The Clustering Effect

Dear Younger Me,

I’ve been pondering a certain subject recently.

I am certain it is a thing that everyone is deeply impacted by.

Despite the impact, it is something that not everyone deeply thinks about.

And for those that think about it, even fewer take action on it.

Do you know what I’m thinking about?

A calling.

The dictionary describes it as the following:

A word with multiple definitions.

Which definition do you think I’m talking about?

While I would love to discuss the vast topic of various animals' cries and shouts, I want to focus your attention on the second definition.

Particularly, the difference between the definition after “2.” and after “•”.

Read the following two definitions out loud:

1. A strong urge toward a particular way of life or career; a vocation.

2. A profession or occupation.

You see it too?

You hear it too?

Definition #1 feels more important.

Urge.

Particular.

Life.

Career.

Vocation.

These are powerful words.

Now reread #2.

Plain.

Boring.

Normal.

Such a dramatic evocation of emotion, yet so subtle that the dictionary batches them together.

And it is the same subtle variation that allows the careFUL to live into a vocation while the careLESS live into an occupation.

The hard part is for those that want to live into that vocational calling, but don’t know how.

The answer has been that certain subject I’ve been pondering.

I call it the Clustering Effect.

It has two variances:

1. The starters (high school, college, beginning of careers)

2. The experienced (5+ years of work developing a certain skill or skills)

I will start with the starters then continue on to the experienced, but each variance rests on a shared fundamental.

A calling is a combination of several fields that fascinate you.

Let’s build on it.

When you are just beginning, you want to explore a wide variety of your inclinations.

How can you combine several interesting fields if you don’t first explore them?

Maybe it’s social media? Learn to create content on every single platform.

Business? Gather experience in sales, marketing, accounting, and operations.

Some professions allow for earlier access to this exploration. Nurses, teachers, and doctors all get to explore rotations during academic years.

But this does not have to do with just industrious pursuits.

Incorporate hobbies, too.

Enjoy exercising? Try HIIT, yoga, martial arts, pickleball, and so much more.

Music? There are even more options.

Reading? Explore all genres, titles, and authors.

You get my point?

When you are a starter, you want to explore a wide variance of topics across a wide variance of mediums (industry, hobby, health, etc).

This way, you will have an “easier” time when you get to the “experienced” category.

The hope of using the clustering effect is that as a starter you are able to develop a plethora of knowledge, intrigue, and passion for various fields (getting back at the foundational principle). That way, once you become one of the experienced, you are able to find alignment with that previously unknown calling.

How?

As one of the experienced, you want to take the skills you have developed over your starter years (and even as you continue to explore and develop in your experienced years) to adapt them towards your true calling.

And the best part is it may not be what you expect.

How are you to know that a guitar salesman is your calling without first playing and selling?

Or teaching elementary English without first teaching elementary and English.

Your path to finding that calling (and not just that profession/occupation) is by first being a starter and exploring a wide field of inclinations. Then, as an experienced, align those explored fields into the direction of your true calling.

And one last thing…

Don’t get frustrated if someone finds their true calling before you.

Just keep on going.

Best,

Older You