About the Book
The Calling offers a groundbreaking twelve-week program to help you discover more fulfilling work, more authentic relationships, and a deeper sense of connection. It's no secret that many working professionals are dissatisfied with their occupations--it's been estimated that more than 75 percent of employees in the US are disengaged or otherwise unhappy in their jobs. This dissatisfaction is often seen as a structural problem--one that can be solved by shuffling people in and out of positions until they find the right fit. Cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and spiritual seeker Julia Mossbridge has a different take. According to Mossbridge, this lack of engagement and satisfaction in the workforce is a spiritual problem: we find ourselves in stressful or unfulfilling jobs because we don't know ourselves well enough to choose wisely, in alignment with our most heartfelt desires. It's this problem--one of self-knowledge, values, and spiritual attunement--that this book seeks to solve. The Calling offers a twelve-week program for discovering your soul's work. An intriguing combination of hard-nosed science and wide-open spirituality, this one-of-a-kind guide will show you how to use the scientific method of observation and experimentation on yourself, in order to determine the nature and scope of your true calling, and then put it into action. You'll also create your own lab notebook of personalized information to help you define, understand, and pursue your soul's work. With the insights and strategies in this practical yet spiritual step-by-step book, you'll not only find more satisfying work; you'll also discover greater fulfillment in all areas of your life, including more authentic relationships and a deeper sense of connection with the universe.
About the Author :
Julia A. Mossbridge, PhD, is director of the Innovation Lab at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, visiting scholar at Northwestern University, science director at Focus@Will Labs and an associated professor of integral and transpersonal psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her research primarily involves understanding how time is perceived by our unconscious and conscious minds, and is secondarily related to authenticity and human interconnectivity. She has a PhD in communication sciences and disorders from Northwestern University and a MA in neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco. The 2014 winner of the Charles Honorton Integrative Contributions Award, she is coauthor (with Imants Baruss) of Transcendent Mind: Rethinking the Science of Consciousness (American Psychology Association Books, 2016), and author of The Garden and Unfolding: The Science of Your Soul's Work, in addition to multiple scientific articles. She is also the inventor of Choice Compass, a patented physiologically based decision-making app.
Review :
"The Calling provides a much-needed path to understanding what one was born to do, in a fun-to-read and refreshing alternative to the many self-help books that seek to direct readers toward careers that may or may not be fulfilling (or even the right fit). Through structured, actionable, and sometimes delightfully challenging exercises, Mossbridge deftly guides the reader toward the discovery and celebration of the soul's work--no small task in an era which finds many searching for meaning and purpose."
--JD Pirtle, artist, educator, and founder and principal of Depth and Light--an education, design, and technology studio+consultancy based in Chicago, IL--JD Pirtle
"A universal feature of the great spiritual traditions is that there is meaning, purpose, and direction to existence; that happiness and a sense of fulfillment are more likely when one aligns with this felt direction, this calling; and that guides who have 'been there' can assist one's attempts to align with this beckoning from the world. Julia Mossbridge is such a guide, and The Calling is her guidebook. Mossbridge has performed an enormous service, because a characteristic of our age is a widespread experience of ennui, despair, and a sense that what one person does will not matter against the backdrop of seven billion fellow inhabitants of the planet. The Calling is an antidote for this world-weariness.
And here's a bonus: Mossbridge is an elite scientist who understands the deep connections between mind and matter, consciousness and the world. She demonstrates why one's calling is not just a personal, individual concern, but is an issue on which the future of our species likely depends. It is difficult to imagine a more urgent concern, or a more valuable contribution."
--Larry Dossey, MD, author of One Mind--Larry Dossey, MD
"Ever since I read The Martian, I've been trying to 'science' the hell out of my life--nice idea in theory, extremely difficult in execution. With Mossbridge's The Calling, we now have the first textbook."
--Neal H. Patel, principal product manager at Amazon, founder of Google Human/Social Dynamics, founding member of Google Advanced Technology and Projects, and principal researcher at Google's Project Oxygen--Neal H. Patel
"If you've ever wondered what your calling (or destiny) is, this book is essential reading. Julia Mossbridge is a scientist, but her words speak directly to your soul, the heart and eternal essence of you. Highly recommended."
--Theresa Cheung, Sunday Times top-ten best-selling spiritual and personal transformation author--Theresa Cheung
"Julia offers a unique approach to connect more deeply with your authentic self through a scientific process. This playful experiment guides the reader through stages of personal development, which invites clarity, connection, and surrender in pursuing purpose. Sharing stories and providing brief exercises engage the reader with possibilities and practices for getting out of their own way and allowing their soul's calling to emerge. Doing this program with another or in a group may enrich the experiment and outcomes."
--Maureen Pelton, MSSW, LICSW, cofounder of ShiftIt Institute, LLC--Maureen Pelton, MSSW, LICSW
"Julia Mossbridge has rendered an important service in The Calling. She returns us to the origin of the real scientific spirit--the radical idea that the world is knowable. She also moves us into the twenty-first century by giving us a grounding in our own subjectivity, stating boldly that 'the science of your soul's work is to take your inner experience seriously.' Mossbridge gives us new, scientifically based reasons why we should reconsider a cosmology that places us inside the family of interdependent things. If you want to be the person you intuitively know you're capable of being, this book sets out an informed, friendly, and powerful program for getting you there."
--Rebecca Armstrong, DMin, mediator, mythologist, cofounder of Mind University, and adjunct faculty in the department of philosophy and religion at Indiana University--Rebecca Armstrong, DMin
"Julia Mossbridge has written a must-read guide for anyone who wants to live in alignment with their heartfelt desires. In The Calling, she accompanies readers on a twelve-week journey of experimental self-exploration to attain self-knowledge and clarity on what makes their hearts sing. Her voice is clear and compassionate, capturing the essence of all that is truly energizing in our lives and showing that you don't need to sacrifice your passion to live well. Like all things worth doing, the program requires commitment. However, if you truly want to change your life, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough."
--Isabelle C. Widmer, MD, life sciences consultant and coach, elytra GmbH--Isabelle C. Widmer, MD
"There is a myriad of books published on the subject of finding your purpose. The Calling stands out from the rest. It is written by a most superb cognitive neuroscientist using the 'deep scientific method' to lead us in a most exciting prospect: uncovering our callings as we apply the scientific method to ourselves. I highly recommend this book, in which Mossbridge guides us in becoming scientists of our own true work, and takes us inside our own experience, where the truth of our souls is revealed."
--Justine Willis Toms, host of New Dimensions Radio, coauthor of True Work, and author of Small Pleasures--Justine Willis Toms
