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Writer's pictureKirk Thiemann

The Danger of a Career Being a Calling... (but the joy of a life calling)

Many people reference finding your calling in life. The idea of a calling is also often connected to a career. Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy have written many articles on career calling. They share important points about how a calling is a “transcendent summons” to live out a personally meaningful experience in a life role (career, parent, volunteer, etc.) that has a “prosocial orientation” (meaning that it benefits society or meets a societal need). I think this definition is great for calling (Dik & Duffy, 2009). I’ve talked personally with Bryan Dik and he shares important ideas regularly about career calling. What is the point, then, of my post?


I agree that a career can be a part of a calling, but a career is not stable. Let’s take my experience as an example. I am a counselor and counselor educator (among many other aspirations). I used to feel completely captivated by my counselor title. I identified strongly as a counselor. I think it was my most important identity at one point. Would this be considered a calling? I absolutely would have identified it that way, but why have I changed?


I now believe it is dangerous to consider a specific job as a calling. What happens if the job goes away? Perhaps, in my example as a counselor, a client says I acted unethically and I lose my counseling license. Am I now without a calling? If I wrap my entire concept of calling in the specific job as a counselor then losing it would be earthshaking. Additionally, the current world stage of working through a pandemic has shown us that many elements of life that were supposedly concrete can change quickly.


I learned about myself that being a counselor is not actually what I am called to. I find it meaningful, but it is not a calling. I feel called to help people experience personal transformations in their lives. THAT is what I feel is part of my calling in life that relates to a career. There are a lot of ways that I could help people through personal transformations. That absolutely occurs through a career as a counselor. That can also occur as a medical doctor, nurse, tour guide, life coach, physical therapist, school teacher, etc. There are so many ways that I could help people experience personal transformations, but I choose to live that out as a counselor and counselor educator (at this time).


I believe that it is beneficial to consider calling in this much broader manner. This is beneficial because it means that a job cannot own my calling. Therefore, losing a job cannot take away my calling. An organization cannot control my calling. Having a life calling instead of only a career calling becomes important to finding meaning in life and in work. If I know what I experience as a calling in life then no matter what life throws at me, I can apply my calling in life in various ways. I don’t have to wait for an organization to offer me a job to start living my calling. I can find ways to employ my calling every day.


I better bring up at this point that other considerations need to go into making a meaningful choice about a career. According to a model of life purpose that I developed (Thiemann, 2021) and that I now also use in deep career coaching, to find a meaningful career that integrates your sense of purpose you need to consider:

  • Your values

  • What sustains (or evaporates) energy

  • How you go about making significant decisions at important crossroads in life

  • Exploring how the awareness of death influences daily decisions

  • The barriers (including mental health barriers) to finding a meaningful career

  • How your career can help alleviate suffering

  • Inherited beliefs, traditions, norms, personality characteristics

  • Your spirituality

  • And how to find a sense of whole-ness in life and work


Really finding a meaningful life and work path takes time and thoughtfulness, but I see how some people want to find a career or specific job title that brings a sense of calling. That can be dangerous if it places too much emphasis on one life role: a job. A job can be part of a sense of calling, but it needs to fit into a larger tapestry of life meaning and purpose. Living a life of purpose is bigger than one part of life. Truly finding a sense of life purpose applies to all life roles. Each day and moment can be part of satisfying one’s calling and purpose. Never assume that a job will satisfy all of your deeper spiritual needs that can be experienced as a calling.


If you do experience your career as your most significant element of your calling, I encourage you to stop and think about that. How long will you be in your career? Could something take away that job role? Is it possible that technology could completely shift the economy to make your job automated? I don’t mean to scare people who experience a career as a significant calling. I only intend to help people own their calling more fully. Own the fact that you can experience an integrated life calling instead of only a career calling. Career will often be a part of an integrated life calling, but it should rarely stand as a calling on its own if you desire balance, a sense of wholeness, and general life satisfaction and meaning.


References:


Dik, B. J. & Duffy, R. D. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for

research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(3), 424-450. DOI: 10.1177/0011000008316430


Thiemann, K. L. (2021). Life purpose in the face of unanticipated death: A hermeneutic

phenomenological ethnodrama. (Publication No. 28495771) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Wyoming]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

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