ASK THE COACH
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Career Decisions: Choose a Vocation, Not a Job
By Dr. Ray Angelini
The Saratogian
March 16, 2004
Dear Dr. Ray,
I am a senior at a local college and am beginning to make decisions regarding my future career options. What advice do you have regarding making good career choices?
— R.B. in Saratoga
Dear R.B.,
Your choice of career will be one of the most important decisions that you make in your life, so it is important that you choose well.
Our work should be much more than what we do in order to make money. Most of us will spend the lion's share of our lives working, so it is critical for our being to be happy and fulfilled in what we do.
Sigmund Freud stated that to be happy in life, we needed to be "happy in love and happy in work."
Our work affects who we are because it is where we invest our time. The more time we spend doing something, the more we imbue it with our consciousness. That to which we give our consciousness and awareness ultimately expands, and thus our work will ultimately fill our lives with the reality that it represents.
When choosing a career, be sure to look beyond the surface attractions. Give serious consideration to what the job entails on a regular basis and be sure that this is the way you want to spend your time.
If you fail to give these factors careful consideration, your job will become restricting and self-limiting, instead of a vehicle for the expression of your deepest desires and beliefs.
When choosing a career, you will find more happiness and fulfillment if you think of it as a vocation. The word vocation comes from the Latin word for "calling," which comes from the word for voice. Thus, your career should be something that gives "voice" to who you are and what you wish to express to the world.
Gandhi once said, "You must be the change you seek in the world."
Ideally, our vocation should be a vehicle to make this change a reality. Finding a vocation is often not easy. We can't really decide what career we want just by thinking about it. We have to try it out and see how it fits.
Give yourself the opportunity to let your work take you over until it becomes you and you become it. Only then can you truly decide whether to embrace it or abandon it.
So, follow your heart and soul's desire and do what they tell you to do. No amount of security or wealth is worth ignoring your heart and soul's desire.
Choose a vocation and not a job, and your life will never be the same.
