The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do

those whose stories we remember, step out of hiding and say those six brave words: speak, for your servant is listening. It’s as much an act of vulnerability as it is one of availability.

Mastery isn’t about straight As or the highest salary in the company. It’s not even about being the most popular in your field. It’s about understanding your potential and then dedicating your life to pursuing that ideal. It means doing your absolute best. Why? Because the craft deserves it, because the calling requires it, and because maybe you’ll

Before you know what your calling is, you must believe you are called to something. It doesn’t matter if you know what. In order to cultivate awareness, you must be willing to act, to step out and see what happens. And once you are convinced that purpose will not find you, that you will have to go in search of it, you are ready. Until you make this

A teacher who challenges you, who doesn’t meet your expectations, who forces you to think and act differently, is exactly what you need.

We often think of a calling as something that comes to us, an epiphany that arrives when we least expect it. But the truth is, in some ways, it’s already come. You already have some sense of what you’re supposed to do with your life, even if you aren’t sure what it is. The trick is to find your vocation hidden in your life.

Charles Handy once said in an interview: “If you groan about your job or find it has become monotonous and boring, you need to ask yourself—what do you secretly want to do? Do it. You can have a breakpoint and reinvent yourself. Sensible people reinvent themselves every ten years.”6

Success isn’t the goal; legacy is.

That feeling you feel when you see a great movie or read a powerful story—you know that itch? It’s telling you there is more life in you yet to be lived. Ancient myths and legends speak to this. Every hero’s journey included some sacred task that culminated in a deeper understanding of who they were born to be. And how was this done? Through a pers

“Say you live in Kansas. It’s not a bad place to live, but you long for the beach. You dream of the waves and sand and sunsets. But you never leave home because you’re not quite sure exactly where on the beach you want to go.” If you aren’t sure how to get started, Bryan would say get out of Kansas. That’s your first step. Begin to head toward wate