Many of the questions I receive are related to finding one’s calling or purpose. We all know that as important as work is, it’s simply one tool for a meaningful life. We want success in other areas of our life as well. So, is finding our “calling” a mysterious process, clouded by our own natural talents and desires? Or are those the very keys to recognizing what our purpose was designed to be?
While this deserves serious thinking, I don’t think we need to be confused or left in the dark. I think God provides clear benchmarks to help us find and live out our calling with confidence, boldness and enthusiasm. If you’re still looking, don’t give up your search – but don’t ignore the signs you’ve already been given.
************************* “Emptiness is a symptom that you are not living creatively. You either have no goal that is important enough to you, or you are not using your talents and efforts in striving toward an important goal.” Maxwell Maltz, 1899 – 1975
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Okay, here’s a sticky theological question from a reader:
I love to share my faith with others and I seem to have many natural talents, skills and abilities suited for a minister. Many people have even suggested I enter the Ministry. However, I believe that no matter how suited someone may be for ministry they must be called of God in order to be a Minister. Talent is nothing to God. He rather wants a fully surrendered and obedient individual. I suppose my question is how do I know whether I'm called to be a minister or just an entrepreneur with an idea I'm passionate about? – John
How does God “call” us except through giving us skills and abilities, personality traits and passions that draw us in a particular direction? To think that God will ask a fully surrendered and obedient individual to something where there is no alignment with natural talents opens the door to heartache and misery.
Let’s just play out John’s thinking here. How would you like to attend a church where the pastor has no talent, skill or passion for that position – but he was just “willing and obedient?” How long would you attend that church?
Apply this thinking to any work. Would you want a doctor who had no skill or talent but thought he was “called” to the medical profession? How about a teacher who had a passion for being an artist but was convinced through well-meaning family that she was “called” to be a teacher?
I’ve met with too many pastors, missionaries, and teachers who were obedient and willing, but whose natural skills did not line up with their attempts to do something “Godly.” Many confused “calling” with the family tradition or the expectations of others. And their work was frustrating, spiritually depleting and ultimately led to a crisis that required change.
When there is an alignment of our skills, abilities, talents, personality traits and passions we will recognize God’s “call.” We will experience work that is fulfilling, meaningful, purposeful – and profitable.
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.” Frederick Buechner
Be sure to read the other quotations at the bottom of today’s newsletter.
This is a time of year when a lot of job seekers think they might as well wait until Jan. 1st to continue looking for work. Everyone knows companies don’t make decisions in Nov. and Dec. Right? Absolutely Wrong! Of course they do. Companies don’t want to start January unprepared. So what are they doing right now? They are looking for those key individuals who are going to help them be on track next year.
Now, what happens if a lot of job seekers stop looking in Nov.-Dec.? You’ve just improved your chances dramatically. If you were running a marathon with 500 other runners and 450 of them decided to stop for a cool drink of water – what should you do? If you are serious about winning you would surge forward and take the lead. The same thing is true in job searching; if a lot of others take a break, increase your job search. And trust me, this is a great time of year to be looking.
Also, be aware that this is the time of year when companies decide to make decisions to eliminate people. Yes, we’ll hear of more massive layoffs and firings between now and the end of the year. For all the above named reasons, companies will be making whatever changes necessary to start the year off right. Be clear about where you are going and how you are going to get there.
Here are some basics from the 48 Days to the Work You Love job search process:
Identify 30-40 target companies. You are in the driver’s seat to choose the companies you would like to work with. You don’t have to wait until they advertise a position or you heard someone say they are hiring. Those usual methods typically put you up against 70-80 people for most any desirable position, whereas in this method you may have 2-3 competitors. Also, this is the method for finding the 87% of the jobs that are never advertised. In a rapidly changing workplace, everyone is looking for good people. Be proactive in your search.
Send a letter of introduction to each company.
Send cover letter and resume -- one week after letter of introduction.
Phone call to follow up. Very important. My experience is that only about 1-2% of job-hunters do this. It is very easy to bring your name to the top of the list if you just do a follow up call. Don't be afraid of being persistent!
Keep in mind that if you just send cover letters and resumes (#3), you need to send out 254 to have a statistical chance of getting a job offer. If you combine that with a phone call, the number drops to 1 out of 15, a dramatic difference. Add to that an introduction letter and the results will amaze you. This is a SELLING process. We use a 3 time repetitive process because of understanding marketing principles. In this process you are selling a product, and that product is YOU! Just commit to the process and a time line.
