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You are here: Home / Archives for 2 - Professional Skills / c Career Navigation Skills / Career Discernment

Paul Helm on the Call to the Ministry

March 18, 2015 by Matt Perman

From my notes on his book The Callings: The Gospel in the World:

The call to the ministry is extraordinary, not in the sense that it is miraculous or accompanied by visions, but because “by it a man is taken out of many of the routine commitments of daily life.” Specifically, “he ought to be freed from the need to earn his daily living in order to give himself exclusively to the word of God (1 Tim 5:17).”

It also is extraordinary in that it arises out of the ordinary. A person generally will carry on a normal calling, and “it is when he is inwardly constrained to preach the gospel, and his gifts — his ability to handle Scripture, to preach, to give leadership — are recognized by the church, that his inward call becomes outwardly ratified. It is as these inward and outward circumstances combined that a man has a warrant for leaving his regular calling and attempting to obtain a position of pastoral oversight.”

Filed Under: b Church & Ministry, Career Discernment, Vocation

How Can Work in the Church and Marketplace be Equally Important?

March 12, 2015 by Matt Perman

It is an important truth that work in the marketplace is just as important as work in the church.

Nonetheless, sometimes saying this doesn’t necessarily feel right. For example, we can easily think something like this: “But work in the church seems more directly connected with issues of eternal salvation, so how can that not be more important?”

Part of the answer lies in recognizing that the gospel is not just about individual salvation, but also entails the renewal of all creation. So even the work we do in the secular arena is connected to God’s ultimate work of redemption. Further, all work is equally valuable because all work can be done as worship.

But I think another key part of the answer may also be this: when we say that work in the marketplace is of equal importance to work in the church, sometimes we can unconsciously interpret that to mean that work in the marketplace is more important than work in the church. We can almost hear this great truth as a diminishing of church work rather than an elevation of marketplace work.

If the equality of all vocations is taken to subtly mean that church work is less important, that should feel off-kilter. But when we recognize that the equality of all vocations truly means the equality of all vocations, we see that it is an affirmation of the significance of church work just as much as it is an affirmation of the significance of marketplace work.

This is a very liberating reality. If you work in ministry, what you are doing is incredibly important. And if you are working in the marketplace, what you are doing is also incredibly important. The equality of all vocations means that both marketplace work and ministry work matter immensely.

The equality of all vocations is a radical affirmation of the significance of work in the marketplace as well as work in the church. 

So no matter where you work, be encouraged and know that your work has immense value.

 

Filed Under: Career Discernment, Vocation

Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career. Unless…

February 24, 2015 by Matt Perman

This is a fantastic TEDx talk by Larry Smith. In a very compelling way, he shoots down all the excuses people make not to go after what they are truly passionate about in life.

The worst thing (though he doesn’t talk about this) is when people claim that these excuses have biblical authority. I see people do it all the time — and then judge people who disagree, claiming that they are somehow “less spiritual.” It is a truly, truly horrible thing because it is using the Bible as justification for low expectations and false thinking.

Go after what you are truly passionate about. Just do it for the glory of God and according to his standards. And quit thinking that there has to be an unavoidable dichotomy between accomplishment and relationships. Embrace the genius of the and.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

Values Should be the Ultimate Criteria for What Career You Pursue

April 24, 2014 by Matt Perman

How do you choose a career path? You shouldn’t decide it first based on what you are good at. You should decide based on what matches your values (assuming, of course, that your values are in line with correct principles). Sometimes, you may find yourself doing something you are good at but which doesn’t fit with your values. In that case, get off that path.

Peter Drucker nails this, with an excellent example, in his classic article “Managing Oneself“:

What one does well — even very well and successfully — may not fit with one’s value system. In that case, the work may not appear to be worth devoting one’s life to (or even a substantial portion thereof).

If I may, allow me to interject a personal note. Many years ago, I too had to decide between my values and what I was doing successfully. I was doing very well as a young investment banker in London in the mid-1930’s, and the work clearly fit my strengths. Yet I did not see myself making a contribution as an asset manager. People, I realized, were what I valued, and I saw no point in being the richest man in the cemetery.

I had no money and no other job prospects.

Despite the continuing Depression, I quit–and it was the right thing to do. Values, in other words, are and should be the ultimate test.

And, note this as well on how knowing your values (and having them right) can be even more fundamental to success than hard work:

Successful careers are not planned.

They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person — hardworking and competent but otherwise mediocre — into an outstanding performer.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

How to Follow Your Passion — in the Right Way

November 15, 2013 by Matt Perman

My other post for The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics this month. In it, I once again take issue with the increasingly common view that “follow your passion” is bad advice.

The most important point in the post is that we need to recognize that our passions are actually activities, not abstract generalizations. Recognizing that point alone will bring amazing clarity to all of your career decisions.

Here’s the start:

We often hear the advice “follow your passion” or “do what you love and the money will follow.” Is that good advice?

A few business thinkers have recently been saying that it is not. Even the author of the popular Dilbert comic, Scott Adams, was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, where he argued that “follow your passion” is bad advice.

Adams gives an example from when he worked as a commercial lender. The person who came in and said, “I want to open a sporting goods store because I really like watching sports on television,” was not the kind of guy who tended to be a good investment. Hence, “following your passion,” he argues, is not usually good advice.

But what’s the real problem here? I would argue that following your passion is, in fact, good advice—as long as you understand what that actually means.

Read the whole thing.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

How to Follow Your Passion…And Your Strengths

November 14, 2013 by Matt Perman

My guest post at the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics blog.

