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. Okay, so I'm making some changes.
Hopefully some good ones. Hope you guys are having
a great week. So I'm beginning to focus my message
more towards who I was five years ago. Many of
you know, I have a condition called muscular
dystonia. And whenever I first discovered that,
sorry, I just bumped my mic. So when I first
discovered that. Or to say, when I first started
experiencing this pain, I had no idea what was
going on. I didn't know what God was doing. I
had a... I was lost. Wandering aimlessly through
life, thinking that now my pain was my purpose.
But now I'm going to be focusing on... That guy
who I was, that man who I was five years ago,
a young Christian man dealing with chronic conditions,
wondering what's happening and what their purpose
is. If you know someone in that position, stop
right now. Stop right now. Share this episode
out with the person that you know. And if you
don't know somebody, don't get discouraged. There's
something you can do too. You can go out and
share it, this episode, right now on social media.
Tag me. And give it the hashtag chronic pain
just so people know that this is who I'm serving.
I am serving young Christian men in chronic pain
with chronic conditions that want to pursue their
calling and do it well despite their circumstances.
Because there is a calling on their life and
they were created on purpose and for a purpose.
Like this sucks. It sucks. Wow. That made me
sound like I just said like, wow. No. Living
with chronic conditions suck. And that's why
I want to help you. That's why I want to help
the person that you're thinking of or the people
that are going to see the message and then reach
out for a free discovery call. I do a one free
discovering coaching call for everyone that wants
to check out the life coaching, see what it is,
and even just start the process of pursuing their
calling well. The only thing I ask for is a name,
a phone number, and an email so I can reach out.
to give you reminders for the coaching call.
So go do that, and now we'll get into the episode.
So this week, I realized I was dangerously close
to burnout. You know, with a full -time job that
just keeps getting busier, a coaching business,
a merch store, and a podcast, I've been spreading
myself really thin. You know, in this hustle
culture that I feel like I get sucked into, even
though I'm not like looking at that on social
media all that much, it feels like being busy
is what being excellent means. I've been trying
to pursue excellence in all these areas, and
I found that, at least for now, it's not possible
to do all of them at the same time. So what happens
when you try to pursue excellence and that turns
into overextension? So some backstory. I have
two friends. I have more than two friends, but
two friends in this story. Chris and Matt, Chris
and Matt, who I started, we had one session so
far, but we started an entrepreneur mastermind.
And something that we're doing to hold each other
accountable, on our goals, swap ideas. We're
going to make sure each other stays on track.
We are three people who are very into personal
development, personal growth, pushing ourselves
and making sure that we're better tomorrow than
we are today. So after explaining to them what
I really want to do, I really want to start focusing
on my coaching more because personally, I feel
like I've been lacking in that area. But I just
haven't felt like I've had that time. They both
agreed that the merch probably had to take a
backseat. So I'm sorry to say the merch store
is closing on November 2nd, at least for now,
for a small, short hiatus. But at the time of
this release of this episode, you can go and
you can get some, you should still get your merch
up to November 2nd. So if you want to go grab
it, get it before it's gone. That wasn't meant
to be a plug there, but it's true. It's going
to be gone. You're not going to be able to get
it for a while. So if you want to let other people
know that they were made for more just by walking
past them in the grocery store, get a hoodie.
It's cold outside here in Pittsburgh. Get a hoodie.
Get a t -shirt if it's warm. And you can get
a coffee mug too. Coffee mugs are great, actually.
So go ahead and check that out. You can go to
shop .pursuitofcalling .com. I'm going to put
the link in the show notes just for you to check
out. But, you know, Them telling me that was,
it was hard for me to hear. I love the merch.
Like, I'm not wearing it right now, but I had
a hoodie on earlier. I was getting kind of warm,
but it's an awesome hoodie. I love the message
that is saying that you were made for more, but
excellence sometimes means cutting out what's
good to focus on what's best. And guys, you know
how much, I don't know if you know this, but
that sucks. Guys, I might be sounding kind of
cynical this episode. It's the second time I've
said something and my life sucks. But it's true.
Cutting things out that you want to do, it sucks.
