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THERE IS SOMETHING you can do that
would make you happy and make you a good living. You may not
believe that, and in fact, it’s not true. But it’s
not false either. It is only a useful idea to hold as you try
to find your mission in life. Holding that idea will help it
come true.
The perfect career for you: 1) needs to
be something you like to do, and 2) it will have to be something
worthwhile — something needed and wanted in the world.
If you don’t like to do your work,
you won’t be happy, even when you’re off work. Not
only that, but you aren’t likely to work hard enough at
it to succeed. And if your work isn’t worthwhile, it’ll
feel as though life is empty and has no meaning.
Here is a powerful method of discovering
what your mission is: For the next two weeks, every time you
notice you’re feeling good about life and about yourself,
take a moment to write out the answers to the following questions:
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1. Where are you? |
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2. What are you doing? |
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3. Who are you with? |
GET AS MANY of these written “snapshots”
as you can in the next two or three weeks. Then go through them
and see if you can find the commonalities. What are some general
themes common to most or all of them? Try to find out what actions
make you happy. Happiness is an indicator of where your interests
and purposes lie buried. It sometimes helps to have a trusted
friend look them over too. She might see something you don’t
see.
Remember Ernest Shackleton, the expedition leader
of the ship Endurance? When he was young, a shipmate of
his wrote:
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When he was on the subject that... appealed
to his imagination, his voice changed to a deep vibrant tone,
his features worked, his eyes shone, and his whole body seemed
to have received an increase of vitality... Shackleton on these
occasions...was not even the same man who perhaps ten minutes
earlier was spouting lines from Keats or Browning... |
THIS IS AN excellent description of what
someone can see from the outside. When you’re talking about
a subject related to your strongest interest, people can see
it — you come alive! Ask your friends to not only look at
your notebook, but to tell you when they notice you brighten
up significantly. It will give you a good indication of where
your strongest interests lie.
Whatever you find as a theme common to
the times you are happy and animated, you can assume it is in
the direction of your mission in life. It is in a direction that
is right for you.
Now put more of it in your life.
Gradually add more of it...maybe an hour of it every week for
the next month or two. Then make it two hours a week. Keep adding
more, pursuing your interest. The whole tone of your life will
rise, and you’ll be happier.
Find something you like to do
that is needed
and wanted. Put more of it in your life.
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