Name: The Art of Work
Rating: 3.8 (54 reviews)
Author: Jeff Goins

What’s in it for me? Finding your calling and your legacy.

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? Do you struggle to get out of bed and dread yet another unhappy day at work? If so, don’t worry! Many of us feel this way, because many of us haven’t yet found our calling.

Your calling is the reason you get up in the morning, the reason you strive to achieve. When you find yours, you’ll be bounding out of bed everyday, ready to make a difference in the world. These blinks lay out the benefits of finding your calling, and give clear guidelines on how to find it.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

how having a calling can help you live on after death;
why failure can make you a better person; and
why there is no such thing as a self-made man.

Your calling gives your life meaning.

Do you dislike your job? Well, you’re not alone. Only 13 percent of the world’s population actually enjoy their work. So how can we go about changing that statistic? Perhaps by searching for work that makes you happy and refusing to do anything else?

Not exactly. The best way to achieve happiness in the workplace is to find your calling – a force larger than yourself that drives your every action. And to do that, you can’t think only in terms of happiness and pain.

Humans shouldn't be mere pleasure seekers or discomfort avoiders; instead, they should strive to imbue their lives with meaning.

If you’re busy steering clear of pain and failure, you'll never find your calling. Inevitably, you'll face challenges along the way to achieving your dreams, and accepting these difficulties as a natural part of discovering what you really love is part of maintaining forward movement.

Viktor Frankl, the renowned psychologist and Holocaust survivor, knew this well. He wrote that everyone needs a reason to keep living, a cause to push them forward.

But how do you find this cause? That's where awareness comes in. Awareness helps you recognize your calling when you come across it.

People discover their callings when some event or feeling triggers their awareness of it. For instance, Luke Skywalker knew he wanted to be a Jedi after Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced him to the art.

So, though it can be difficult, you need to keep an eye out for this event. Awareness is being ready for the moment so you can seize it when it comes.

Another good way to find your calling is to make a list of all the major events in your life, even the ones that might not seem like the most important. When did you feel the most fulfilled, happy or accomplished? Look for similarities between these moments – your calling might be something that ties them all together.

Find good mentors and never stop practicing.

Finding and following your calling is a personal journey, but that doesn't mean you should do it alone. Getting support from others is a very important part of it!

It's tempting to view successful people as self-made; in reality, however, almost no one achieves success alone. In fact, the most successful people are those who know how to find good coaches and mentors. Mentors guide them as they get closer to their calling.

Key ideas in The Art of Work

What is The Art of Work about?

The Art of Work (2015) is about finding your calling – that special goal that brings you joy and imbues your life with meaning. These blinks will teach you how to find your calling and how to live by it once you've found it. Your calling is the secret to living a fulfilling life – so don't let it get away!