For many men, having a deeper meaning in our work is vital. We’ve been conditioned to believe all work is about personal and spiritual fulfillment. The problem with this thinking is it eventually creates a conflict in our minds. This is because it becomes difficult for our minds to reconcile being compensated for doing something we love. This may not see like a problem but eventually work, requires necessary roles and responsibilities that may not be very “fulfilling”.
Many times these responsibilities make the job or career “boring” but they’re absolutely necessary. What ends up happening is our mind confuses itself into thinking if it’s not fulfilling or fun all the time, then it’s not good. This then leads us down a road of frustration and dissatisfaction. Eventually, burn out.
What’s the difference?
A job is just an exchange of work for pay, benefits and perhaps some social perks. It’s mainly about earning a paycheck and it’s typically a way people afford to do the things they love. A career is what you do for yourself. Although career professionals are also working for a paycheck they are more focused on advancement in the workplace. People focused on a career tend to have a long-term vision for their professional future, set goals and enjoy a healthy competition with colleagues. People that follow a calling seek a deep connection between their work and who they are as a person. This means their work goes beyond the paycheck and don’t consider it a career in self-focused sense.
In order to find fulfillment, we first need to find our calling. Once we find our calling, we can then see how and if this aligns to our vocation. It’s alright if it doesn’t because the reality is we’re always juggling all three when we work. Work alone will never provide complete fulfillment. We must seek to align our job or career with our calling in order to live out our fullest potential where God has called us to be. Sometimes our work will align with our calling but if not, we should always try align as much of our calling to our work.
Encouragement:
We all have a calling.We just need to find it first.
Leadership Challenge:
If money was no object, what would you be doing? How can you incorporate elements from this vision in your work today?
