My greatest wish is for my daughters to discover their passion, whatever it is.

- Arianna Huffington

A Calling is that work we do in the world - paid or unpaid - that we are drawn to do from the deepest and most authentic place within ourselves. It is the work that makes the most of our talents, skills, strengths, and interests, that fits perfectly with our unique and personal set of values, that creates passion within us. It is that which we ultimately are willing to give ourselves to completely.

- Connie Komack

Our first theme quote this month comes from an essay titled "My Journey to the Top" by Arianna Huffington, published in the October 15, 2007 issue of Newsweek. This quote caught my eye because it mirrors my wish for my family, my friends, my clients and for everyone in the world.

As a Life/Work Coach specializing in working with people in times of career or life transition, I frequently encounter people who are unhappy with their lives - personal or professional, or both - because they still have not found deep meaning or purpose in their lives. They have not yet found their "Calling".

What exactly IS a Calling?

One response to that question can be found in the subtitle of Gregg Levoy's book, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life - a book I highly recommend for anyone trying to figure out what he or she is meant to do in this lifetime. A key word here is "authentic", as in being totally true to yourself.

My definition of a Calling would be this: A Calling is that work we do in the world - paid or unpaid - that we are drawn to do from the deepest and most authentic place within ourselves. It is work that makes the most of our talents, skills, strengths, and interests, that fits perfectly with our unique and personal set of values, that creates passion within us. It is that which we ultimately are willing to give ourselves to completely.

Now this is a tall order. Often, finding your true Calling is not an easy thing to do. Some lucky few know what they want to do from an early age. A few days ago, I met a musician who told me that he knew what he wanted to do at the age of four, and that his passion for music has never wavered. This, I have found, is fairly rare.

Most of us take a zig-zag path on the way to finding our Calling, as I have done. I had seven different careers and fourteen different jobs, before I discovered what I was meant to do. And some people feel Called by a vocation that will be difficult and challenging and may require great sacrifices, and so they turn away and ignore that voice inside - for a while anyway. Sooner or later, that voice gets too loud to ignore.

And others just don't have either the interest or the luxury of doing the introspective work that is often needed to identify their Calling. They work to survive, or they settle for less than they know they want or deserve for a myriad of reasons.

For those of you who have not yet found your Calling, but long to do so, the following articles are offered up in order to start you on your journey (or to help you continue).

Finding your Calling could be as easy as thinking about it for a few minutes, or having an insightful dream or an epiphany or an "aha moment". But for many people, it takes more effort than that. It takes contemplation, research, exploration, trying on some things for size, or doing some deep inner work. The exercises suggested below are all things I suggest for my clients in transition. They all provide pieces to the puzzle. I hope they will be helpful for you.

1. Explore your childhood and adolescence, looking for clues about what interested you then and what you were good at then.
2. List all your skills and talents, and then rank-order them.
3. List all your interests, past and present. Pay attention to clues. What movies and TV shows are you drawn to? What books and magazines? What section of the newspaper do you read first? What hobbies, leisure activities, volunteer work do you do?
4. Notice your aptitudes - i.e. what you are naturally good at. Look into getting professional aptitude testing done.
5. Identify your Meyers-Briggs (Jungian) personality type, and then use that information to help you identify your potential Calling.
6. List all your values and then rank-order them. Do this carefully and thoughtfully, and then make sure that your top ten values, at least, are honored in whatever you do for work.
7. Identify your true Purpose in life (and in your work). This is deep work and requires focused contemplation. Take your time. Meditation helps.
8. Visualize your ideal future - both your work life and your personal life. Do a self-guided meditation. Then write down what comes to you.
9. Once you have identified your Calling, explore any resistance to it you might have. Do inner work to release fear and limiting beliefs. Seek professional help, if needed.
10. Take action. Take the first steps toward living your Calling.

Three main keys for finding your Calling are:

(1) First, get to know yourself very, very well, and be willing to listen to that wise voice within.

(2) Second, listen for, connect with, and act on your interests and your passion.

(3) Third, have the courage, drive, persistence, and perseverance to follow your Calling, despite real or imagined obstacles.

There are a lot of excellent resources out there to help you identify your passion and your Calling. Below I have listed some of my favorites - books that live on my bookshelf and that I consult often and recommend to my clients.

One of these resources is my own workbook and program, Designing Your Life. DYL was created exactly for this purpose - to help my clients and readers discover, create, and live the best life they can imagine and to imagine the best life they can.

1. Designing Your Life: A Life/Work Empowerment Program. Connie Komack. LifeWork Enterprises, 2006.
2. Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life. Gregg Levoy. Three Rivers Press, 1997.
3. What Should I Do With My Life? Po Bronson. Random House, 2002.
4. I Could Do Anything, If I Only Knew What It Was. Barbara Sher. Delacorte Press, 1994.
5. Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career For You Through the Secrets of Personality Type. Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger. Little, Brown and Company, 4th rev. ed., 2007.
6. Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood. Marsha Sinetar. Paulist Press, 1987.
7. Between Trapezes: Flying Into a New Life with the Greatest of Ease. Gail Blanke. Rodale Books, 2004.
8. Love the Work You're With: Find the Job You Always Wanted Without Leaving the One You Have. Richard Whiteley. Henry Holt and Co., 2001.
9. Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction. Laura Berman Fortgang. Tarcher, 2005.
10. Life Makeovers. Cheryl Richardson. Broadway Books, 2000.

Books, audio/visual programs, live seminars, and one- on-one coaching are all wonderful resources in the journey of self-discovery. But, in the end, nothing can take the place of YOU doing your own inner work. Take the time to stop, breathe, contemplate, ask for guidance, and listen to your own inner wisdom. And then have the courage to go where your inner wisdom leads you.

This Fall, our yearly afternoon plunge into total darkness is delayed a week. Little Halloween munchkins get to start out in faded twilight instead of in total darkness - all because this year, and in future years, the switch of Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time will happen early morning (2 a.m.) on the first Sunday of November rather than on the last Sunday of October.

So, if you live in an area affected by this time change, mark your calendars for November 4th and reset your clocks to Standard Time by "falling back" one hour earlier.

One of the current entries in my Designing Your Life blog is an article on living life fully, starting right now. Following the excerpt below, you can click on the link to read the full entry.

This is written especially for the procrastinators out there (me included).

Three recent events in my life have converged like a perfect storm to bring home to me the importance living life full out in every moment, hitting all the high spots, and not letting the important stuff slide.

LifeWork Letter is a complimentary monthly e-Newsletter from Connie Komack and LifeWork Enterprises, with tips, quotes, and short articles designed to enrich, empower, and forward the growth of your life, career, or business.

Feel free to share this newsletter with others. It is easy to do by clicking on the forward email link at the bottom of this newsletter.

As always, I invite you to visit my blog site and to read the articles on transition, change, and re- designing your life that are posted there.

Thank you for reading my newsletter and/or blog articles. Your readership is most appreciated and valued. I hear from many of you each month, and I always enjoy and benefit from your feedback. So please keep it coming.