I love the feeling of working toward something! You know that positive feeling of having a clear vision or calling and the excitement that flows from every step forward towards it? It is exhilarating, energizing and enlightening! But, what do you do when your vision or calling is not clear? How do you take positive steps forward when you are unsure about the destination? Well, those are good questions, because our path is not always a straight one, or one that comes without disappointments, discouragements, and detours. So, let us talk a bit about vision or calling - seeing the future destination, enjoying the journey, and managing through the dreaded Ds (disappointments, discouragements and detours).
Vision and calling are similar in that they are both nouns. Vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. Calling is a strong urge toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence. While the two are not exactly the same, they both share the notions of 1) seeing the future, 2) taking action, and 3) having conviction. For today’s post, let's take a look at these three items:
Seeing the future
None of us know exactly what the future holds. If you ever needed a reminder of that, 2020/2021 has made that clear. However, just because we cannot know exactly what the future holds does not mean that we cannot envision a point in the future. The key to seeing your future is recognizing and understanding your strengths, and once you recognize and understand your strengths, the application of your strengths will guide your future. Strengths, as well as gifting, skills, and knowledge are topics for another day. For now, determine what you are really good at and envision or understand how the application of your strengths can lead you into the future.
Taking action
Now what? You have identified your strengths and envisioned the future through the application of those strengths - so, it is time for ACTION! If you have been following along on my blog, you might remember the post about the P’s - pessimist, procrastinator, planner, and progress. In that post, I encouraged you to use the time created by patience to make progress. And now, I take you back there again because taking action toward the future, pursuing a vision or calling, will require much patience. In those periods of patience, you have a choice to make (4 P’s); I want to encourage you to make the choice to progress. You have probably heard the old adage that there is no such thing as sitting still - you are either moving forward or falling further behind. Progress moves you forward - all of the time. One of the greatest gifts of vision or calling is the clarity that it gives in making progress. Clarity of vision or calling gives you the ability to know what to say YES to, but of equal importance, it also gives you the clarity and ability to know what to say NO to. This is likely the most important gift of a clear vision or calling.
Having conviction
Conviction is a firmly held belief or opinion. When you have a vision or calling that you believe in with conviction, it brings together that clarity of letting your yes be yes and your no be no. Define your vision - or recognize your calling - and pursue it with a firm conviction. Let the power of these concepts drive the what, when, why and how with which you pursue your vision or calling. Lastly, stay focused but flexible, because inevitably there will be disappointments, discouragements and detours that might “course correct” you in the pursuit of your vision or calling.
In part 2, we will dive into the D’s of disappointment, discouragement and detours, as well as exploring how, at times, your hobbies or side-gigs might be leading you to a renewed or revised vision. What I love in all of this is that it fits perfectly with the concept of IOR. In all that we covered today, you are preparing and progressing yourself (readiness) toward a vision that will be realized when opportunities arise. That is the genesis of the title: People Get Ready! Not to mention, that it is a pretty cool song, too. I hope this has been helpful. If you have a personal example to share, why not leave it in the comment section of this post or feel free to start a forum post, as encouragement for our fellow journiers.
Thanks! I post links to this blog on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I sure would appreciate a share on the sites that you interact with and I encourage you to join or subscribe to our website www.IOR4YOU.com to get notified every time a new post is shared. Catch you next month with a continuation of People Get Ready!
MR
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