“So if you’re feeling a little bit restless in mid-career, not sure what to do next, this will explain the psychology behind all of this. Why you’re feeling restless, why you’re maybe yearning for something else. It’ll also describe why you should take that seriously, what to do about it, and the barriers you’re likely to face along the way.
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This study explores the concept of calling at work. It begins by looking at the definition of a calling, reflecting on motivation at work, the religious background of the concept of calling and the constituent parts of a calling: inner drive in a particular direction, the prosocial contribution and alignment with one’s strengths or issues one feels are important.
Career change and behavioural models are explored to understand a sense of calling. Measurement scales are also reviewed to identify those who might benefit from following their calling, how they are motivated and the need for intrinsic meaning. The study reviews the benefits of following a calling, the challenges individuals face, and the techniques scholars recommend in its pursuit. (more…)
In the 1930s, the economist John Maynard Keynes suggested that in a hundred years’ time, we’d all be working 15-hour work weeks or a 3-hour workday because of advances in productivity. Keynes predicted that we’d all have a lot more leisure time due to our material needs being met.
Interestingly, he also referred to the “Man’s dilemma” of knowing what to do with oneself when you have so much leisure time. A “sense of dread” because people were so busy striving and not used to the “age of leisure”. How does one occupy oneself when working only 3 hours a day? (more…)
My previous article discussed how values could make or break your career. In this follow-up article, I will cover identifying your values.
First of all, it’s worth reflecting on how our values develop. Your personal values can be shaped by your culture, family, upbringing, friends, community, education, personal experiences, media, influencers or role models. (more…)
When embarking on a career transition or considering what career to pursue, I believe assessing your values and strengths is the first foundational step.
In this article, I’ll outline the power clarity over your values can deliver for your choices – potentially making or breaking a career. In a follow-up article, I’ll cover how to discover your values. (more…)
When I started my mid-life awakening in October 2021, I remember receiving two standout pieces of advice:
Wow, Looking back, how spot-on these guys were. (more…)
We’ve covered how people are motivated at work in previous posts. External things that happen as a result of work (Salary, perks, recognition) drive some people, whilst the satisfaction of the work itself guides others. See “Jobs, Careers and Callings” and “How to harness true inner direction and ignore ego-driven goals”.
So I was keen to read Daniel H. Pink’s 2009 book “Drive – the surprising truth about what motivates us”. (more…)
If you are a mid-career professional in an established role, don’t be surprised if you face a little resistance to changing careers!
The 10 elements below might prevent you from pursuing a calling and ending any frustration you might feel with your current role.
Some common challenges include: (more…)
In a previous post, I mentioned how a person’s occupation can be a job, career, or calling. In summary, I said that a job is something you do for money, a career offers recognition and progress, and a calling involves a strong sense of purpose, it lights you up. Read more about the three types here: https://northstarlabs.co.uk/jobs-careers-callings/.
Within these three roles, it’s important to understand the underlying motivation. Psychologists refer to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation about why we are driven towards such work. (more…)
The world observed Holocaust Memorial Day this week. A day chosen, on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.
As the world reflects on this savage event in history, I recalled “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. It is one of my all time favourite books, a deeply personal and profound exploration of the human experience of suffering and the search for purpose and meaning in life. (more…)
Whether your work is a Job, Career or Calling is very much down to your point of view. One man’s calling is another man’s drudgery.
University of Bedfordshire, 1994
It’s my first semester at University when I stumble across a noticeboard advert for a charity parachute jump.
Signing up for it would have meant eating into about a month’s worth of my meagre living allowance. So I had to find a way to scrape the money together.
May 2021, Swindon, Dent Zoom Call
I’m on a zoom call with fifty-odd other entrepreneurs enjoying a business accelerator.
It’s an excellent experience, but something isn’t sitting right.
For the maths minded like me. There is nothing like a good Venn Diagram to help understanding.
A Venn is used to describe how concepts intersect, described below via the wonderful medium of pancakes!
Winter 1993, Basingstoke, UK.
I did ok at secondary school but generally didn’t pay enough attention and drifted along.
I ended up with mediocre grades, just enough to scrape into A’ Levels.
Easter 2005. Tignes, France.
It’s April 2005 and I’m skiing with friends in the French Alps. I’ve just left my steady job at a software company to stumble into entrepreneurship. There wasn’t any great plan or well thought out strategy, I had a few irons in fires here and there, but mostly I was just bursting with desire to do it.
I had two ambitions when I was younger. The first was to go to University, and the second was to run my own business. I didn’t care what the business was, it could be making lampposts or bottle tops, I just wanted to run it.
I’m 8 years old walking home from school with my friend Jamie.
We’re walking along a pathway that cuts through our housing estate. The sort of path that passes by everyone’s back fence.
There is an open bit of scrubland along the path and I find a Tesco bag in the long grass.
I couldn’t tell you why I was looking, just the curious mind of a young boy idly walking home from school I guess – but inside the Tesco bag is something wrapped in a blood stained sheet.
I’m now in my third week of taking time out. I’ve carved out two and a half days of my working week to do other stuff.
There has been the odd small encroachment when “work” has bled into my “discovery” time, but overall, I’ve stuck to it and I’m loving it. Thanks to my amazing team for giving me the freedom to do it.
Firstly, thank you to everyone who provided feedback to my first blog post.
As a brand new blog, I was expecting to be blogging into a black hole for a while, so I was pleasantly surprised that finding an itch to scratch resonated with your own experiences.
I can see it in my mind’s eye as though it was yesterday. I’m sitting alone in the dunes overlooking the sea in a small town called Avalon in the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia.