Without finding your calling, your career path is doomed

Okay, your career path may not be "doomed". Maybe it's you.
I've often been called upon to discuss peoples' career aspirations, from those trying to enter the VP ranks, to shiny high potential superstars just beginning their careers, to just about everyone in between. And while, as an organization, we can do things to foster development and growth at all levels, the responsibility ultimately falls to the individual to contribute key pieces of the equation. Ultimately no one can tell you where you want to go. And without that foundational piece of knowledge, the rest is just noise.
The problem: Often one is unsure of one's desired destination. It's far too easy to look "up" from where one is, and say "I want that next step-up job, or the neighbor's larger house, or to retire sooner." These are usually not the right answers -- just the easiest ones. But there is hope. While I cannot tell you where you want to go, I can tell you some methods for figuring it out.
A recent HBR Blog post, summarizing some of Amy Wrzesniewski's research, has a simple taxonomy of how one can think of work:

• It's a job
• It's a career
• It's a calling

These are simple enough to understand quickly: A job is about doing the minimum time/work to get a paycheck. A career adds a focus on advancement, recognition, and related perks.
But I think the concept of a "calling" is the really interesting one.
The aspects that define a "calling" can be reverse engineered. They can tell you what you are going to be most fulfilled doing for work. This will tell you where or what your "career path" is. So, here's the list of what defines a "calling", as distilled by Bill Barnett in his post. If you can picture yourself doing something like this, there you go. Go do it. If you already are, that's awesome! I've been there, and know what my calling is, and any time I deviate I quickly try to figure out a way to get back to it. It's not always quick nor easy, but it's worth it.

1. In your daily activities, you emphasize service. This isn't just about charity work, or public service. Think: Steve Jobs. He wanted to created awesome user experiences -- that is, he was all about serving the customers in his work -- way beyond what was necessary. Worked out for him, and for us.
2. You emphasize craftmanship. This means you get satisfaction, "a buzz", just from doing something well -- not attached to the particular rewards or results that emanate from your activity. You love it for the sake of the activity itself. I've met several struggling fine artists that fit this model, of course, but also home builders and call center operators and executives in Fortune 500 companies. In "HR speak" we call it "discretionary effort" and we love to see it and encourage it in our organizations. But really it's about individuals getting into the right kind of work and then us not messing that up.
3. You de-emphasize money. I don't mean "What kind of work would you do for free?" -- though if you are of means, I might. I mean "What kind of working opportunities would you like to do so much that you wouldn't choose a better paying job that engaged you less?" Obviously, the question is not pointed at the working-poor. But for many professionals, this is a real choice. Knowing your own answer is the number one way to reverse-engineer yourself into the "calling" that is right for you.

Don't despair, if you can't see anything fitting this description. At least you have a checklist for evaluating any decision you are faced with, when making a choice about your work. You may be surprised to find that your calling is only a step or two removed from your present career -- and you just hadn't recognized it.