Job, Career, or Life Mission

Do your days consist of a job, a career, or a life mission? Or are you one of the lucky ones who have combined all three?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes “job” as:

1. a: a regular remunerative position
b: a specific duty, role, or function
c: something that has to be done or an undertaking requiring unusual exertion

It describes a “career” as:

1. a field for or pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional, or business life

2. a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling

Life Mission isn’t defined in the dictionary but, to me, is by far the most important. Rachel Dresdale wrote an article, How Your Life’s Mission Statement Will Guide You To Greater Work-Life Balance, in which she states:

A personal mission statement can act as your “north star” throughout the twists and turns of life.

The good news is, your job and/or your career can align with your life’s mission, but first you must take some time to know what that mission looks like. Once you’ve figured that out, write it down and post it somewhere that you will see it often. Often as in every day.

Helping other people and being of service to those in need is top of my list. My “job,” what I do every day, is help victims of crime. My “career,” what I went to school for and for which I got my degree, is a paralegal. As a paralegal, I help victims see justice at the lowest, often most painful times of their lives. Knowing I’m helping them, serving the greater good of the community by helping convict the “bad guys,” makes me one happy camper. Not to mention fulfilled, because it serves my life mission. It also explains why I’ve stayed employed at the DA’s office longer than any other “Job” I’ve ever had.

Add to that my avocation, defined by Merriam-Webster as:

1: a subordinate occupation pursued in addition to one’s vocation especially for enjoyment.

My avocation is writing. When I’m not spending time with family or necessary obligations, evenings and weekends are spent pursuing my avocation. Writing is what fills my energy and mental tank, and gives me another avenue in which to serve, but this time by entertaining people. My avocation aligns with my life’s mission, which isn’t surprising since avocations are driven by passion and passion drives our life mission.

My challenge to you is to take the time needed to come up with your life mission. If your job and/or career don’t align with that mission, maybe it’s time to change. We spend so much time at our day job, and if you’re not doing what is important to you, you’re not living your best life possible. And living your best life is the best gift you can give yourself and everyone else in your life.

Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier & healthier life. 
― Germany Kent