I know you want your dream job, but how do you find your calling? That’s the question you need to ask that will lead you to your dream job.

Don’t be ashamed if you still don’t know what your calling is.  It’s a question kids are asked all the time, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” So asking yourself that question as an adult seems like you are so far behind. But, better to ask yourself that question now than five more years stuck in a job that is definitely not your dream job. Now is the time to start taking action to figure out what your calling is.

The hardest part of figuring out your calling is that you won’t find it during an online job search or during an interview at a company.  Instead, you have to do some self-reflection to figure out what your calling is.  Yes, you can use trial and error to figure it out but that can take a lot of time and you might regret it in 20 years. Many people get stuck in jobs they hate because they take that first one that just comes their way without going through these steps to make sure they really know what their calling is. So set a date in your calendar to do some serious thinking and go through the below steps. 

Here are 5 ways to find your calling:

1: Look At Your Previous Career Experiences

What did you like and what did you not like in all of the career experiences that you have had so far? We want to make sure we get you into a career filled with the things that you did like….not the things you hated. Also make sure you think of internships and volunteer activities that you have done in the past.  These don’t have to be things that you are an expert at or pay you a ton of money. They could be hobbies and things that you would do for hours and hours!

When I did this exercise, I discovered that I loved the training and mentoring aspect of my job.  I disliked the financial management and excel spreadsheets that made my brain hurt.

2: Determine Your Values

In order to have a happy, successful and fulfilling life, you must act upon your values, both in your personal life and at work. Taking your values into account when you choose a career could be the most important factor that determines whether you will or won’t be satisfied.

Ask yourself, “What are the most important things in your life right now? What are the most important things that you would like in your career?”

Your values can change throughout your career so don’t worry if you value your family more now then when you graduated from college and you valued money more. Everyone is different so think carefully about what you value most about your life and work.

3: Determine Your Mission and Purpose

Here’s one of my favorite quotes about your purpose and existence on this Earth:

“We do not exist for the sole purpose of paying our bills, grooming our kids to be able to do the same, and, maybe, someday, retiring to finally enjoy life, should we ever reach that point.  We are here to let our lights shine as brightly as possible, to drink in the joy of friendship and family, to serve and better the greater community and to tap into and inspire passion in everything we do.  We are here to come alive.” – Jonathan Fields

Finding purpose and meaning is the #1 reason that people recently had changed or would like to change their careers. This is really about WHY you wake up and go to work in the morning. Each person needs to have that passion and purpose for doing the work we do otherwise our jobs will get boring fast.  Ask yourself, “Are you put here on this Earth for some special purpose to do some unique work that only you can accomplish?”

4: Determine Your Favorite Skills

A skill is an ability or expertise.  A favorite skill is a skill that you not only possess but you are also interested in and willing to use.  This is the difference between a skill and a favorite skill. In your current job right now, you might be really skilled at it, but you hate it.  This is how it was for me. I was great at financial management and I could make beautiful excel pivot tables in my sleep but I hated it.

When we are good at something, it is easy for us to get promoted and stick with it even though we hate it. You have to really look within to determine what those skills are that you are both good at AND love to do.

5: Determine Your Ideal Workday and Ideal Work Environment

This is my favorite thing to do with my clients! Visualizing your ideal workday will give you valuable information to use in developing your career plan and  it will help you become more targeted about your career goals. Many people just fall into their first jobs and all jobs thereafter. Most people don’t give themselves the opportunity to really think about what their ideal workday would look like.  Does your day end and do you say, “Geez, where did the day go?!”  You might be a victim of having your day happen to you, instead of doing what YOU want in your day.

This step is so important to me personally because I still have my ideal workday written out from a few years back. Right now and I am finally living my ideal workday every day.  The same thing can and will happen to you if you start with these five steps today.