Are you good at "vocationing"?  Vocationing is the art of pursuing several vocations (calls) simultaneously for the purpose of honoring God in the service of others. 

If this resonates with you read on below for how one person found the value of "vocationing" in  a post found at:

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2001/05/14/editorial2.html?page=all

Learning the art of vocationing

Charlotte Business Journal by Angelina Corbet

Date: Monday, May 14, 2001, 12:00am EDT

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Master of the Universe -- not! Master of My Domain -- not! Master of Transitions -- you bet! In my 49 years, I have changed jobs 15 times and perhaps, most significantly, changed careers at least 10 times. And now this -- lots of careers at once.

I graduated from college with a major in education and minor in mathematics. When faced with a career choice, I played it safe and pursued a career in teaching mathematics. By the end of my first year in the classroom, I was convinced that I would teach mathematics until the day I died and love every minute of it -- wrong.

Although I basically enjoyed teaching algebra, I ultimately grew somewhat bored, restless and unfulfilled. I decided to explore other possibilities.

I was thrilled at the prospect of reinventing myself with a new career every three to five years. I built lasting relationships with clients and vendors as a means to gain entry into new companies, and provided consulting and pro bono work as a way to learn about new industries. I was shadowing my colleagues on the job as a vehicle to qualify for internal assignments.

Just before my 44th birthday, I was promoted to my dream job, senior vice president at an information technology company servicing the financial markets. But life is strange and six months later, I was sitting in my corner office once again feeling somewhat bored, restless and unfulfilled. What was wrong?

I started a journey to discover me. I wanted to finally create the future I was meant to have -- once and for all. As part of the journey, I looked at myself from every angle; abilities, interests, values and goals to insure that I would have balance. I was sure that I would ultimately discover my true vocation.

It is now five years later, and I have discovered that I have several callings, that I have several purposes on earth and that I want to have more than one vocation. I discovered that no one job encompasses all the important aspects for me. So, I am now pursuing several vocations at once.

Vocationing is the art of pursuing several vocations simultaneously for the purpose of honoring one's gifts and talents in service to others. Vocationing is not about having more than one assignment or project in the same field or industry.

Vocationing is not about needing to have several jobs to earn extra money. Vocationing acknowledges that each of us has many gifts and talents and may want to honor these in a variety of career choices simultaneously in order to bring value to others.

These days, I do what I was meant to do -- lots of different things at once. Although it would appear that this is a frenetic life -- quite the contrary -- my life is wonderfully peaceful. There is a joy and balance in using all my talents, expressing various aspects of my personal style, pursuing several interests and values, and achieving many goals.

I look forward to the next 25 years at this thing called vocationing and hope others will join me in this new career definition.

Angelina Corbet is founder of The Mobius Co. and principal with JPS Consulting. She specializes in personal coaching and can be reached at ascorbet@bellsouth.net.

8 Steps to Finding the Work You Love

Excellent post found at:

http://excelle.monster.com/benefits/articles/5125-8-steps-to-finding-the-work-you-love?page=1

Brian Kurth | Not Just the Kitchen

Many of us are still trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. We may have good jobs and nice paychecks, but we are not really happy in our work. We daydream about the “what if’s” in our life and long for the chance to discover and explore the job of our dreams. Identifying your dream job and the path that will take you there is both a challenge and an opportunity. But by following a realistic step-by-step “vocationing” process, you can pursue your interests and passions to the job of your dreams.

1 Define Your Dream Job(s)

What are your passions and your interests? What activities give you a sense of purpose and satisfaction? Can you envision yourself in a job that fully engages your heart and your mind? You may still be trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up. That’s okay. The “vocationing” process gives you the opportunity to explore, experiment, and discover what your dream job is and how to pursue it.

2 Address Your Fears

Financial instability, family disruption, giving up an identity, failing at something new. These are all fears that may stand in the way of pursuing your dream job. The biggest thing you can do to get past these fears is to meet them head-on. Bring these deepest fears to light and examine them with reason; talk about them; play each one out to its most irrational end. What is the worst thing that could happen?

3 Do Your Research

Internal and external research helps you discover who you are and what kind of work meshes with your deepest self. Do your homework and access resources ranging from the Internet to one-on-one contact with people on-the-job to determine if what you think is your dream job, truly is your dream job.

4 Find a Mentor

Inspirational, experienced, realistic, forthcoming and optimistic. A good mentor is all of these things and eager to help someone else get started. Recruiting a mentor who is a good match for you requires following a plan of action, asking the right questions, and building a relationship that is mutually satisfying. Having a mentor is the crux to the vocationing process. Whether you’re 20-something, 30-something, 40-something, 50-something or even 60-something, you need a mentor!

taken from (continued):

http://excelle.monster.com/benefits/articles/5125-8-steps-to-finding-the-work-you-love?page=2

5 Test Drive Your Dream Job

There’s no better way to learn than by doing. Test-driving your dream job with a mentor provides a hands-on experience that has the potential to change your life. This is the opportunity to learn as much as possible about the job, how you feel about the day-to-day activities, and what it takes to succeed. Whether your mentorship proves your perceived dream job is indeed your dream job or if it is a reality check illuminating that the job is not the one of your dreams, the mentorship experience gives you the required personal and professional due diligence you need prior to making a career decision.

6 Create an Action Plan

Pursuing a dream job is less a leap than a series of incremental steps that move you closer to your goal. What is critical to reaching that goal is making sure the steps you follow are the right ones. An action plan is needed. If you make a list of all the things you need to learn and do in order to realize your dream job, you will have mapped out a plan for moving ahead. A knowledgeable action plan provides you with the power to forge ahead.

7 Establish Thresholds

The biggest reason we pursue our dream job is to increase our life satisfaction. It is important to understand how much risk, challenge, and uncertainty you can tolerate before the life satisfaction goal becomes blurred by the process. The vocationing process is as much about what you learn on the journey as the rewards when you reach your destination.

8 Think Big, Start Small

You don’t have to quit your nine-to-five job to pursue your dream job. Obligations and concerns may take you down a less-than-direct path. It may take months, not weeks….years, not months. If you are patient and creative, you can keep your career transition moving forward. The vocationing process will get you from Point A to Point B.

Brian Kurth is the founder of VocationVacations and the author of “Test-Drive Your Dream Job” Kurth is a sought after expert on how to pursue and attain one’s dream job. He has shared his wit and wisdom in appearances on NBC’s TODAY Show, CNN, andFOX News, and has been featured in articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine. Many more regularly turn to Brian for his comments, advice and insights. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Kurth lives in Portland, Oregon.

This article was originally published on NotJustTheKitchen.com.