154: Vocation and Identity: Interview with Dan Cumberland
It's really frustrating when you don't enjoy your calling or you struggle to find your calling in the first place. Sadly, many of us have been thinking about calling all wrong. Some people talk about missing their calling and continue to go through the mo
It's endlessly frustrating when you don't enjoy the work you're doing while wondering what you're really called to do. But maybe many of us have been thinking about vocation all wrong.
Some people miss their purpose in life and continue to go through the motions of life until they take the aching in their heart to the grave. As Henry David Thoreau once said:
The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.
But what if your calling was right under your nose? What if it wasn't something you were obligated to do, but something you freely enjoyed? This week on The Portfolio Life, our guest coaches people through the process of discovering meaning in their life and work.
Dan Cumberland proposes that while calling is about identity and work, it does not contain the whole of who we are and the meaning we bring to the world. Listen in as Dan and I talk about the definition of vocation, the pitfalls of external pressure, and why you may not be surprised by your life's work.
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Show highlights
In this episode, Dan and I discuss:
What does calling mean
Unpacking what it looks like to coach people to help them find their calling
Struggling with comparison to high achieving family pressure
Pursuing ministry as a vocation and discovering it wasn't a fit
Why a calling isn't like getting struck by lightning
How to stop waiting for an epiphany and discover your calling
Finding alignment between what you do and what is meaningful for you
Imagining what it looks like to have fun in your work
Breaking down the dichotomy of arguments around calling
Rejecting the traditional models of a calling
Landing a client while working at a pizzeria
The four progressive steps of exploring your calling
Why most people are not surprised by their calling
A big obstacle that keeps many people from finding their calling
The gap between what you want to do and what you're actually doing
Quotes and takeaways
If you hate your calling, it's not your calling.
Your calling is something you choose to do, accept, and enjoy.
"Grow and increase the things you're doing that already bring meaning into your life." --Dan Cumberland
"The words we use to describe something shape our experience of it." --Dan Cumberland
"How you tell the stories that shaped you profoundly impact the way you think about who you are." --Dan Cumberland
[share-quote author="Dan Cumberland" via="JeffGoins"]Your calling is so much bigger than any one job can contain.
Resources
Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
The Art of Work by Jeff Goins
Podcast sponsor: Real Artists Don't Starve
Click here to download a free PDF of the complete interview transcript.
What stories are you telling yourself about your calling? How does the prospect of enjoying your work change how you think about calling? Share in the comments.