Welcome to 48 Days radio where each week I look through the submitted questions and then blast through as many as possible right here to give you the unique tools for your own success. As you can see, questions about work are never about just work. Work is simply one tool for a successful life.
I have read many self-help books only to see friends and family members who don't read, watch many hours of TV, and have foul mouths make out better than me! I'm usually sluggish and don't like filling out job apps (I’d rather be on Facebook.) I can't seem to muster up the confidence to breakthrough. I'm so not enjoying life! I want to know what am I doing wrong.
How much cash or capital do you think needs to be set aside to start your own coaching business?
Dan, you coach many pastors looking for a career change. Do you ever do the opposite, coach people into the paid pastor role? I already have a seminary degree; am 52 years old and am constantly told I have a great speaking gift when I teach.
To what degree is it necessary that God's plan for your life be considered - can success be achieved without his blessing.
As artists, how do we (as husband and wife) gain the support of family members who feel we are just "playing" and wonder when we will get a "real" job?
Hello Dan, If someone was working full-time at their passion, how much time does someone give it a chance to be profitable?
Do you think it's a good idea to leave a low paying, dead end job to go to school full time and work part time to get a degree so that I can make more money? Yes, I have a mortgage and car note and household bills...thank you.
************************* If you have a question, just email me at askdan@48Days.com and you can ask about starting your own business, getting a better job, or finding your purpose in life.
And you can click the link below to listen to this week’s broadcast immediately – no downloading – no wait.
Coaching with Dan
Many of you ask if I still coach people individually. Yes, I do. Feel like you've taken too much time to get to the success you want? Is fear holding you back? These are common issues with the hundreds of people that contact us each month looking for a new start. Give us some brief information and I'll recommend one of my coaching packages or recommend one of the other coaches in our 48 Days network to launch you into the next successful season of your life: Coaching with Dan
************************* Like to watch a good book?
Like many industries, publishing is changing dramatically. Just introduced is the vook. Yep, that’s not a misprint. A Vook is a combination of print and video. You can now come to an interesting part of a book and then watch a video that compliments the text. Read it, Watch it
************************* More than Reading ”A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence on living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.” - Henry David Thoreau
************************* Need a Patent?
Are you sure? I see many people waste time and money on getting a patent rather than developing a marketing plan. A patent won’t put any money in your bank account – selling will. Marketing wizard Guy Kawasaki says, “At the end of the day, patents are mostly good for impressing your parents.”
************************* Google Hiring to work from home?
There is a popular scam going around again where you receive information on working from home for Google. All you need to do is pay $2.00 for the information kit and then start making easy money. Unfortunately, Google is not connected with this at all and the fine print reveals that you will be charged about $80 a month for ongoing support. Stay clear of this Work from home scam.
************************* Want to be a 48 Days Coach?
Lot of people ask about being included in the list of the 48 Days Coaches. We have a list of coaches and also identify those who are endorsed 48 Days Coaches. If you’re a coach and would like to join others who are building their coaches businesses, check out the details here: 48 Days Coach
************************* 48Days.net
At 48Days.net you’ll see over 4200 other excited people who have ideas – and plans to make 2010 their best year ever. If you want your life to be different in 2010, get involved with people who are on the same path. There is no cost – just lots of people who are committed to helping each other succeed.
************************* What makes you unique?
Don't put your time in an area that doesn't even "fit" you.
The most popular resource we have continues to be the 48 Days Career Profile. With your unique strengths, what kind of work should you be doing?" You can find out here.
I love quotations. Yes, they are just someone's opinions but they can challenge us and help us shape our own thinking. Here are a few more on "Calling."
“Therefore I advise no one to enter any religious order or the priesthood, indeed, I advise everyone against it ---- unless he is forearmed with this knowledge and understands that the works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone…… Martin Luther, upon noting the practical effect of the elevation of those doing “spiritual work” was that it puffs them up; “it greatly tends to hypocrisy, by reason of its outward show and unusual characters, which engenders conceit and a contempt of the common Christian life.”
“God has always led me of himself – The first idea I can recollect when I was a child was a desire to nurse the sick. My day dreams were all of hospitals and I visited them whenever I could. I never communicated it to anyone, it would have been laughed at; but I thought God had called me to serve Him in that way.” -- Florence Nightingale, Curriculum Vitae, 1851
“I felt as though I was about to fill a space in the world that was meant for me and had long awaited me, a mold, as it were, made for me alone, but discerned by me only this very moment.” -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Oak and the Calf.
“If a man love the labor of any trade, apart from any question of success or fame, then God has called him.” -- Robert Louis Stevenson
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say: Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Don't put your time in an area that doesn't even "fit" you.
