How to find a calling under your nose

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Mark Manson writes books and articles about life, work, results and achievements. Mark has millions of readers whom he was able to teach something useful. There are even more of those who have not learned anything. Today we publish the cry of the author's soul just about such. And if you are looking for your own path in vain, then you are here.

Remember when you were kids? They did what they did. Nobody wondered what are the advantages of playing basketball over playing football. We just ran out into the yard after school and played first football, then basketball. They built sand castles, asked stupid questions, played catch-up, caught bugs and got dirty in puddles.

Note, no one told you that all this needs to be done. But everyone was pushed forward by their own curiosity and enthusiasm. And how great it was: tired of hide and seek - and okay, let's stop playing. No additional complications, feelings of guilt, long arguments and arguments. If you don't like it, don't play.

Whoever liked to catch insects caught them. Nobody was introspective. At least once the question arises in my head: “Is studying insects a natural activity for a child? Nobody in the whole yard catches bugs, maybe something is wrong with me? How will my hobby affect the future?"

Such nonsense did not appear in my head. There would be a desire, but the question "to do or not to do" was not raised.

During the year I received almost 12 thousand letters from people who do not know what to do. And everyone is asking for advice, waiting for me to tell them how to find a business that they will do with all their passion.

I, of course, do not answer. Why? Because how do I know ?! If you have no idea what to do with yourself, then where does this concept come from some guy with a website? I write articles, but I do not predict the future.

But I still want to say something.

You don't know what to do. And this ignorance is all the salt. Life is so arranged that no one knows, but everyone does. This is exactly how it is.

And nothing changes if you suddenly realize how much you love the work of a sewer or dream of writing scripts for auteur cinema.

All these dunno people think that they just need to find their calling.

Full hello. You have already found it, but stubbornly ignore it. Seriously, you are awake 16 hours a day, what are you doing all this time? You are doing something, talking about something. There is some topic that sits in your head, prevails in conversations, takes up your free time. You read about something on the Internet. Pay attention to something, look for information.

Everything is under your nose, but you turn away. It doesn't matter why, but you don't want to notice. Well, yes, just say: “I love reading comics, but that doesn't count. You can't make money on this."

What are you talking about! Have you even tried?

The root of all evil is not a lack of passion or passion. Here's your productivity problem. With the perception of the obvious, with the acceptance of reality.

Problems in the head:

• Oh, this is all unreal.
• Mom will kill me, I have to go to a doctor.
• Well, you can't make money on this BMW.

In general, the vocation has nothing to do with it. Everything is prioritized.

Oh yeah, who said that you definitely have to make money with what you love? Since when did everyone become obliged to love every second of their work? What is wrong with normal work in a good team and free time that you will spend on calling? The world has turned upside down or is it not a new idea?

Here's the bitter truth for you: any job is full of frankly nasty moments. There is no such exciting thing in nature that you will never get tired of, because of which you will not be nervous, about which you will not complain. He is not here.

Personally, I have my dream job. And I never planned that I would do it. I found it by accident, like a child: I took it and started making it. And I still hate 30 percent of what I have to do. And sometimes more.

What can you do, life is like that.

You are expecting too much. Think you will spend 70 hours at work, sleep in the office like Steve Jobs, and enjoy your job every second? Congratulations, you've watched too many motivational films.

If you think you can wake up every day and jump out of your pajamas with joy that you have to go to work, then you cannot be critical at all. These are completely unrealistic assumptions.

Life is different. All that is needed for work is a balance of routine and pleasure.

I have a friend who for the past three years has been trying to build a business on the Internet selling everything. Nothing worked. In the sense that not a single project was launched. Years passed, a friend “worked”, nothing was done.

I remember only one case when he managed to bring the matter to the end. One of my former colleagues ordered a logo design and promotional materials for the event. A friend stuck to the assignment like a fly to sticky tape. How it worked! I got up at four in the morning, worked without a break, every second I just thought about the order. And after the completion of the work he said again: "I don't know what to do now."

How many such people have I met. They do not need to look for their calling, it is in front of them, but no one looks at it. Nobody believes in the vitality of their hobby.

Everyone is afraid to just try.

The analogy is as follows. Imagine a nerd coming to a sports field and saying, "I love bugs, but Major League players are making millions, so I'm going to push myself to play football every day." And then he complains that he does not like the breaks during which he is forced to play sports.

What nonsense. Everyone loves change. But he blindly set himself limits, guided by vague ideas about achieving success.

I also get a bunch of emails asking how to become a writer. My answer is the same: I have no idea.

As a child, I wrote short stories just for fun. As a teenager, I wrote music reviews and essays about my favorite bands, but I never showed my work to anyone. When the internet took over the world, I spent hours posting on forums, making multi-page posts on everything from guitar pickups to the causes of the Iraq war.

I never thought that I would write professionally. I didn't even think it was my hobby or my calling. I thought my passion was what I write about: music, politics, philosophy. And I wrote simply because it was written.

And when the time came to choose a profession that I would love, I did not have to search for a long time. She chose me herself, she was already with me: what I already did every day since I was a child, without even thinking about what I was doing.

Here's another bitter revelation: if you had to look for your calling on the compass, then you were most likely mistaken.

Because if you are obsessed with something, then this is a familiar part of life. And you don't even notice that not everyone is addicted to this and not everyone is interested. Looking from the outside is needed.

It never occurred to me that no one else gets high from long posts on the forums. My friend could not imagine that very few people want to create a logo. For him it is so natural that he does not understand how it could be otherwise. And that's why he should do it.

The child does not think about how to have fun before going out for a walk. Goes and plays.

And if you need to think about what you like, then you may not like anything.

But this is not the case. The truth is, you already love something. You already like very, very much. You just decided not to pay attention to it.