Over a year and a half ago, I wrote Part One of this post: The Nature of our Questions (2 min read).
I've been thinking about those ideas in a different context lately, so this is Part Two.
First, I need to tell you about something I heard, I think it was on a podcast, but sadly I can't recall the exact source.
It was a question, so I'll ask you exactly what I heard.
It's a straightforward question and you will likely have an immediate response:
Right now, as you read this, are you in a job, a career, or a calling?
Take a moment to think about it.
I haven't defined any of those terms, on purpose, because your own definitions matter more than mine. Plus, I just can't remember what they were from the original source.
Now that we know the key question, let's come back to the point of this post.
In Part One, I wrote about a few different questions we ask ourselves: What questions, How questions, and Why questions.
I'd like to combine those questions with the job, career, or calling question.
If you're unsure whether you're in a job, a career, or your calling, here's a possible way to find out:
If you're in a job, your primary concern may be with what you're doing. The tasks themselves. Perhaps it's a particular craft and your focus is to develop the skills of that craft.
If you're in a career, your primary concern may be with how you're doing it. Namely, how can you be doing it differently than someone else in a similar career. You've already got some of those fundamental what skills down, so now it's about the process.
If you're in a calling, your primary concern is why you're doing it. It's beyond tasks, it's beyond process, it's about purpose. Interestingly, I think at this stage, you fall more deeply in love with both the tasks and the processes, because you're so clear on the purpose.
I will leave you, dear reader, with the same question as before, adjusted only slightly:
Do you care about what you're doing, how you're doing it, or why you do it?
