How to Discern Your Vocation in Life

​Both Dr. Dave Evans & Dr. William Burnett teach design at Stanford University, they've both written an outstanding contribution toward clarifying how contemporary youths can best discern a vocation.  Why is their approach better than most?  It advocates an application of commitment; an openness toward arduous labor that is missing from traditional approaches that remain passive.

Asking a person what their passion is, is futile.  The vast majority of people never get paid or earn a living performing their passion.  Less than 27% of college graduates EVER land careers in fields studied in college.  The truth is difficult to endure, but most people don't have a singular motivating factor dominating their life decisions.  We should remember to shape our skills toward multiple versions of an achieved identity.  In other words, a single version of your life isn't enough, you should be devoted to training multiple versions of an evolving identity coalescing around core interests, skills. 

Why?  Over a career lasting multiple decades in rapidly changing market conditions, we should anticipate have 3-5 varying career modalities.  

First insight is your approach:  human experience isn't a problem that's solved, so ones focus should remain on a framework of design; we start with who we are and what we have.  From there we begin actively participating in building prototypes that change. 

The key is to have a hands-on approach in application to what works.  The key here is to try lots of ideas, take action, and learn by doing.  Your not thinking your way forward, your building!  Remember, you weren't put on this Earth to wait for your passion to strike before you start living.  Engagement is key.  

First you learn how to live in application of who you are, then you repeat. . . 

You don't need to know what your passion is, you only need to be engaged and curious.  Think like a designer and build your future, prototype by prototype. ​


AMAZON "Designing Your Life:  How to Build a Well Lived, Joyful Life"