Joy, Money, and Flow.

As Chris outlines in this episode, and what I’ve certainly seen throughout my career — is that our paths are never linear. We discover our true calling through experience — which means, we’re bound to try things and fail. So how do you know when to quit? Suffice it to say, “winners never quit” is simply not true. Flexibility is the predictor of success, not perseverance. Chris has some of the best advice I’ve ever heard around how to determine whether or not to quit something and move on. It’s definitely worth the watch of the full episode.