But the goal is to be strategic, and we're going
to be getting into that right now. Well, not
really the strategy, but what's the necessity
of being strategic? Again, I'm going to say many
of you know I have a condition called muscular
dystonia. And if you haven't noticed, I've been
needing to repeat my words and say them a little
bit more carefully. That's because my condition
is now affecting my jaw. Or my mandibles, I guess
that's called. So since I've been talking, if
I let my mouth rest for a second, my teeth will
start to chatter. My dentist told me the enamel
on my teeth is wearing down. Whoopee! I got to
get some special toothpaste so my teeth don't
fall apart, I guess. So again, it kind of sucks.
I don't know why I'm laughing. But believe me,
so if you're somebody that's in a similar position
that you have a chronic condition that other
people don't understand you, believe me, I get
it. If you're like me, you can't do everything
that everyone else can do. And that's frustrating.
Maybe you've got so many things that you want
to do, but your body can't seem to keep up. You
know, I used to think that this was a curse.
I used to think that maybe I didn't have the
faith in order to be healed from this condition,
and that it's my fault. And there must be something
wrong with me in order to still be in this pain
and this torment. But I don't believe that anymore.
So now I see it more as an invitation, a call,
if you will, to rely on God and to work smarter
and not harder. To prioritize, to strategize.
Because of our limitations, we need to be more
strategic. We need to prioritize more heavily.
If you're like me and your limitation is an actual,
like, I can only use my arm so much because eventually
I ended up in pain or I can only talk so much
now and I need to give myself a rest. Like, I
need to pick my words and I need to pick my actions
strategically. I'm going to tear up because some
of it's just setting in now as I'm recording.
Sacrificing what we want to do in order to do
what God wants us to do. In order to pursue the
calling he has for our lives well, it should
be our utmost priority. So I want to give you
a little practical example from this week at
work. I am in a hole right now with my job. Not
really. My boss isn't necessarily mad at me,
but I... let myself get into a hole where now
I need to spend more time coding. I'm a developer.
More time coding than I would need to spend.
I have to work longer hours, at least slightly,
in order to get things done because I started
doing what I wanted to do with work instead of
what I needed to do. I needed to plan, and without
going into all of the semantics and all of the
actual details, I started just doing what I needed
to do, what I wanted to do, and left behind what
I needed to do in order to pursue excellence
in my job. And now I'm in the position where
I need to do what I need to do really badly.
And I need to put aside to code, which is what
I want to do. I know that might have been really
confusing. I kind of sound like Paul there for
a minute, I think, where he was saying, I do
the things I don't want to do, and I do the things
I... I do the things I don't want to do, and
I don't do the things I do want to do, and you
know what I'm talking about? You probably know
what I'm talking about. If you don't, you can
look up the verse. But yeah, all that to say,
sacrifice what you want to do in order of the
things that you need to do. Not saying the things
that you want to do are bad, and not saying you
shouldn't do the things that you want to do.
Thomas, you're being very long -winded. I just
talked about talking to myself in the third person.
Forgive me. But I'm going to stop there. I feel
like you might have got the picture and maybe
clicked off because I was being a little confusing.
But us people in chronic conditions, yes, we
prioritize heavily. Okay, let's get into some
scripture. Colossians 3, 23. Whatever you do,
work at it with all your heart as working for
the Lord. not for human masters. With all your
heart. What does that mean? I believe it means
excellence. I believe that means working with
all your heart for the Lord means not doing everything.
That's not what it's saying. It says whatever
you do. That's what Paul wrote. He says whatever
you do. You can't do everything except to do
it with excellence. There's only so much time
in the day and you don't know it all. You can't
start, you can't do everything and do it all
well because then you will start neglecting things
in your life that you actually need to be paying
attention to. I use some personal examples, but
what are some examples in your life where times
when you spread yourself thin and started doing
things and started doing too many things? If
you're watching or listening to this podcast,
you're probably a person like me that loves to
spread themselves thin. So think about that.
