Calling vs Career:
Published:Wednesday | June 30, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Glenford Smith, Career Writer Email: glenfordsmith@yahoo.com
Which should you choose?
Picture double Olympic record holder Usain Bolt lying in bed at six o'clock on a cold, snowing morning in Europe, hours before a big 100-metre race.
His alarm sounds loudly. He opens his eyes, groans, and curses under his breath before violently hurling the alarm clock to the floor. He pulls the covers back over his head, closes his eyes, and goes back to sleep.
Thirty minutes later he gets up, stretches, and glumly shuffles off to the bathroom.
Imagine him saying: "Oh hell! Another lousy day of running. I wish I were back in Jamaica. I'm fed up with sprinting. I can't wait for the day I won't have to run in front of an entire stadium of boisterous track and field fanatics!"
Doesn't quite ring true, does it? That's because athletics is more than Bolt's job. It's not merely a career. It's his calling.
Here's the difference.
The word career derives from the French word carrière, meaning a racecourse. Hence the idea of referring to the work world as the rat race.
Bestselling Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki based the design of his famous Cashflow educational board game upon this understanding.
AIM
The aim of the game is to get out of the 'rat race' on to the 'fast track' of financial freedom.
The word 'calling', comes from the Latin vocare, meaning to call. A calling is synonymous with one's vocation. The idea is usually confined to religious, artistic, or extremely public-spirited individuals.
Most people would have no trouble thinking of doctors, priests, social workers, missionaries, or musicians as pursuing a calling.
However, they would consider it odd to describe a mechanic, banker, hairdresser, or barber as following a calling. They have a career or job, most would say.
This distinction misses the point entirely.
No type of work is intrinsically a career or a calling. What determines whether it's a career or a calling is the motivation, and the resulting attitude with which you undertake your daily work.
Take two teachers, for instance. Both teach math. One hates the job, constantly complains about the students, and can't wait for Fridays and the 25th of each month to come. The other can't wait for Monday morning, and routinely spends lunch breaks and evenings helping students without even getting paid for these extra hours.
Teaching is a career for the one, and a calling for the other.
Passion, commitment, purpose - these define a calling. The motivation is a 'call' from deep within. A career, however, is primarily concerned with achieving external rewards - money, status, approval.
Edmond Szekely captures the distinction well: "The majority work to make a living; some work to acquire wealth or fame, while a few work because there is something within them that demands expression."
Making a living is fine. Wealth and fame are great. If, however, there's an unquenchable desire seeking to burst forth from within, it may be time to say yes to your calling.
Glenford Smith is an author, motivational speaker and personal-achievement strategist. glenfordsmith@yahoo.com.
Workshops and seminars
JUNE 30
COK Solidarity Co-operative Credit Union hosts third bi-monthly 'recession-proof seminar, COK HELPS - Helping through Empowerment, Learning and Practical Steps, at Medallion Hall Hotel, Hope Road, St Andrew, 5:30 p.m.
JULY 2
CARA Limited workshops on Crisis Management and Oral Communication, July 2-3 'Business Writing Essentials', at the Hilton Kingston hotel, New Kingston, 8:30 a.m.
JULY 4
The 24th annual VMBS' 'Marriage and the Family' seminar series, at Golf View Hotel, Mandeville, Manchester.
JULY 8
Synergy Communications workshop on 'Developing a Cost-Effective and Competitively Viable Brand-Marketing Plan', at The Courtleigh Hotel, New Kingston, 8:30 a.m.
JULY 10
University of Technology Jamaica College of Health Sciences hosts Annual Health Professionals Conference, July 10-11, at University of Technology, Papine campus, Old Hope Road, St Andrew.
JULY 13
International Best Practice Network seminar 'Practice in Fleet Management', July 13-14.
JULY 15
Jamaica Stock Exchange awards ceremony for the Market Research Competition 2009 and Stock Market Game 2009-10, at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel, St Andrew, 2:30 p.m.
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