What's going on, Pursuers? Welcome to The Pursuit
of Calling, the podcast that provides you with
the strategies and tools needed to successfully
discover and pursue your calling. Whether it's
through inspiring stories, thought -provoking
interviews, or quick, insightful episodes on
personal growth and development, we've got you
covered. I'm your host, Thomas Carney. Enjoy
the episode. Well, I've turned 30. A big 3 -0.
On April 27th, I turned 30 years old. And that
was a Sunday. And at church that day, people
asked me if I felt any different. And honestly,
this is one of the first times I can actually
say, yeah, I do. And it sounds kind of strange.
You know, I say that because, well, it... It
got me thinking about the growth that has happened
to me within the last decade of my life. You
know, how much I've changed and how much I've
grown. Thinking all the way back, I think about
where I was when I was 20 years old in college.
Learning about computer science for the first
time and not really caring much about my future.
I was... i was irresponsible i didn't really
yeah i didn't really care that much and some
people might think like yeah that's just how
life is in that time of life and i'm like it
doesn't need to be i know 20 year olds they're
way better off than i was and not to discount
myself but there's i mean man life life could
have been really different but i also wouldn't
trade it because now my life is really cool you
know I was taking the life God gave me for granted,
essentially. Between the years of 21 and 22,
I was going out to bars, getting drunk, whether
that be at the bar or in my dorm room, and I
was treating myself and others with disrespect.
Then there was a relationship and a whole bunch
of pain and stupidity. And I learned a lot from
those years, mainly what not to do. But as a
result of going through all of that pain and
all of that suffering, all the stupidity that
caused that, I healed and learned a lot. My biggest
takeaway from these last 10 years is that change
happens regardless of what you do. Change happens
with time, no matter what. But growth needs to
be intentional. Change happens no matter what,
but growth needs to be intentional. My favorite
years are the ones where I've been intentional
with my own personal growth. From the 15 Invaluable
Laws of Growth, in the chapter titled The Law
of Intentionality, John Maxwell says, once you're
done with formal education, You must take complete
ownership of the growth process because nobody
else will do it for you. That's been my experience.
Once I started taking my own personal growth
seriously around the age of about 26 years old,
my life really started to take a shift. It started
with my health, my eating habits. I started working
out more. I stopped drinking, which wasn't intentional.
falls under me getting healthier and how I manage
my finances. I was making a budget and I was
sticking to the budget and I paid off all my
debt within this last decade. It didn't take
as long as I thought it would. I was focusing
on personal growth and development. I was reading
books that interest me and that have and will
set me up for success. Ones I have mentioned
multiple times on this podcast, including the
15 Valuable Laws of Growth. I actually found
and then grew in my relationship with Jesus Christ.
I'm continuing to grow in that. And I want to
say something kind of funny. As I was typing
this out, I thought about how my financial habits
and my health habits actually became intertwined
with each other. Because you know how I said
when I stopped drinking, but that was unintentional?
The reason I stopped drinking was because I wanted
to save money and pay off my debt. I wanted to
pay off my student loans. And alcohol is expensive.
Therefore, I had to stop paying for alcohol because
I had debt. And once I stopped, I realized how
much better my life was without it. Not that
I had a problem or that I have a problem. with
other people drinking or having a drink or two
i just think that uh i just hate i just know
i know i just know i really disliked how i felt
whenever i was drinking so i had two things going
for me to stop drinking one the initial reason
was because it was expensive the reason that
the thing that kept it going because the thing
that kept it going was that honestly anytime
i have a drink i just don't feel good so i just
don't And I am better off for it. I believe that
fully. Why do any of this, though? What's the
point? Why did and why do I continuously decide
to pursue these areas of my life? It's because
I have a vision for my life and values to strive
and uphold. That without the intentional focus
on my health, finances personal growth and faith
that vision would never be possible what is the
vision i have in my life the vision i have is
to be a financially free and physically healthy
married man and father who isn't tied to one
source of income a man who puts god before all
else intentionally leads his family to do the
same i think I think a lot of people say, there's
some people say, like, you shouldn't have your
own goals because God will provide you with goals.
