What do you want to be when you grow up?

It’s the number one thing the adults want to know when you’re little. But I’m not sure they’re really interested in the answer…

Mine was “a primary school teacher who writes books on the side. I just want to teach and write all day.”

“Awww, that’s cute,” they’d say. “But there’s no such thing. You can either be a teacher or a writer. And by the way, you won’t make much money either way.”

That’s how it all starts, isn’t it? The myth of the “one true calling.”

The Pressure To Find Your One True Calling

When you’re little, you believe you can be whatever you want. An astronaut who also runs a hotel. An artist who sings, acts, and paints. A CEO AND a musician AND a sports star.

But, the adults are quick to set you straight. When they ask you about your future career plans, they expect you to pick just one career. Like lawyer. Or doctor. Or hairdresser. 

You can’t make money if you try to do all the things…

But what if you don’t care about money and just want to do what you love? 

You hear the same message again. Focus on your passion. Singular. Like you only have one thing you love…

The reason why most people struggle to find their passion is because they have too many. Nothing stands out, so you think you’re broken and have no passion.

That’s why I prefer to focus on purpose. But even this can be a slippery slope. If you believe, like I do, that you’re here on this planet for a reason and have a mission to accomplish, you can fall into the trap of thinking there’s only one way to fulfil it.

It doesn’t matter where you turn to, the world wants you to be a one-trick pony. But what if you really don’t have just one true calling?

It’s OK To Have More Than One Calling

Some people (specialists) are happy to do just one thing forever. They know from the cradle what they want to be when they grow up and dedicate their entire life to it. If that’s you, awesome. 

But, most people aren’t wired this way. Human beings are multi-faceted and have lots of different passions and interests they want to explore.

This doesn’t make you flaky or wrong. It makes you multi-passionate. 

Multi-passionate people are very creative. They have lots of different skills and talents. They see possibilities everyone else never thought of.

If you’re multi-passionate, you CAN’T do just one thing for the rest of your life. It’s too boring. Limiting. Stifling. A total waste of your skills and potential. 

Multi-passionate people have a life purpose, just like everyone else. They just fulfil it in a different way.

Passion VS Purpose

The number one mistake people make is thinking their life purpose is a job title, like relationship coach or web designer.

Your life purpose is the difference you want to make in the world. Think of it as a manifesto for your life. The overarching theme that links all your passions, skills, and values together.

Your life purpose is the reason you become a relationship coach or a web designer in the first place. It helps you identify the best fit for your passions, skills, and values, so you can use them to do the work you came here to do.

Here are a few examples of famous people’s life purposes:

“To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” — Oprah Winfrey

“To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net-worth of women around the world.” — Amanda Steinberg, founder of DailyWorth

“To heal old limiting beliefs and stories that stop people from fulfilling their full potential.”  —Giorgia G (that’s me!).

When you know what your life purpose is, the difference you want to make in the world, then you can use your passions and skills to fulfil it – and there’s always more than one way to fulfil it.

Related: How To Write A Personal Mission Statement (And Why It Matters)

How I Ditched The One True Calling Myth And Found The Work I Was Meant To Do

For years, I tried to monetise every passion I had – separately. I’ve been a personal assistant, skincare coach, freelance writer… and a few other things in between.

No matter how much I initially loved it or how much money I was making, each time I pursued one passion to the exclusion of all others, I felt like I was creating a prison for myself. After a few years, I wanted out and quit.

The first time this happened, I told myself I had picked the wrong passion.

The second time it happened, I told myself I was flaky and indecisive.

By the 10th time it happened, I knew I wasn’t the problem. Picking one passion is.

That’s when I stopped looking for my one true calling and started focusing on the difference I wanted to make in the world – healing limiting beliefs to help women fulfil their full potential and build wildly profitable businesses from their passions.

Today, I do this through mindset coaching, healing modalities, inspiring podcast interviews, hosting workshops – and I have a few more ideas in the pipeline I haven’t even started yet.

I could have gone a different route. I could do it by being a primary school teacher and helping students recognise and nurture their skills and talents. I could be a motivational speaker, a psychology, or a self-help writer. 

And you know what? Maybe one day, I’ll wear those hats too. 

When you know what your purpose is, you can express it in different ways, based on new skills you acquire, new life experiences you go through, or what stage of life you’re in.

Wrapping It Up

It’s ok if you don’t have just one true calling. Focus on the difference you want to make in the world and what’s the easiest and most joyful ways to use the passions and skills you already have to make that difference. When it’s time to pivot and fulfil it in a different way, you’ll know it.

Liked it? Share it with a friend who needs to hear this too.