I would also encourage you to check out their blog in general. It is truly fantastic — and especially the last few days have some interesting posts.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

Find a Career Path that Utilizes Your Talents and Passions

August 12, 2013 by Matt Perman

Well said by Brad Lomenick in his book The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker:

The next generation of Christian influencers is passionate about finding and pursuing their divine purposes. They don’t want to work thirty or forty years in a job that fails to fulfill their deepest longings. Instead, this generation wants to find career paths that utilize both their talents and their passions. They are locating and living their callings, and we’re all better for it.

Amen. Don’t settle for forty years in a job that doesn’t call on the best of you. Find something that calls on your strengths and passion, and do it with all your heart.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

Is "Follow Your Passion" Really Bad Advice?

August 11, 2013 by Matt Perman

I see that Cal Newport has a new book out where he argues that following your passion is actually bad advice.

I like Cal Newport and have been very helped by the things he has to say, such as his excellent article getting creative things done. But I think this is, unfortunately, a case of overstating a point in a way that renders it inaccurate.

For example, if “follow your passion” is bad advice, then does that mean “don’t follow your passion” is good advice? Should we do what we hate instead?

Newport argues that what we should do is cultivate skill, and we typically come to love those things we become good at. I think there’s a lot to that (though it’s not everything, and isn’t always the case).

But what I disagree with is why Newport feels like he has to “debunk” the notion that we should follow our passion. I doubt that most people who say “follow your passion” mean that in an unqualified sense. The right way to understand passion as it relates to our careers is as follows.

1. Passion truly is critical. You should follow your passion — but…

2. Passion is one of three things you need to consider. You don’t consider passion alone. Instead, you consider (1) what you are passion about, (2) what you can be excellent at and (3) what meets a real need in the world. Your greatest career effectiveness (and, likely, calling from God) is at the intersection of those three things.

3. To speak in terms of “don’t follow your passion” or “the notion that we should follow our passion is a cliche, and it’s bad advice” is to give a hugely incomplete picture of things because it can mistakenly lead people to overlook the critical place that passion does play (understood as I describe in point 2). It would be much better to say “passion is not enough,” or something like that.

4. Newport is right that passion is not always first. But sometimes it is. Let’s not discourage those people who do have a clear passion by telling them that following their passion is bad advice.

5. The best way to find your passion and gifts is to act. Years ago spiritual gifts tests were common. Rick Warren said when he took one back in the day, he only had one gift: martyrdom. Another guy who went around mooching off of others all day turned out to have the gift of “poverty” — which turned out only to reinforce him in his crazy efforts! In contrast, the way to find out what you are good at and love to do is not to take a test or just think to yourself “this is my passion,” but to do stuff. Then you find out what you love and are excellent at (and what is actually serving people), and build on that.

If that is Newport’s point, that’s great. But then his book would have been much more helpful, I think, if the big idea being used to promote it was “passion is not enough,” rather than trying to make the bold (and wrong) statement that the advice to “follow your passion” is wrong.

I’m all for bold statements, and calling attention to counterintuitive things. The trick, though, is that you have to be right in the statements you make. It’s great to say something unexpected, but that unexpected statement has to remain true once the person has understood the subject more deeply.

In this case, I think that those who have said “follow your passion” are being misrepresented.

However, with this clarified, Newport’s book is certainly worth checking out and I sure will be helpful on many, many fronts. I applaud Newport in the very helpful work that he does. I just think that this particular (very big) portion of his book and its lead marketing themes could have been recast in a much more helpful light.

Filed Under: Career Discernment

Successful Careers Are Not Planned

September 1, 2011 by Matt Perman

Peter Drucker, from his article “Managing Oneself” (pdf):

Successful careers are not planned.

They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person — hardworking and competent but otherwise mediocre — into an outstanding performer.

A helpful resource that fleshes this out is Daniel Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need.

Filed Under: Career Discernment, Career Success

Tim Keller on Discerning Your Calling

August 23, 2011 by Matt Perman

The other day I linked to Michael Horton’s article on discerning your calling. Tim Keller also has a very helpful article on that as well (online as a pdf).

You’ll notice these articles are in agreement with the same basic three questions to consider, but they complement one another in a helpful way.

Here’s the summary from the end of Keller’s article:

Your vocation is a part of God’s work in the world, and God gives you resources for serving the human community. These factors can help you identify your calling.

Affinity—“Look out.”
Affinity is the normal, existential/priestly way to discern call. What people needs do I vibrate to?

Ability—“Look in.”
Ability is the normal, rational/prophetic way to discern call. What am I good at doing?

Opportunity—“Look up.”
Opportunity is the normal, organizational/kingly way to discern call. What do the leaders/my friends believe is the most strategic kingdom need?

Your life is not a series of random events. Your family background, education, and life experiences—even the most painful ones—all equip you to do some work that no one else can do. “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do“ (Eph. 2:10).

(HT: Resurgence)

Filed Under: Career Discernment, Vocation

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What’s Best Next exists to help you achieve greater impact with your time and energy — and in a gospel-centered way.

We help you do work that changes the world. We believe this is possible when you reflect the gospel in your work. So here you’ll find resources and training to help you lead, create, and get things done. To do work that matters, and do it better — for the glory of God and flourishing of society.

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About Matt Perman

Matt Perman started What’s Best Next in 2008 as a blog on God-centered productivity. It has now become an organization dedicated to helping you do work that matters.

Matt is the author of What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and a frequent speaker on leadership and productivity from a gospel-driven perspective. He has led the website teams at Desiring God and Made to Flourish, and is now director of career development at The King’s College NYC. He lives in Manhattan.

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