How to Find Your True Calling in Business

Doesn’t it just get your goat, those people who seem to know, unerringly, what they’re supposed to be doing in the world?

They come up with a focus for their business without blood, sweat and tears, and they move forward.

You, on the other hand, can’t help feeling blue because you can’t settle in. “Is (massage for infants, corporate team-building, selling t-shirts) what I’m really supposed to be doing? What if this isn’t my True Calling?”

Spiritual exercises don’t help the situation. You do all the prayer, meditation and soul-searching you can stand without losing your cookies, and still the answer isn’t clear.

Is it possible to ever be clear about your True Calling?

What happens to you in deeper spiritual experiences? Do these words from a member of The Business Oasis, our online business community, sound familiar?

“…the problem is that everything that comes up [about her business focus] just expands so much, then disappears merging at the heart, until I end up sitting in bliss!! Then I feel that there is nothing to do and on one level I know there isn’t!” Kinda makes the process of finding your True Calling frustrating, doesn’t it?

Annihilation, then subsistence. The Sufi teachings explain spiritual progress in two major pieces: first we ‘annihilate’- the disappearing that our member above mentioned. After the disappearance, some part of our ego has been cleared.

That helps in the subsistence: our attention comes back to our body and the physical three-dimensional world around us, and we move with that openness in our heart.

Your True Calling is to presence your Jewel. In the free workbook you received when you subscribed (there’s a link at the end if you haven’t seen it) I detail an exercise called ‘Unveiling Your Jewel.’ This exercise helps you to discover the unique way your heart expresses the Divine.

When people go through this exercise, many comment that “Oh, I don’t have to -do- anything. I can just be who I am, and that makes a difference!” Sure, you may know this, but to get that at a deep, in-your-gut-and-heart-level, brings a sense of peace and clarity that is often lacking in our modern lives.

And not just for you, but for everyone who comes into contact with you, or your business. This effect is very noticeable when you’re in the presence of spiritual masters like my Sufi sheikh, the Dalai Lama, or others. Merely being in the room with one of them allows you to experience a deeper sense of yourself and of peace and love.

That’s all that’s needed.

Uh, but nobody’s going to pay me to sit around in robes. Nope, they aren’t. But, guess what? Since your True Calling is already handled, merely by you taking on the commitment to show up with your Jewel in the world, then you’re free.

That’s right. You’re free to choose whatever you want to do. Where you focus in your business is just a choice, without all the heavy overtones of needing to be a ‘True Calling.’

Carpenter, shepherd, merchant. Some of the biggest names in spiritual awareness, Jesus, Abraham, and Mohammad, had pretty humble, everyday sort of vocations. Who says you need to have the exact right thing to be in your True Calling?

So, how does being a spiritual presence in life match up with some ordinary task like being a merchant? And how do you choose to be a merchant in the first place?

Keys to Finding a Home for Your True Calling.

• Pick something you just plain enjoy doing.

If you hate what you do, or are doing it because you think you ’should’ then it’s going to be really hard to stay in contact with your heart.

On the other hand, if you just plain simple enjoy what your business is about, then it’s going to be much, much easier to express your heart in it. Mother Theresa warned potential volunteers who wanted to come to India to work with her: “If you come, you must come out of love.” She didn’t want anyone who was coming out of a heavy burden of obligation. If they did, how in the heck could they bring love to the people they were helping?

You may be trying to make the world a better place, but you won’t have the impact you want if you are struggling in your heart because you don’t enjoy the work.

• You need to choose. And it’s not a big deal.

This is a place where you get to express your own authority and sovereignty. For some of us, this may be quite a challenge.

Life can be so full, that you may be living most of it in ‘responsive’ mode, and answering the question: “What do you really want to do?” may bring you up short.

So, take the weight off. It’s not a big deal. You can change it later if you find out you don’t like it.

• It’s just your business, not your whole life.

You don’t need to express every last bit of creativity and who you are in your business. You just have to enjoy it, and be willing to bring your heart into it.

Whether you work with horses, do accounting, or repair driveways, if you enjoy the work, and enjoy the results, then you can bring your heart into it. And if you have other creative interests, you can express them in other parts of your life.

Your True Calling has nothing to do with whether you are a tinker, tailor, or candlestick maker. Let your True Calling show up in the world whether you bring your heart. And settle into a business you enjoy, knowing that it’s perfect for you right now.