What is a “Vocational Careerist”?

Several friends lately have asked me about my Twitter bio and part of the former title of this blog.  What is a “vocational careerist”?

This idea comes from the path I have been on since I began pleading on my knees as a high school student who woke up at 4:45 each morning reading the Bible meditatively and praying, “Lord, show me the way.”  I’m a believer in the vocational path, dharma, the calling; and my diverse career experience reflects my journey on that path.

I’ve never been one to be defined or confined by my current occupation/job title and I’ve never liked the “cocktail party” question: “What do you do?”  After a 17+ year career in professional sales in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and commercial real estate; I began to get a lot closer to doing work that was “from the heart” and truer to my vocational calling when I started teaching at an inner-city high school and coaching Cross Country and Track & Field in 2009.  On January 1, 2014, the day I started this blog, my path continues to evolve.

I tell my students that their mission is to uncover their talents and gifts, discover what they absolutely love to do, and find a way to make a living doing it!  Life is far too short to live for the weekend! For me, that sums up the life of a vocational careerist and the meaning that has evolved for me over the years.  How do you view vocational careering?