Job. Career. Calling.

2 Key Take-Aways from a TED Talk & 3 Questions to Ask Yourself. #

I recently watched a TED video featuring Stefan Sagmeister, a graphic designer from Austrian who closes his studio in New York every 7 years to take a sabbatical year. Watch the video here

To save you some time watching the 19 minutes video, I wrote two key take-aways from his talk and here they are,

Take-Away Number 1 #

Your job is what you do for money, from 9 to 5 (depends where you live & on your company’s policy) and eventually, you will be always awaiting for TGIF.

Your career is a step above a job where you seek advancement both personally and professionally through promotion or other means.

Your calling is what is intrinsically fulfilling and you would most likely do it without financial compensation or care whether it is Monday or Friday.

If you’re in a job and haven’t found your career or even, your calling yet, no worries. Perhaps, the next take-away could help.

Take-Away Number 2 #

Take a sabbatical year

And Stefan Sagmeister’s advice:

Talk to people who actually done it much better than yourself envisioning it.

And talk to as many people as possible about your plan. So that you can’t chicken out afterwards.

So well said by Mark Twain,

The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you figure out why.

This bring me to the sabbatical year again.

Taking a sabbatical year for Stefan Sagmeister and his team is the foundation of their work for the next 7 years. His job became a calling again. It is financially rewarding in the long-term.

So what could you do?
Quick ideas:

• Join a startup or start one.
• Master a new language or skill.
• Volunteer or take employment in a different field. And above all, do any one of the above in a totally different country!

3 Questions to ask yourself about your current work #

Do you want to go to work every morning?

Does your company help you fulfill your personal vision?

Can you see yourself at the same company a year from today?

In a nutshell, having to go to work should either be exciting or dreadful and spending your time sitting at a desk should be meaningful - something positive is always coming out of it. Not everything you do HAVE to be game-changing. The menial stuffs will eventually add up.

Working in a company where your personal goals & values are not adding up to what the company is doing might be dreadful indeed. If you’re seeking work-life balance in order to spend time with your family and friends while being productive at work, then consider what you and your current company are able to offer each other. Trade-offs matters.

Last but not least, a time horizon of one year will give you enough time to prepare your exit strategy. The time could be for job hunt, figuring out your finances, refining your skills and much more.

My future posts, I will be writing about entrepreneurship, career accelerator & my life experiences. Key posts about personal vision and life strategy are in the pipeline.