Identity, Calling, Assignment

Clarifying what you want in life and why you do the things you do is difficult. There’s a lot more to unpack on this subject about how you get there. For now, here’s some language i’ve found helpful to clarify this for others.

Everyone needs clarity around three things to make sense of their life and work.

Identity -> Who am I that doesn’t ever change.
-Example is that I am a father, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a friend, i am a husband to Jessica, I am loved and accepted regardless of what I do and don’t do.
-Depending on the person this might be an easy or difficult process to get to.

Calling -> Looking over my life, what has been the consistent function regardless of specific role?
-Example is that my calling is to “help organizations become healthy so that others can thrive.” Part of it is posted in my linked in headline. It’s not just a statement as much as a lense for making decisions on the next part.
-This can take significantly more time to work through. The statement above grew and was clarified over several years.

Assignment -> What is my role in this season where I apply my calling?
-Example is that I’m fulfilling my calling in The Purple Guys and NTiva by working with my Centralized Services team to help address operational issues that add balance back to our team. Because the team I work with has a pre-emptive function, this work also allows me to impact 100’s of other organizations by helping make our client environments healthier from a technical perspective.
-This is usually the place where people are the clearest about what they’re doing. The problem shows up when people lose their assignment. It’s difficult enough to navigate something like that if you know your calling and identity and usually people are so geared down on the assignment that they haven’t worked down to understand the foundation and navigate something like that well so they get thrown into a tailspin.

Would love to hear feedback on these thoughts and where others are at on this subject. Like if you agree. Comment with your calling statement if you have one.