Jeff Goins

Success isn’t the goal; legacy is. Ultimately, we are called to call others; we are given gifts to be given away. All that to say: when you find yourself at the pinnacle of personal greatness, you may just be getting started.

The seven characteristics of a calling—awareness, apprenticeship, practice, discovery, profession, mastery, and legacy—are not a formula. They are a description of the path you are already on.

Rarely do easy and greatness go together. The art of doing hard things requires an uncommon level of dedication.

As it turns out, this is a great formula for moving in the direction of any calling: find what you love and what the world needs, then combine them. As Frederick Buechner wrote, ‘Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.’

This is not a book about miracles. It is a book about finding your calling, about how you discover what you were born to do. A calling is that thing that you can’t *not* do, an answer to the age-old question, ‘What should I do with my life?’

We all want to do something that we are good at, that the world in some way recognizes, but the point of practice is never just about skill acquisition. It’s about making a contribution to the world.

Your life, though a mystery, is trying to tell you something. Are you listening?