If you were to walk around a gravesite and read the engraved letters on tombstones you’re unlikely to read 'Subway Artist' or 'LinkedIn Officer.' Instead you find words like mother, father, friend, husband, wife. According to the dead, what is most important is not defined by corporate titles, but by the deeper roles we play in the world.
The work we leave behind can be as meaningful as the roles we had in the relationships we cherished. Rather than lower ourselves to job titles we wouldn’t want on our tombstone, we must elevate our work to reflect the deeper purpose of our lives—by embodying our Career Archetype.
Understanding Career Archetypes
Best understood through titles such as Healer, Writer, Artist, Designer, Philosopher, Poet, Oracle, a Career Archetype can be defined as an energetic pattern that rules over your career path. In other words, it reveals the side of yourself that is destined for great work and finds fulfilment doing it. It becomes an incredibly meaningful role and one we want to be associated with.
Putting vocations on tombstones
Michael Jackson’s tomb has the title singer songwriter engraved on it. Thomas Jefferson has the author of the declaration of independence engraved on his. And Jean Michael Basquait has just one word that was chosen to describe his life – artist. What’s clear is that our work can reach the same levels of aspiration in our culture as the words loving husband or loving wife. To do this, we must abandon hollow job titles and embrace the vocational calling within us, which is as inseparable and vital as the name we were given at birth.
The effect of your Career Archetype
When you’re aware of your Career Archetype it’s presence influences everything you work on. No arbitrary role can be given to you without viewing it through your archetype’s eyes first. To give you an example, if your Career Archetype was Fashion Designer, you would instinctively notice fashion and find fashion inspiration in everything around you.
Even if you were placed in an office as a customer service rep you would notice the stitching down black pleat skirts or the oversized jacket of a colleague. If you weren’t aware of what your Career Archetype was you may try to repress this behaviour attempting to play the role of the job title. However if you knew, you may begin offering fashion advice or trying out different looks each day. Being stuck in an office wouldn’t stop you from embodying the work you’re meant for.
Our archetypes demand our fullness
There’s a funny story whereby the brilliant fashion designer Alexander McQueen is visiting a friend in hospital and sees bandages on his friend, to which he says, “That’s fucking wicked.” Then, in his next show, models are walking down the runway dressed in bandages and hospital inspiration. You could have given McQueen any job title but he would have made fashion from it.
Instead of settling for lifeless job titles, we must step into the fullness of our Career Archetype, letting it breathe life and meaning into everything we do. Ask yourself: would you etch the words of your job title on your tombstone if you were to die today? If you would prefer to omit your job title, know that it’s not too late to replace it.
❤️🔥 To learn more about Career Archetypes, watch our introduction video below.
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