Career Myth - One True Calling

Today I would like to use this post to dispel the common career myth that everyone has one true calling. The myth states that everyone has one career path that is right for them and that their interests, talents, skills and personality traits are an infallible guide that will point them to this calling.

While this may be the case for some it is not for others. Take for example the person who as a child ate, drank and slept video games and as he grew fell in love with programming. He wrote his first game at the age of 15, acquired jobs with various gaming companies in his 20’s and now in his 40’s is programming more advanced games, is a guru to others and is still loving every minute of it. This is the way people believe the career life cycle is supposed to be.

Now let me paint a different picture and see if you can relate. As a child he found interest in many things. He even took a few career tests hoping to find what he was meant to do. When he did choose an interest to pursue whether it was from the result of a test or one he was suddenly drawn to he was excited at first but soon lost interest, decided he made a mistake. He then explored yet another interest just to have the same thing happen again. Bouncing from job to job he really didn’t get much satisfaction out of any of them. Now in his 40’s he is still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. Is he lazy? Does he have a short attention span? Does he have a problem with commitment? While it is possible that some people are just plain lazy and others fear commitment; chances are he is simply trying to wear a stereotype that is not one size fits all.

Well, I have a secret to share with you. There is more than one acceptable career model. The game programmer I mentioned earlier is a single-passion person while the second person is a multi-passion person. If you relate to the second scenario then you, my friend, are perfectly normal. You are simply wired to sample all that life has to offer guided by your ever-changing quest for knowledge and experience.

Multi-passion people can hold their heads up high and live fulfilled lives enjoying every interest they desire to pursue and make a great living at it. If you happen to be such a person check back with Careers to Consider, I will delve down into the concept of a multi-passion personality and outline just how you can create the career you were meant to have in a series of posts called The Multi-Passion Career Path.