Career or Calling? Rethinking Success on Your Terms
- Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
Success is a word we throw around a lot. But what does it really mean?
For years, I believed success looked like climbing ladders, collecting accolades, and checking off the boxes we’re all handed. I had the résumé. The titles. The calendar filled with “important” things. And yet—something always felt slightly… off.
If you’re reading this and wondering why your job leaves you exhausted instead of energized, unfulfilled instead of fired up, I want you to know: you’re not alone. And more importantly, you’re not broken.
What you’re feeling is the quiet nudge of truth.
The truth that what you’re doing might be a career—but it may not be your calling.
What’s the Difference Between a Career and a Calling?
A career is often tied to achievement. It’s what you studied. What you get paid to do. It can be deeply rewarding and a significant part of your identity—but it can also become a treadmill. A series of external milestones that don’t always match your internal values.
A calling, on the other hand, is deeper. It’s soul-rooted. It’s the thing that pulls you forward when logic tells you to sit still. A calling might overlap with your career—but it doesn’t have to. It’s the thing you’d still want to do even if nobody gave you permission or applause.
A career says, I have to do this.A calling says, I can’t not do this.
And here's the most important truth: success doesn’t require choosing one over the other. It requires aligning them.
Are You Aligned—or Just Employed?
I’ve coached thousands of people through transitions—CEOs, artists, parents returning to work, athletes pivoting after injury. Different backgrounds, different challenges. But they all ask some version of the same question:
"Is this it?"
That question is often not about money, prestige, or title. It’s about meaning. People want to feel like they matter. Like what they do aligns with who they are.
And if you're reading this right now feeling like your work doesn't reflect the best of who you are, here's what I want you to hear loud and clear: It’s not too late to align.
It’s not too late to choose more peace over pressure, more purpose over perfection.
The Calling Doesn’t Have to Be Loud
Calling doesn’t always arrive with fireworks. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s something you did as a child, forgot about, and find again one day in the middle of your commute. Sometimes it’s something you’re already doing on the side—writing, mentoring, advocating, creating—and you’re just afraid to name it.
And that fear? That’s normal. Calling tends to pull us toward discomfort. It asks us to stretch into authenticity.
But here's the gift: you don't have to quit everything tomorrow to answer your calling. You only need to begin honoring it.
Start where you are. Take one small step. Write the post. Sign up for the class. Tell someone your dream out loud.
Success lives in alignment. And alignment begins with honesty.
Redefining Success (for Real)
In The Success Guidebook, I talk about what I call the 10 Factors of Success—Imagine, Believe, Focus, Plan, Ask, Network, Collaborate, Sustain, Adjust, and Celebrate.
What’s powerful is how these apply not just to business goals, but to the deepest questions of our lives.
Have you imagined what your life would look like if it felt peaceful and purposeful every day?
Have you given yourself permission to believe it’s possible?
Have you focused inward long enough to hear your own voice over the noise?
Real success—the kind that nourishes your life, not just your bank account—requires inner clarity. It requires letting go of outdated definitions and deciding what success feels like, not just what it looks like.
For me, success feels like waking up with energy. Loving the people I serve. Having meaningful conversations. Helping others navigate change, find peace, and grow. That’s not just a career. It’s my calling.
Your Next Step
So I’ll leave you with a question:
Is what you’re doing today aligned with who you truly are—and who you’re becoming?
If not, what would shift if you allowed yourself to listen—not just to what the world expects from you, but to what your heart is asking?
Whether you’re building a business, leading a team, raising a family, or redefining your path, you deserve to do it from a place of alignment.
Your calling doesn’t need to be grand or glamorous. It only needs to be true.
Because when you live from that space—when your work becomes an extension of your why—you become the definition of success.
Let’s continue this conversation.
➡ Join me over at our facebook group Best Ever You and share what success means to you.
➡ Want help discovering your calling or aligning your career with your purpose? Let’s work together. I offer coaching designed to support your highest self.