| I think the words "meaning" and "calling" are a bit strong. They all kind of imply the notion that there is one thing that will make you happy and that you have to find it.
In reality, I think there are lots of different (company, position) that can make you happy. You also used the word "value", which I think is more on point. We all have a different set of values. If you do things that are in conflict with those values, you will feel bad. So finding a job where the most important values you have are fulfilled is a key point to being happy. I don't have any particular resource, but I think there must be a lot of books on how to find and understand those values. I personnally worked on that with a therapist. My example : I was working in a 45k-employee engineering service company (not sure of the english translation), where I was working on an ERP software for (military) aviation. The tech stack and the human organization was terrible. It conflicted with some of my values (knowledge, peace, creativity, autonomy...) and was starting to make me feel anxious and angry. I also felt that what I did had no real purpose. I knew I needed a place where kindness and knowledge were important. When I finally found that, working in a place were I feel the end product makes the world better, my life really was better. |