Getting a job is easy, creating a career is hard, and finding a calling often seems impossible.

The voices we hear in our head say it’s impractical, too idealistic, not for us, or simply that we’re not talented enough for that sort of thing.

Truth is, everyone has a calling. We are all put on this earth to serve and love the people around us. A calling does not have to be glamorous or make us rich - but it creates a state of flow, a deep sense of meaning. It’s a sweet spot for work and we all crave it.

To find, rediscover or fine-tune my calling, I pay attention to four dimensions in life. I’ve outlined the first three in previous posts:

Natural - these are gifts, abilities that we don’t work for. They’re just there.

Experiential - significant events, people, and environments in life that offer clues to our unique place in humanity.

Professional - learned skills and abilities. Check out my post on the advantages of being a polymath.

My brief thoughts on the fourth dimension before I unpack the fifth element - the key that unlocks or actually limits our quest for calling.

Spiritual - it sounds like the last thing you would pay attention to in calling as it sounds and is non-material and abstract. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s why.

The first three dimensions are about us. The fourth is about the creative power that created us in the first place, and perhaps there was a meaning, a purpose in this creative act we call our life. If there is no creative force and meaning outside ourselves - we simply make meaning. We cannot help ourselves. But that self-generated meaning is objectively subjective and hence unreliable as a “north star”.

I had no spiritual tradition - my parents were atheists. I do believe that being an atheist ironically requires a lot of faith. As a young man, I searched for the spiritual in Eastern traditions, the Western culture brand of it - New Age. At age 26 I became a Christian and things fell into place not only on a deeply personal level but also on a professional level. I believe the main reason was that the heavy burden of purpose was off my shoulders and could be discovered in a benevolent God and creator who put me on earth for a purpose. This changed everything.

Finding the spiritual dimension of calling is what makes the other dimensions sing in harmony. The proof is in the pudding. Feelings, religious impulses, and false teachings dissipate, disappoint, and are disproven by life itself. They simply don’t produce lasting results.

In my 26 years as a Christian, I have questioned God many times, but have not been disappointed in the discovery of calling through the pursuit of the One who calls.  As I said,  the proof is in the pudding. I am more in tune with Calling professionally with every passing year.

My work is immeasurably more impactful, meaningful, and joyful because of the Spiritual dimension. It’s also more profitable on a number of levels beyond the financial. If we want to find a calling - the best thing we can do to take our work life to another level is to find our way to the One who calls.

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