7 life lessons you need to learn to find your calling

Whether during an aptitude test or a heart-to-heart conversation with friends after being fired, at least once in your life you must have thought about how to find your calling. But the American radio producer and founder of the StoryCorps project, David Isai, believes that this very wording - “find a calling” - is fundamentally wrong.

“Finding a hobby is not a passive process. People who found their calling made difficult decisions and made sacrifices to do what they like,” says Isai. In other words, you can't "find" your calling - you have to fight for it. And it's worth it. Those who are engaged in their favorite profession get out of bed every morning with impatience, and their eyes burn.

For over 10 years, Isai has been collecting stories for StoryCorps and talking to different people about their calling. He collected his observations in the book "Vocation: meaning and passion of work” (Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work). And here are the main conclusions he made.

1. The vocation is at the junction of three components

The first is to do what you are good at. The second is to feel that your work is appreciated. The third is to believe that what you do makes the world a better place.

“When it all lines up, it’s like lightning flashes in my head,” Isai notes. And you don't have to be a brilliant life-saving surgeon to feel like you have a calling. It is enough to be a friendly waiter who lovingly takes care of customers.

"Stop listening to your friends' opinions, parents and society about what you need to do. Inside yourself, you already know what you want to do,” Isai is sure.

2. Calling opens through difficult situations

Important events, sometimes extremely painful, help to look inside yourself.

Isai recalls the story of a 24-year-old teacher: “He became a doctor when he lost his father. And at that moment he realized that in fact he was destined for the profession of a teacher. He said that every time he enters the classroom, he feels that his father comes with him.

An experience that throws us out of our habitual existence and reminds us how short life is, much clarifies and often leads to important changes.

3. A calling requires the strength and courage to swim against the current.

The book of Isaiah contains several striking proofs of this thesis. For example, the story of Wendell Scott, who became one of the first African-American NASCAR drivers and continued to do what he loved despite racism and threats. Or the story of the scientist Dorothy Warburton, who researched the problem of miscarriage and faced extreme sexism.

According to Isaiah, calling often begins with a clear position where we we speak against what we consider unacceptable, as well as the desire to change the situation: "This is a job that is charged with hope, love or resistance and is supported by a sense of purpose and perseverance."

4. Calling sometimes help to find others

The heroine of the book of Isaiah Sharon Long most of her life was engaged in a variety of work. When her daughter was applying to university and a staff member helped fill out the financial aid application, Sharon quietly said to herself, “I wish I could to study in university". To which the specialist replied: "It's not too late to do it."

Sharon enrolled in an arts curriculum and, on the advice of her curator, chose forensic anthropology as her science course. The curator only recommended this item because it was the easiest. But as soon as Sharon was at the first lesson, she immediately understood: this is exactly what she should do.

“The people around us are pushing us in one direction or the other, without even realizing it. When people find their calling, they often want to thank those who helped them find their place,” says Isai.

5. A vocation is a journey without end

The phrase "find a calling" sounds like a calling is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and once you find it, the story ends. But Isaiah argues that calling is an ongoing process: “Understanding what it is is not the same as making serious efforts to realize it.”

You may have to go back to university, return to an intern position, or open own business. Isai also notes that the search for a calling often leads people to careers that involve helping and caring for others.

6. A calling can be found at any age

Isai himself did this at the age of 21 when he interviewed a participant Stonewall riotsThis is the name of a series of riots and spontaneous demonstrations that began in June 1969 after a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York.. “The minute I pressed the record button, I knew that I would be writing journalistic materials and interviewing for the rest of my life. I was lucky that this lightning struck me when I was so young, ”says the founder of StoryCorps.

However, writing the book reminded Isaiah that a calling can be found at any age. It contains an interview with a man who, at the age of 15, realized that he wanted to become an NBA basketball league referee. And with a man who only after 30 years work As an accountant, he discovered his passion for fishing. Therefore, you should never give up.

7. A vocation doesn't always come with a big paycheck.

This is another coincidence that Isai noticed in the stories: people often leave high-paying jobs to do what they love.

“We broadcast to young people that it is worth doing as little work as possible for as much money as possible. This is the dream of many. But the StoryCorps archive shows that there is another, more worthwhile dream — the ability to take risks and work hard to live with dignity,” says Isai.

This is the lesson he learned from his book: “There are no millionaires, billionaires, celebrities and people with thousands of followers on Twitter. Only stories that can teach us how to live life without a trace."