DISCOVER YOUR CALLING: THE LIFE'S TASK

 

Among his various possible beings each man always finds one which is his genuine and authentic being. The voice that calls him to that authentic being is what we call ‘vocation’. But the majority of men devote themselves to silencing that voice of the vocation and refusing to hear it. They manage to make a noise within themselves… to distract their own attention in order not to hear it and they defraud themselves by substituting for their genuine delves a false course of life.

-Jose Ortega Y Gasset

Many of the greatest masters in the world experienced some kind of force or voice or sense of destiny that guided them forward. For Socrates, it was his daemon (a voice that he heard, perhaps from the gods, which inevitably spoke to him in the negative- telling him about the things to avoid). Such feelings can be seen as purely mystical, hallucinations or delusions. But they can be explained in a certain way:
All of us are born unique and far all of us, this uniqueness comes to play in our primal childhood through certain inclinations, for da Vinci it was exploring the natural world and bringing it to life on paper. This primal uniqueness naturally wants to assert and express itself but some experience it more strongly than others. In masters it is strong that it feels like something that has its own reality.

It can be understood in the following way: At birth you are a seed that is planted. That seed is your uniqueness, it has a natural, assertive energy to it. Your Life’s Task is to bring that seed to flower, to express your uniqueness through your work. You have a destiny to fulfill. The stronger you feel and maintain it, the higher the chances of you fulfilling this Life’s Task and achieving mastery. What weakens this force, what makes you not feel it or even doubt its existence is the degree to which you have succumbed to another force in life- social pressures to conform. Unconsciously you might feel that want makes you feel different is embarrassing and painful. Sometimes even your parents can act as a counterforce, they may seek to direct you to a career path that is lucrative and comfortable. If these counterforces become strong enough, they can make you lose contact with your uniqueness. Your inclinations and desires become modeled on those of others.

This sets you off on a path that you do not desire, your desire and interest slowly wane and your work suffers for it. You come to see pleasure and success as something that comes from outside of work. Because you are increasingly less engaged in your career you fall back from others and fail to pay attention to the changes that are happening in your field- you fall behind and you pay a price for this.     

AT ALL COST YOU MUST AVOID SUCH A FATE

The process for realizing your Life’s Task comes in three stages: first, you must connect or reconnect with your inclinations, that sense of uniqueness. Search for the signs of inner force and clear away the other voices that might confuse you- parents or peers.

Second, with this connection established, you must look on a career path you are already on or are about to begin. Too often we make a separation in our lives- there is work and there is life outside work. It is seen as a means of making money so that we can live a second life where we find pleasure and fulfillment. This is a depressing attitude because in the end we spend a substantial amount of our lives working. If we just spend these times to get through then it would be a tragic waste of the short time that we have to live on this planet.

Instead, you must see your work as a kind of vocation. The meaning of the word “vocation” in its truest sense is to call or to be called. In early Christianity, certain people were called to a life in the Church; that was their vocation. The voice in this case that is calling you is not coming from God it is coming from deep within, it emanates from your individuality, it tells you which activities suit your character and a certain point it calls you to be a part of a certain path or career. Your work is then something connected to deeply who you are. You develop a sense of your vocation.

Thirdly and lastly, you must see your career and journey as something more of a vocational path with twists and turns rather than a straight line. You don’t have to start with something lofty or very ambitious, you should first make a living and build some confidence. Continue to learn more about yourself and expand your skill set. Eventually, you will hit upon an opportunity, a field or niche that suits you perfectly. In a world where we cannot control so much, this will bring you an ultimate form of power. You will determine your circumstances and will be no longer subject to the whims of tyrannical bosses or scheming peers.  

What we lack most in the modern world is a sense of a larger purpose to our lives. Feeling that we are called to accomplish something is the most positive way for us to supply this sense of purpose and direction. We thrive by the collective activity of people supplying their individual talents.

Some 2,600 years ago the ancient Greek poet Pindar wrote, “Become who you are by learning who you are”. What he meant was that you are born with a particular makeup and tendencies that mark you as a piece of fate. Some people never become who they are, they conform to the tastes of others, and they end up wearing a mask that hides their true nature. If you allow yourself to learn who you are really by paying attention to that voice and force within you, then you become what you were fated to become- an individual, a Master.  

SOURCE: MASTERY BY ROBERT GREENE