Are you stuck in a job or living your dream?

Do you have a career that you’re passionate about, or do you find yourself clock watching at work waiting for the weekend?

Many individuals really struggle with giving themselves permission to dream about their ideal career. They get to a point where their head takes over their heart and they struggle to see the exact steps they need to take to get there. Often, this very human process of rationalisation and planning stops any kind of progress towards taking action and stepping outside of comfort zones. I like to call this “analysis paralysis”.

I see a lot of people struggle with the idea that the transition from your job towards your calling is monumental and immediate. Yes, it may be a monumental change in what you’re currently doing, but it doesn’t have to be immediate. The idea is that there’s no big leap. You keep moving forward with mini actions until that “big leap” is eventually just another step as you’ve gained so much momentum with your mini actions. We’re living in an era where we are used to getting results and information at the touch of a button. Unfortunately, changes in our lives will take more time.

However, I wish to offer you a slightly different perspective on your work that has helped client’s start to take action towards their dream career or calling.

Are you in a job?

I classify this as a purely transactional process. I complete my work or deliver a service with the sole purpose of getting paid. The focus is not on the work itself and the impact it’s having, it’s on the money.

Are you in a profession?

I classify this as having pride in what you do to deliver your work to the best of your ability. You may not necessarily love your profession but, in some way, it serves your calling.

For example, your calling could be that you want to be a personal trainer, but you’re currently working in a different job. You’re taking a professional approach to be the best at your current job to allow you to keep saving to eventually pay for the personal trainer course. You will then continue to stay professional whilst cultivating your new skills outside of your working hours until you can negotiate dropping down to four days per week. You can then use one day per week to start your journey towards becoming the personal trainer you dreamed you would eventually be.

There are many different examples of how you can change your job into your profession to serve the purpose of your calling. The only difference is the mindset you have. In this example, the outcome is money-focused to afford the course, but it also has a plan of action towards your calling.

Have you found your calling?

Well, that’s easy to answer. Are you getting paid to do what you love to do the most? Are you having the impact on the world that you always dreamed? Do you pinch yourself every day and say “I can’t believe I get paid to do this?”. If the answer is “YES!”, then you’ve found your calling.

Now, this article isn’t about telling you “how” to find your calling. I would recommend employing a coach to help you do the internal work to see exactly what will align with your values and purpose. This article offers you a perspective shift that wherever you are now is exactly where you need to be. It’s now a question of changing your mindset and looking at how you can make your current situation serve the purpose you were born to do.

You may be sat at your desk reading this article and thinking “I hate my job and I don’t even know where to start”. A starting point would be to change your mindset that this job is my current profession and I’m going to use it to serve the purpose of finding my calling. I’m going to do the best I can in my current profession to allow me to work with a coach and find out what my calling could be.

Let me give you my personal example:

I was in a role that wasn’t challenging and held little enjoyment. I knew I wanted to train to be a coach, so I became professional at my mundane job for two reasons. Firstly, being good at my job got me noticed, and with that came a reputation and a pay rise. In a short amount of time, I had saved what I needed to train for my coaching qualification. The second reason is that having a good reputation allowed me to negotiate my working hours down to a four day week. This allowed me to have one day per week where I opened my coaching practice and honed the craft of my calling.

I continued to work at my profession for four days a week, as I found other ways that it served my calling. I found that it was the ideal place to start having deeper conversations with colleagues about their own career paths which served them and also continued to give me the practice I needed to become a coach.

The mindset of treating your current situation as a professional and looking at how it can serve a greater purpose will have a huge ripple effect on who you are and how you “show up”. Family, friends, and co-workers will notice, and it will have a positive impact on them.

So, in summary, even if you feel like you’re stuck in a dead-end job or have no idea what your calling is, reframe the situation. How can you turn pro at what you currently do to give you the opportunity to make steps towards change? Just think, if you do what you love, you will never have to do a day’s work again in your life!