As far back as college internships, I’ve angsted over career decisions. I’ve shared countless coffees, beers, and breakfast skillets with friends talking out career moves. I’ve come to the view that when it comes to our vocational calling, God wants us to do three things: Relax, Reflect, and Respond. This edition looks at relaxing and five tools for reflecting.
Whether you’re coaching your kid in college or standing at a fork in your own road, I hope you find these resources useful. And please email me any resources you’ve found helpful in making faithful career decisions. I’d love to share them.
Journey On,
~Mark
Mark King
Mark@BruisedCamels.com | LinkedIn
Faith – Calling
“Relax! God has a plan for your life.”
Admit it. We’ve all spouted this truism, or something similar, at our kids, unemployed friends, and definitely ourselves. It’s true, but in reality, it’s not that comforting or actionable. Where’s the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the angel popping up out of nowhere? How are we supposed to “fear not” if we don’t know the plan or even the next step?
To answer this question, William Fullilove examines the career path of Joseph (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Career Choices on the C.S. Lewis Institute website). Fullilove offers comfort, but not the type I prefer. Obviously, Joseph’s life reassures us that God is in charge. But Fullilove reminds us that Joseph never got a play-by-play from God. Only with decades of hindsight did Joseph’s story make any sense. He had to make decisions on the fly.
So how does this destress decision making? Fullilove points out that Joseph made some really lousy decisions and probably thought he’d totally screwed-up the prophetic dreams of his youth. Not to mention some bad luck and people trying to kill him. God was not thrown off His game. We all make lots of mistakes, circumstances go against us, people undermine us. Fullilove reminds us:
“…our mistakes do not doom us. Joseph certainly blew it early in life. He was arrogant and headstrong and, at a minimum, unwise in how he dealt with his brothers…he must have felt that his mistakes had doomed him. To the contrary, God was using even Joseph’s mistakes to guide him in the ways that would lead to his calling”
We all wish for burning bushes when it comes to career and other life decisions. But like Joseph, we must all make the best choices we can. Relaxing not because we know the plan, but because our choices and mistakes can’t derail God.
Business – Career
Start With “Know Thyself”
Assuming you haven’t been sold into slavery by your brothers like Joseph, you’ve got choices when it comes to life decisions. How to even start to sort out the options? Not with a list of options and pros/cons. First, reflect a bit and make sure you “Know thyself.”
For this type of reflection, I’ve found the following tools helpful. People tend to obsess over or hate on self-assessment tests. I think of them like a small mirror in my bedroom, not the 7-foot, three-sided one at Men’s Warehouse. These five self-assessments are helpful but limited in scope.
Working Genius – Brand new from consultant and author Pat Lencioni, one of my favorite business thinkers and an outspoken Christian. Answers the questions: “What role should I play on a team? When during a project/strategy do I do my best work?”
Motivation Code – New-ish from consultant and author Todd Henry. Perhaps the most unique of these five. Answers the question: “Why am I so driven in some situations?”
Clifton Strengths – Defines “strength” as a natural talent that you’ve invested in by practicing and developing it. Which leads to the ability to consistently high levels of performance in that area. Answers the questions: “How do I uniquely contribute to successful outcomes? What comes naturally for me?”
Enneagram – Yes, some Christians treat it like the 5th Gospel. But…it provides a perspective I’ve found quite helpful. Answers the questions: “What filter do I see the world through? What’s my default way of dealing with the world?”
Meyers Briggs – The granddaddy of ’em all and suffers from overuse and misuse. The decision-making component of Meyers-Briggs is often underplayed but is particularly helpful in a business context. Answers the question: “How do I prefer to interact with the external world?”
None of these perfectly reflect you and your story you. But there is no magic mirror. We have to piece together an image from multiple pocket-sized mirrors like these. If you know other tools that are helpful for understanding yourself, send them my way.
The Kitchen Drawer – Technology
The Internet’s Swiss Army Knife
TinyWow.com Grandma sent you a picture in an obscure file format? TinyWow has your back with 150+ file and image utilities. Cropping, compressing, converting, PDF’ing, etc. Lifesaving in today’s file format Tower of Babel. Lots of other random stuff you might want like a meme maker, QR code generator, TikTok video downloader. It’s free with ads, but they’re not too bad. And they have a paid option.Bonus Read: The phrase “Know Thyself” has an interesting history across cultures, from Socrates to Sun Tze to Ben Franklin. Check it out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself
