Question: I have been working as a manager for twenty years, and feel the need to make some changes in my life. How do I find my calling?
Answer: I am often asked to coach people on finding their calling and creating a vision. It’s a subject which often stirs up a lot of emotion, especially if we are dissatisfied with our lives but don’t know what to do next. 
What Is A Calling?
Let’s first define what a Calling is. We are “called forth” throughout our lives in order to delve more deeply into our soul and step into a higher purpose. A Calling has spiritual and mythological dimensions characterized by a strong inner impulse toward a course of action that would benefit others.
The Call begins with a yearning, a crisis or an ideal that insists on being, when our world as we know it is no longer fulfilling or endurable and it’s time to change.
Answering the Call takes us on a journey of transformation that resembles the Hero’s Journey described by Joseph Campbell:
1. Stepping into the unknown
2. Facing trials and tribulations
3. Undergoing transformation and receiving a ‘boon’
4. Returning to the ordinary world with a desire to share our gifts and talents
Fulfillment ultimately comes from helping others and making a difference in peoples lives. It doesn’t necessarily mean we have to change careers, or even have a job, but we must operate from a different level of consciousness in order to evolve.
How to Find Your Calling
Aristotle said it succinctly: "Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, lies your calling."
When I first wondered about my own calling, I thought it meant I’d have to go to Africa to be a missionary. I learned it would only be my calling if it were something I wanted to do.
My Calling emerged as a result of overcoming a personal creative block and having a strong desire to liberate creativity in others.
After a few years it evolved through my interests in artistry and leadership, into pioneering arts-based learning as a catalyst for leadership development and transformational change in organizations.
Don’t Just Follow Your Bliss, Follow Your Tears
The root of passion comes from the word 'passio,' Latin for suffering.
Ken Gire, in his book Windows of the Soul said, “So much is distilled in our tears…not the least of which is wisdom in living life. I have learned that if you follow your tears, you will find your heart. And if you find your heart, you will find what is dear to God. And if you find what is dear to God, you will find the answer to how you should live your life.”
Keeping A Vision Journal
Exploring what your vision could be will help you discover your calling.
Explore your interests and passions. What did you love to do as child? Your childhood passions are the clue finding your gifts and talents. What activities produce timeless states of flow - of being completely absorbed, focused, and energized? What do you wish you had more time for?
When you think of the needs of ___________ (your community, workplace, environment, health, education etc.) where do you feel compelled to participate? How would you finish this sentence? Something must be done about _____________.
Name your gifts, talents, and strengths; your natural aptitude or skills for doing something well. We tend to discount things we do easily, but these are the source of our natural genius. If you don’t know what your gifts are, ask others what you do well.
Explore you values: What do you most want to be known for? What really matters? Every time we experience a crisis in a relationship, health, finances or matters of the Soul, we have to question what really matters and evolve .
Dare To Dream
Allow yourself time to play, reflect, and dream. Explore the whispers in your heart of hearts that give life to your hopes and dreams. What is calling you forth? Imagine you are the artist of your life and unfurled before you is the canvass of your future. What would make your life’s work a masterpiece?
Write out your vision and add pictures to it. Craft your vision statement so it is robust, imaginative, and achievable.
Affirm that you now attract the right people and resources to help you make your vision a reality. Revise, renew and refine your vision at least once a year.
Take Action
Patanjali, author of The Yoga Sutras, advised: "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."
When we heed the Call we say yes to life, love, passion, and to contributing our gifts towards the betterment of humanity.