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. Craig Rochelle said, you might be
one community away from changing the course of
your destiny. So the other day I attended a men's
breakfast at Amplify Church, and we had an amazing
turnout, we had a strong sense of community,
and my friend Pastor Ed delivered a powerful
message. One of the key messages From that, Pastor
Ed, was don't walk through life alone. Because
men really like to do things on their own. And
never pursue your calling in isolation. Surround
yourself with good men who will keep you accountable.
So this was, this came in at kind of a perfect
timing. Because I was searching. for this week's
topic. I wasn't really sure what I was going
to talk about. And then I went to men's breakfast.
I went to the men's breakfast. And Ed talked
about that. He talked about having other people
in your corner, making sure that you're surrounding
yourself with good men. And now this, I'm going
to caveat real quick, this episode is going to
be directed more towards men, but everything
will still work for women as well. But for men,
surround yourself with good men who, I'm going
to give this later in my notes, but who will
lift you up, who will push you to be better than
who you are right now and help you course correct
whenever you're starting to miss the mark. So
the message aligns perfectly with this podcast
mission of you, the listener, pursuing your calling.
I want to be a little bit vulnerable for a moment.
I've lost count of how many times I've tried
to do this journey alone. There were times I
pushed away support thinking asking for help
meant that I was weak. Or I never really thought
about how asking for help would actually be beneficial
instead of trying to do everything myself. But
let me tell you something important. It isn't
how life was meant to be. Today, we're going
to explore some practical ways to pursue your
calling alongside others who can support and
encourage you. John Maxwell says, if you want
to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far,
go together. So one of the first points I want
to make is look at who is already in your corner.
Who do you already trust? Who do you look up
to? Who are the people that whenever I say, who
do you trust, who do you think about? And whenever
I say, who do you look up to, who are the mentors
in your life? Or maybe, and this might not be
a person that you know personally. Hopefully
you do have some people in your life personally
for both of these. But there might be certain
authors of books. Maybe there's like some of
the people I'm quoting today. I think it was
Craig O'Shell and John Maxwell. I look up to
those men. I don't know them personally. I consider
them mentors in my life. Then recognize your
blind spots. Now this one we're going to need
some people physically around us. We all have
areas we can't see clearly. We have weaknesses,
patterns we don't really know about, gaps in
wisdom. We don't know what we don't know. To
be honest, I used AI to help me with my notes
a little bit, and it gave me this quote, completely
original. Actually, I made sure it was. But essentially,
having these people in your corner, it's like
having somebody hold up a mirror to your face.
Now, what do I mean? The quote that AI made was,
you can't correct what you can't see. And sometimes
it takes a brother to hold up a mirror. Whenever
I'm looking in the camera right now, or maybe
if I'm just looking at a wall or I'm just living
my life, I can't see myself. I don't know if
this is what it's saying, but part of what I'm
thinking about, sometimes the problem is us,
right? Sometimes we're the problem and we have
to have a brother hold up a mirror and be like,
this, do you see this feature? This weakness,
do you see this piece in you? And they point
it out in a loving, brotherly way or in a mentoring
way. And now that you know about it, you can
work on improving that area of your life and
continue to pursue your calling at a higher capacity
than how you were before. One thing, another
thing. I want to ask you, who were you thinking
of during that first question? Who do you trust?
Who are your mentors? That type of thing. If
you've ever written them down, I'm going to task
you with writing those people down. Who are those
men? Then share what you believe you're called
towards. Share what you believe your calling
is with these men. Ask if they feel like you're
on the right track. Ask them if they know you
well enough. Ask them if they feel like you're
on the right track. Does this sound like something
that is at my core? Because that's what your
calling is. Your calling is your why through
life. Maybe they feel like you're missing the
mark somewhere or they notice where you can improve
in pursuing this calling that is on your life.
Maybe they're like, yeah, that is exactly who
you are. That is exactly what I see in you. And
then you can ask, how can I improve? How can
I do this better? How can I pursue this part
of my life better? Where are my weaknesses? A
better way to ask that is, like we said before,
where are my weaknesses? Where are my blind spots?
What am I not strong at? So that will help you
pursue that calling better. There's a quote from
Tony Robbins I have. He says, the quality of
your life is a direct reflection of the quality
of your relationships. So do the relationships
in your life that you currently hold. hurt or
help your calling are they helping you or the
helping you pursue your calling better or are
they hurting you and pulling you back or even
even i don't know if this is could be worse that
is holding not just holding and maybe it's not
holding you uh pushing you backwards but it's
holding you where you're at so you're not just
not you're not you're not regressing but you're
also not progressing you're just maintaining
do you get encouragement Or belittlement. Do
these people help you to keep going? Or do they
tell you to quit whenever life gets hard? Whenever
you fail one time, they're like, yeah, man, that's...
You can't... They're like, yeah, man, that's...
Clearly, that's too much for you. Or maybe...
Maybe... Don't do that right now. Maybe they'll
have some good advice. Maybe they won't say quit.
Maybe they'll just say take a break, which isn't
bad advice. But if they're telling you to quit,
I would say that relationship probably isn't
as good as maybe you previously thought. I have
another quote. I'm a little quote heavy today.
The only way to grow fast is to do it together.
That's a quote by Russell Brunson. So reach out
to a friend or a mentor this week. Tell them
what you're seeking to pursue, like I already
said. What's a question that you would love the
answer to when it comes to pursuing your calling?
is a question that you would love the answer
to. Maybe it's, like I've coached people with
finances, I've coached people with one person
I've mentioned before about writing their own
children's book, and their calling is within
that. Why they want to do that is within that.
So maybe the answer that you need is what your
calling even is. And I have episodes in the past
about discovering your calling that you can go
back to and listen to. And I definitely recommend
it if you do not know what your calling is or
what your purpose is in life, what you were created
for. However, if you have a different question,
you have a question. Well, you already know what
you're pursuing, but you're not sure what the
next step might be. Who do you know that can
help you get that answer? Who can help you get
the answer that you're seeking? Who is doing
those things that you want to be doing? Who's
really good at what you want to be really good
at? Who do you see as a mentor in that space?
I'll task you with that today, and we're going
to wrap it up there. So guys, if you enjoyed
this episode of the Pursuit of Calling podcast,
Please share it out. Share it out on social medias.
And, man, I sound so old when I say social medias.
Guys, make sure to give it a five -star review.
And, guys, keep pursuing your calling. I'll see
you next time.