3 Steps to Find Your Calling

I listened to a talk recently by Matt Tuggle, who is one of the pastors at my church. The topic was about finding our calling in life.

Finding Your Calling Can Be Tough

Finding your calling can be difficult. I know a lot of people who struggle with work, vocation, and finding meaning in their lives. People have a lot of questions about this. For example:

“I like my job ok, but I don’t love it. Is my calling somewhere else?”

“I love [fill in the blank], but I can’t seem to make any money at it. What should I do?”

“I really enjoy [fill in the blank], but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with God or church. Is that ok, or does my calling need to be more spiritual?”

“I majored in psychology and now I don’t know what to do.” 🙂

How to Find It

Matt had an interesting thought about finding your calling, and I’d like to share it with you. He said that to find your calling, you should seek out the intersection of what makes your heart break and what makes your heart beat.

Heart Break

First, find what makes your heart break. There are so many things that are broken in this world. Some people don’t have enough to eat. Other people don’t have access to clean water. Still others are the victims of abuse or neglect. And the list goes on. What is the one thing about the world that breaks your heart the most?

Heart Beat

Second, find what makes your heart beat. What kinds of things do you enjoy doing? What kinds of activities energize you? What are you good at? It’s important to pay attention to the things that get you going and make you feel alive.

Find the Intersection

Third, find the intersection. What is the overlap between the thing that makes your heart break and the thing that makes your heart beat? It’s probably a good bet that your calling falls somewhere in that intersection.

Action Step

Spend 15 minutes thinking and journaling about your calling. First, spend 5 minutes on what makes your heart break. Second, spend 5 minutes on what makes your heart beat. Third, spend 5 minutes on where the intersection might be.