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People organise their career paths in many different ways. Some people pursue money. Others pursue flexibility and freedom. In the digital era people even pursue fame, centering their entire vocation around visibility.
However it’s my belief that the best way to organise your path is by pursuing what I call a ‘soul-led career’ and in this post I’m going to explain the three pillars that create one.
About the three pillars
A soul-led career is made up of three pillars. Soul, money and lifestyle. It’s also important to recognise these pillars as being in that order. Meaning that there is a reason it’s soul-led and not money-led or lifestyle-led. Most people in the world pursue a money-led career mainly because they are survival focused. They want to make sure the bills are paid and there is a roof over their head. However, the problem with this is that money-led careers can cap the soul’s development.
Pillar One: Soul
The first pillar of a soul-led career is soul. When I speak of soul I’m simply referring to the spiritual part of a person, your true nature and your divine state of being. This part is believed to give life to the physical body and to remain intact after death. When we lead with our true nature at the front and centre of our vocation we are walking a soul-led career. This means that decisions in our path are viewed through the lens of our soul’s development. For example, if you’re thinking about transitioning from your current job into another one, you would view it through your soul’s development first and then assess salary, perks, holidays etc.
Pillar Two: Money
The second pillar of a soul-led career is money. It doesn’t reject money, it simply doesn’t make it the primary pursuit. When people put money (or survival) as the main thing leading their direction, they survive physically. However they often are unable to truly develop their soul in the process. With money as a pillar it can support the calling. Because of the way our society operates, using money as an exchange of value, a healthy trade can look like exchanging money for what we feel deeply called to pursue in this life.
Pillar Three: Lifestyle
The third pillar of a soul-led career is lifestyle. How we organise our path to suit the lifestyle we wish to lead is an important part of a soul-led career. Remote work, travelling, being close to family and friends, running our own business, all facets of the lifestyle we may or may not wish to have in our own path. To have a path with only soul & money present without the lifestyle pillar means you're doing the work you're meant to be doing and earning a thriving income but you have no time to breathe or to be with loved ones or to take in the other beautiful areas of life.
It’s interesting to note that many people pursue money-led and lifestyle-led careers, only to wonder why they feel something is missing in their path.
This most important pillar, soul, is the most unrecognised part in our society. If you truly want to have a meaningful vocation then you need to not only recognise the importance of this pillar but to lead with soul. Ensuring that the other two pillars, money and lifestyle, are there to support it.
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