By Shannon, Biology, Class of 2016
Many career books are written from a secular perspective. These are helpful, but some people want to have their work and their religious life overlap. This does not mean that they want to work in a religious setting. There are people who want to feel as if they are in a career because it aligns with what God’s mission for them is. In How to Find Your Mission in Life, Richard N. Bolles explores how to find one’s mission in life. While his definition of “mission” is God’s mission for a person, many of his steps and advice can be used in a secular way as well. Everybody has a mission in life whether you believe it is God who gave you that mission or you believe that it is just a fact of life that everyone has a mission and purpose. You do not have to be religious to benefit from reading this book.
One of the most important things Bolles writes is that finding your mission in life “is not a problem that can be solved in a day and a night. It is a learning process which has steps to it” (Bolles 9). In our fast-paced society, we often want things to happen quickly and we expect to know exactly what our mission in life is right away. This becomes especially evident when it seems like our peers already have their lives figured out. Bolles realizes this and explicitly says that we need to slow down and accept that finding our life’s mission is a process and will not come immediately.
Everybody is born with or develops unique talents and skills. Bolles emphasizes that we need to study these talents and skills to help us decipher our mission. We spend a lot of time admiring the talents of other people and too often we forget to admire our own. You have unique talents and skills for a reason and that reason is that they relate to what your mission is. You should not only study what your gifts are, but recognize which ones you enjoy using most. These will directly relate to whatever your mission is.
This book is a fantastic resource for those wanting to find more purpose in their life. Often times we are unhappy with our lives because we do not feel like we are doing anything worthwhile or meaningful. Bolles’ book can help you find purpose in your life.