Other people, I think, more along the lines of,
it's good to have goals, but just be okay when
they change. Especially if they're, like, far
out goals. That is the vision I have on my life,
and maybe that vision will change. I expect it
to, but that's the vision I'm working towards
right now. Even if this vision never fully comes
to fruition, I'm going to continue to pursue
it because, you know, what's the other option?
To stop growing? You might as well, like, this
is going to sound blunt, and I wrote it in my
notes. I wasn't sure if I should say it, but
I'm going to be honest with you. If you're not
growing, you're dying. I wrote in my notes, you
might as well just die then. I think John Maxwell
says, I said it fast, I'm going to say it again.
If you're not growing, if you're not intentionally
growing in your life, John Maxwell would essentially
say that you're essentially just already dead.
You just haven't realized it yet. And when he
said that, that hit me. I'm like, I need to continuously
grow. Because otherwise, what's the point? I
think he also says he likes to be growth -oriented
versus goal -oriented. Because whenever you grow,
whenever all these things grow, these goals will
then be fulfilled. If personal growth isn't something
that you're intentionally pursuing right now,
maybe that doesn't make as much sense. But if
you've grown in any area of your life, you realize
that growth has to happen before you achieve
the goal that you're looking to achieve. So that's
a little bit of food for thought for you. And
so I want to ask you, what have you been intentionally
growing in, let's say, the last two years? If
it's nothing, what are you going to start growing
in and why? If you haven't been intentional about
your growth, start today. Write down right now
what you're going to intentionally grow in, whether
that be managing your finances better, whether
that be in your faith, whether that be in your
health. Or whether it be in your career, in your
relationship with others, whatever you want to
intentionally grow in, do that. And then find
the resources, the people to help you intentionally.
That's what it means to be intentional. It's
not just to think about how you can grow, but
also learn from others and learn from other resources
and how you can grow. Because there's other people
that have been and are where you want to be.
That was a lot of words. Let me just summarize
it. There are other people that have already
been and are where you want to be. So seek them
out and seek the books that they wrote and other
resources that they put out there. So I say my
calling is to provide people with the tools needed
to successfully discover and pursue their calling.
In order to do that, again, I need to pursue
mine well. I need to pursue my own calling well
in order to help others pursue theirs. We need
to pursue our calling well in all aspects of
our lives so that we can serve those we've been
called to serve with excellence. In these last
10 years, I've gone from someone who didn't care
at all about their future to being someone who
does everything for it. This doesn't mean to
forget about the here and now. In order to live
a life worth living, you need to spend it with
those you love and who love you. So yes, you're
growing for your future, but you're also growing
in order to be a better brother, a better sister,
a friend, a better spouse, mentor, mentee, boyfriend,
girlfriend, whatever you want to say, in the
here and now. You're growing for the future,
but obviously you're also growing for the here
and now. You're growing today so you can have
a better tomorrow, so you can be better tomorrow
and do that every single day. So let me leave
you with a question. What's one area of your
life that you can intentionally pursue growth
in this week? If you're not already pursuing
an area of growth, what area would that be? Okay,
I might have sounded like maybe a little bit
more pushy this episode. However, I think that's
okay. Because I honestly know, if you're listening
to this episode right now, if you stuck it through
to the end, that you are a person of value that
adds value to others. I know that you value people.
I know that you are a person that values growth.
So I think I'm pretty sure it's okay to talk
to you like this and talk to you one, like you're
an adult and also like you have standards for
yourself and you're okay with setting new ones.
Dang. All right. I'm going to leave you with
that. If you know the drill, if you like this
episode, actually better yet, if you got some
value from this episode, share it on social media,
on Facebook, X, Instagram. Whatever platform
you're on, give this episode a five -star review.
Give it a comment. And guys, I'll see you next
time.