All right. So some final applications. Prioritize
what's important. You know, that's why I'm focusing
on my coaching right now. That's where God has
called me to. That's why I set aside. the merch
because it's what I want to do and the message
is fantastic. I believe that coaching is where
I'm called to be. And then another great part
is allow rest to be part of your rhythm. Allow
rest to be part of your daily routine because
one, rest is biblical, but also if you're continuously
running, if you're continuously moving, You're
not allowing God to take the reins. I can be
like this a lot. I really, I hate sitting still.
And something I need to learn is that rest isn't
laziness, it's obedience. When I say rest is
biblical, even Jesus rested. Even Jesus sacrificed
the good in order to get to the great. There
was towns that he was in that he left. Even though
there were still more people to heal, they wanted
him to stay longer and do more miracles. And
he said, I can't stay here. There's more for
me to do. So he went to the next town. And there's
times when he went by himself, on his own, and
just prayed and relaxed. Just called out to his
father. Because he knew that rest is part of
excellence. And before I mentioned the mastermind,
I said I was seeking community and accountability
in my daily walk. So this isn't just in the goals
that you have in your life. In your life, there's
also accountability in your day -to -day, in
your walk as a Christian. You need somebody in
your life that's going to call you out on your
crap so that you can live your life with excellence
and do all things wholeheartedly as unto the
Lord. We can't do that by ourselves. We can't
do this life on our own. And finally, you need
to redefine success. Excellence is not about
doing more. It's about doing the right things
well. It's about doing the best things, the highest
priority, and doing those things well and sacrificing
the rest. It doesn't mean that you never do those
good things ever again, but there's going to
be a season when you need to sacrifice the good
in order to get to the great. And I think this
message I'm talking about today is super important
for us in chronic pain, for us in chronic conditions.
Because it can get really easy to get lazy. It
can be really easy to not grow because you're
like, this is my life. I can't do what I want
to do. I can't do the things that everybody else
can do. So then what's the point? Why do anything?
You throw up your hands. You're like, I don't
care anymore. And I get it. I understand. Believe
me, I do. Better than a lot of people. But God
is calling you higher. God has a plan for your
life. God has a calling for you that he wants
you to prioritize. But rest is good. Rest. And
then seek community. Rest and then prioritize
and take action in the way that you need to because
of your condition. I don't have my body, but
I have my voice. And when I lose my voice, I'll
have my mind. And if I lose my mind, I'll have
my God. Guys, I'm going to end this in some prayer
and then... That would do a little bit of outro
stuff. But dear Heavenly Father, thank you, God,
for the person listening to this, for the person
on the other side of the screen, Lord God. Lord
God, I pray that if they're a person in chronic
conditions, in a chronic condition, Lord God,
in chronic pain, I pray that you give them rest,
God. That you allow them to have grace for themselves
and the pursuits that they have in their lives
while they're pursuing the calling that you put
in front of them. Because it's not their circumstances
that define their calling. You define their calling,
Lord God. You define who they are and who you
are building them to be. And Lord God, I pray
over everyone listening to this message right
now. Under the sound of my voice, Lord God, just
bless them, Lord God. Give them new understandings,
God. Grant them peace in what they need peace
in. Grace when they need grace. Joy, God, in
all of their life. and conviction where they
need conviction. Jesus name, amen. All right,
guys, thank you for listening to this episode
of the Pursuit of Calling podcast. You know the
drill. If you like this episode, which who am
I kidding? You probably did. If you're listening
to the whole thing, go ahead and share it out
on social media. Don't forget, if you're a person
in chronic pain, you can reach out using the
link in the description. to sign up for a free
absolutely free no money asked for um discovery
coaching call so you can figure out a little
bit more about who i am and i can learn about
who you are i'd love to get to know you and if
you know somebody and that is in a chronic condition
send them my way you can send them send them
my way or just share out this podcast on social
media again Tag me in Thomas Carney. My tag is
at Thomas Carney at Thomas dot Carney seven.
And use the hashtag chronic pain just so that
so those two things get tied together. I think
that will help the algorithm kind of pick me
up as like somebody who talks about that stuff.
I don't really know. It's kind of an experiment.
And guys, don't forget to give this podcast a
five star review on Spotify, Apple podcast or
whatever you listen to the podcast. Give it a
comment if you can. And guys, I'll see you next
time. Peace. Oh yeah, don't forget to pursue
your calling well.