There’re jobs, careers and vocations. Your goal in life should be to find your vocation.
Job – Something that makes you money maybe a lot of money, maybe a little. The problem is that you will get stuck here if you don’t have a way out of it. If you must get a job, let it be a temporary assignment. Meaningless and there to benefit some rich guy on a yacht.
Career – “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress (Source).” In other words, a job you do for a long time and maybe if you’re a good worker, you’ll get a raise. No promises.
Vocation – “a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation (Source).” Also known as a calling, a vocation is a career that you love and don’t do because you have to, but because you want to.All vocations are careers but not all careers are vocations. But they usually are…
- Job: Anything that you don’t want to do the rest of your life. Example: Salesman who makes lunch money as a salary.
- Career + Job Example: Anything that makes decent money but you’re not especially happy doing. This is a dangerous place to be. You may never get out from this one because the money you make will tie you down. Better start thinking about your exit strategy. Example: One who hates his job but has too many bills to pay. Oh, did I mention he has too many bills because he got a nice paycheck one to many times and didn’t plan ahead and now must stay where he is unless he wants to lose his everything he should never have paid for with credit? Look I’m presupposing a lot of things here. It’s my website. I can do that. Just don’t get stuck with a high-paying job and lose your soul to it.
- Career + Vocation Example: Anything that makes decent money but you’re very happy doing. Example: One who loves his job.
- Vocation: Anything that you do that you do as a calling. Example: One who started his own company and refuses to get a job (Me).
Some people prefer security and opt for a job-job or a career-job. It’s a bad idea and before you do, watch this video: