Vacation is a good time to contemplate life and career, fulfillment and frustration. It’s a good time to assess if you have the right balance in your life, and, if not, what might be missing.

And what better way to make that assessment that using the favourite of data visualisers everywhere – the venn diagram.

I enjoyed examining this and relating it to my own situation. I even found myself unpicking some of it: aren’t mission and vocation the wrong way round? Depends on your understanding of the semantics I guess. Also, what does it mean to be excited at the same time as complacent and uncertain? What kind of people actually find themselves occupying this space? It reminded me just how powerful venns can be for exploring concepts.

What I loved the most was trying to decide the tweaks I can make to draw me closer to the middle. For me, it’s allowing myself to ensure that I continue doing the things I love, and not be drawn too strongly out of the LOVE circle and into that space between profession and vocation. I think this happens to me sometimes. In future I’d like to remember to make choices that are enriching for me too, rather than always fall into the ‘pleaser’ habit of prioritising what others are asking me for.