That question is this: Would you die for your job?
You may not be a doctor or a nurse going to work every day risking infections that can impact you and your family and possibly end your life, but if situations or circumstances were to arise at your job that offered possible or imminent life-threatening danger, would you still do the work that's called for?
This question evokes an awareness of one's personal dedication and provides a metric to evaluate one's professional commitment to their job or career. Dedication and commitment factor prominently in one's response, but both words - and the breadth and accuracy of their definitions - need closer examination before answering. You can start by reading a previous Growth Tree Blog entry about the differences between dedication and commitment here.
If a job is viewed as merely a means to an end; a transaction by which you derive income to pay bills, the likelihood of someone being willing to die for it is pretty slim. Careers are a series of employment opportunities that empower you to take advantage of your greatest knowledge and skills through a specialized vocation or activity, often in a particular field or industry.
Though one can usually make a living more readily in a career than a job, it doesn't mean that a career outweighs a job by enough significance to make it worthy of dying for.
Jobs and careers both require work to be done, and time to be spent; those are the common denominators. It's the motivations for doing the work that constitutes the distinction. Those who work in education, healthcare, and even law often say they chose their vocations because they want to make a difference. That's their motivation. It's commendable. But would most be willing to die while working to make that difference? It's hard to say.
What's not hard to say is that those who are willing to die for their jobs are probably few. Die for their careers? Some. Die while answering their true calling? More than you realize, but they are the minority. Of this minority, a small percentage got their call early in life or while working at jobs that were merely a means to an end.
Unfortunately, others do not take the call because they are too busy working insignificant jobs that cause their lines to be busy - but that's what call waiting is for. That's what this pandemic is for. All you have to do is put one conversation on hold, and switch over to the other call and have the conversation about the work you are willing to die for.
Those who view their work as a calling that they are willing to die for are those who emotionally, psychologically, and vocationally link the significance of what they do with a purpose that serves others and eclipses their own personal goals. For them, dying while doing what they were called upon to do by God, higher consciousness, or genuine benevolence is more of a reflection of their dedication to what they do, and the commitment they have to answering that calling every day, even during a pandemic.
Oprah discusses jobs, careers, and callings below.
You may not be a doctor or a nurse going to work every day risking infections that can impact you and your family and possibly end your life, but if situations or circumstances were to arise at your job that offered possible or imminent life-threatening danger, would you still do the work that's called for?
This question evokes an awareness of one's personal dedication and provides a metric to evaluate one's professional commitment to their job or career. Dedication and commitment factor prominently in one's response, but both words - and the breadth and accuracy of their definitions - need closer examination before answering. You can start by reading a previous Growth Tree Blog entry about the differences between dedication and commitment here.
If a job is viewed as merely a means to an end; a transaction by which you derive income to pay bills, the likelihood of someone being willing to die for it is pretty slim. Careers are a series of employment opportunities that empower you to take advantage of your greatest knowledge and skills through a specialized vocation or activity, often in a particular field or industry.
Though one can usually make a living more readily in a career than a job, it doesn't mean that a career outweighs a job by enough significance to make it worthy of dying for.
Jobs and careers both require work to be done, and time to be spent; those are the common denominators. It's the motivations for doing the work that constitutes the distinction. Those who work in education, healthcare, and even law often say they chose their vocations because they want to make a difference. That's their motivation. It's commendable. But would most be willing to die while working to make that difference? It's hard to say.
What's not hard to say is that those who are willing to die for their jobs are probably few. Die for their careers? Some. Die while answering their true calling? More than you realize, but they are the minority. Of this minority, a small percentage got their call early in life or while working at jobs that were merely a means to an end.
Unfortunately, others do not take the call because they are too busy working insignificant jobs that cause their lines to be busy - but that's what call waiting is for. That's what this pandemic is for. All you have to do is put one conversation on hold, and switch over to the other call and have the conversation about the work you are willing to die for.
Those who view their work as a calling that they are willing to die for are those who emotionally, psychologically, and vocationally link the significance of what they do with a purpose that serves others and eclipses their own personal goals. For them, dying while doing what they were called upon to do by God, higher consciousness, or genuine benevolence is more of a reflection of their dedication to what they do, and the commitment they have to answering that calling every day, even during a pandemic.
Oprah discusses jobs, careers, and callings below.
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