TACKLING MY CALLING

​

​

With a glass of pinot in hand the other evening, I read an article on TED about finding your calling. The graph at the top caught my eye. Honing in on the little white triangle labelled “your calling!” while absentmindedly swirling my glass, I had a moment of crystal-clear-clarity. “I one HUNDRED percent have found my calling,” screamed the the voice inside my head with liquid confidence.

The article was an “if this, then that” checklist. “That” = you're doing your thing, girl.

So naturally, searching for self-validation and to prove myself right, I went for it and documented my thoughts to be sure. 

1. Your calling is at the intersection of a Venn diagram of three things: doing something you’re good at, feeling appreciated, and believing your work is making people’s lives better.

This is true. My strengths are most-things-to-do-with-words and concepting by connecting snippets of ideas with Brand new ideas. The more I do it, the easier it comes. I feel appreciated when I put days and nights into brainstorms that result in cracker ideas. And yes, advertising does have the power to make people’s lives better by raising awareness, changing perceptions, and educating. Great campaigns entertain, evoke empathy, keep people loyal, and challenge them to try new things. Lives bettered.

2. Your calling often comes out of difficult experiences.

Early on, I wasn't sure how my passions and strengths added up career-wise, so I went through some very uncertain times trying to figure it out, daydreaming about being a babysitter on a Hollywood A-lister's mega yacht in France. All the while in reality I was making smoothies at Boost and trying my hand at Art History. Good to know I'll never be an Art Historian though, thanks life. 

3. Fighting for your calling often takes courage and ruffles feathers.

Ok I'll admit it - if I were a very stressed Account Director working 'round the clock and the Account Exec I'd just spent a year training kept hassling me to move into the be-all-end-all Creative Department, I would have been a bit miffed too. 

4. Other people often nudge you toward your calling.

You could say I was "nudged". Or I could tell you that when I was still an actual teenager, Mum drove me to an agency, dropped me out the front and said I couldn't come home til I'd haggled for 'work experience'. That's how much she thought it was my thing. 

5. What comes after identifying your calling is what really matters.

When I walked in to my first creative agency, everything clicked, and from that moment on, it’s been a mad dash in the right direction. 

6. Age is irrelevant.

My friend pointed out that I've been saying "let's have a wine" like a classy Eastern Suburbs grandma a lot lately... if that means I'm getting old fine, but I really don't care. 

7. Your calling often doesn’t come with a big paycheck.

As long as I can pay for my pasta problem I'm happy as Larry. 

 

 

 

Nice one. Looks like i've nailed it.