The key to building a meaningful career is to align your work and contributions with your dreams and aspirations. The words "vocation" and "career" are often confused. Vocation is derived from "vocare" meaning "to call". A vocation is your calling or voice in this world. A career is the road or path followed in the pursuit of your life's work. A meaningful career consists of finding your voice and pursuing the path that allows you to be fully heard during your journey through life.

Many career counselors suggest discovering viable career paths based upon your talents, interests and successes. Richard Bolles (author of "What color is your parachute?") provides an excellent resource for organizing your vocational and career interests. You begin the process by taking inventory of your current knowledge, skills, and abilities. This information establishes your current reality or where you are now. Make a note either mentally or on paper to establish answers to the following questions:

* What can you do well now?
* What do you enjoy doing?
* What brings you the greatest sense of satisfaction, meaning and purpose in your life?
* What do you know about and in what area(s) are you interested in learning more?

The next step is to explore where you want to be in the future. This information establishes your preferred future and is used to set your goals and define your desired outcomes. Outline your aspirations, dreams, and what you hope to accomplish through your work. Again, make a note either mentally or on paper to establish answers to the following questions:

* What do you aspire to do with your life?
* What do you feel calling you into this world?
* What is your dream or vision of the contribution that you can make?
* If you are successful, what will your life look like in the future?

The gap between your current reality and your preferred future is where you create your personal model of a meaningful career. Each opportunity and challenge can be assessed against your personal model. As you move along your career path, you can ask if each step is bringing you closer to your dream or taking you further away . . . then make your choices and adjustments accordingly. Many people wander through life not knowing where they are going or what they want to achieve. By clarifying where you are now and where you want to be in the future, the path becomes much clearer and success is more easily attainable.

Since we often change as we move through life, you may want to establish periodic checkpoints along the way. A powerful question is, "If you had your dream, would you take it?" Increasing your awareness of the relationships between your actions in the present and your dream for the future supplies you with more informed choices, more consistent progress, and a more meaningful career.

Learn more about this author, Richard Wilson Ph.D..
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