Have you found your true calling?

Seriously, have you?

I know this question can come off sounding corny...

After all, "finding a calling" sounds like something only hippies and hipsters (cousin of hippy) have time to ponder (over cups of latte or green juice, I'm sure).

For the rest of us who are trying to make a living, a calling is just another "nice idea" that won't put bread on the table...

Or maybe not.

Maybe when we fully understand what a calling is - a deeply ingrained, virtuous drive to make ourselves and this life better...

And we recognize the people who have truly, fully lived their calling (people like Mother Theresa, C.S. Lewis, Michael Collins, and so many others)...

Maybe then we can fully grasp that this "nice idea we can safely ignore" is anything but.

Maybe then we'll realize that any time we spend outside of pursuing our calling...

That thing we were meant to do....

That we were BORN to do...

Is just us hiding in fear and shadows.

And perhaps then we'll realize a life lived as merely a shadow of our true self is the source of the greatest misery in the world.

(and no doubt what inspired Thoreau's famous words: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”)

So back to the question:

Have you found your calling?

If the answer is "no" or "not yet," that's fine.

Life has a funny way of making us work for the things that matter.

That said, finding your calling doesn't have to make you feel like you're running around in circles, chasing your own tail.

There are three things you must do to find your calling:

1. Determine that thing you were meant to do. Not Joe Schmoe or Jill Whocares - you. And yes, it requires a choice (usually a hard one). The good news is: you already know exactly what it is...

2. Shift your mindset so that it's not a pipe dream, but something instantly, palpably attainable.

3. Take action to do and become this thing for which you were created.

Of course, that last part is tricky.

It means diving head first into that terrible place of fear, uncertainty, and potential failure...that dreadful "no mans land" between our deepest aspirations and our greatest potential.

This is not easy...

And it is not without sacrifice...

But you can take comfort in knowing life isn't lived in a vacuum, and you are not alone.

There are thousands if not millions of others on this quest, just like you, who yearn, seek, and strive daily to find and live their calling...

And believe it or not: many of them have.

Here's why this is important:

Because it is through these success stories that you'll find the energy, direction, and encouragement you need to become what you must and to do what you were born to do.

So if you have not yet found your calling, I implore you to do three things:

1. Start today seeking out the people who have done the things you aspire to do (and more importantly: have the depth of character you ultimately desire in yourself).

2. Start today learning from them, soaking up whatever knowledge you can to use for your personal journey (remember: every great master was once an apprentice).

3. Start today to become the person you were born to be.

Life is much too precious and you're much too smart to wait until it's too late.

Whatever you do: start today.