Do You Have A Vocation, Career or Job?

Do You Have A Vocation, Career or Job?

Dan Miller

Are you living out your “calling” or do you just have a job?

These are three words that tend to be used interchangeably - and they shouldn't be. Vocation is the most profound of the three, and it must incorporate Calling, Purpose, Mission and Destiny.  This is the big picture that many people often never identify for themselves.  It's what you're doing in life that makes a difference for you, that builds meaning for you, and that you can look back on in your later years to see the impact you've made on the world. 

Stephen Covey, in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, says that we all want "to live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy."  Our vocation will leave a legacy.  The word “vocation” comes from the Latin "vocare," which means, "to call".  It suggests that you are listening for something that is calling out to you, something that is particular to you.  A calling is something you have to listen for. 

 If one looks at the derivations of the words "vocation" and "career" you will immediately get a feel for the difference between them.  "Career" comes originally from the Latin word for cart and later from the Middle French word for racetrack.  Webster's dictionary defines career as "to run or move at full speed, rush wildly."  In other words, you can go around and around really fast for a long time but never get anywhere.  That is why in today's volatile work environment, even professionals with careers like physician, attorney, CPA, dentist and engineer may choose to get off the expected track and choose another career.  A career is a line of work, but it's not necessarily the only way to fulfill your calling.  You can have different careers at different points in your life. 

Job is the most specific and immediate of the three terms.  It has to do with one's daily activities that produce income or a paycheck.  The dictionary defines "job" as "a lump portion, a task, chore or duty."  In today's rapidly changing workplace, the average job is 3.2 years in length, meaning the average person just entering the workplace will have 14-16 different jobs in his/her working lifetime.  Thus the job surely cannot be the critical definition of one's vocation or calling. 

Ideally, your career will be a subset of your vocation, and your job will be a subset of your career.  As an example, if part of your vocation is to help reduce pain and suffering in the world, you may choose being a nurse as your career.  There are plenty of jobs for nurses.  Thus losing a job should never change your “calling.”  If you are off track in your job, simply go back to your “vocation” to get ideas for a new application of that “vocation.” 

From the Bible:

“I…urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling.”  Ephesians 4:3 (HCSB)

Direction for Today:

Do you know your “Calling” or are you just working a “job?”

Dan Miller is President of The Business Source, founder of "48 Days" and author of 48 Days To The Work You Love and 48 Days To Creative Income. He is the growing authority for creating effective life plans that are achieved by integrating natural gifts, unique personality traits and one's own values and passions. His unique clarification of how God gifts us will introduce you to a new sense of freedom and fulfillment of your life's calling. For more information, visit http://www.48days.com/.