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. All right, let's get into it. So
the other day I was on a run. OK, well, I was
on a jog. OK, not really. I was I was on a walk.
I was on a walk the other day and I had a thought
there. There would be certain times in my walk
where I'd get a rush. I don't know if you ever
get that moment. I get that. I get it. We get
a rush and you just need to run. I'd run until
I had there would be times whenever I would run
until I had to stop. Whether that be because
my legs would start hurting my chest because
I was breathing so heavy because I'm out of shape
and or because I was I just ate and I forgot
you shouldn't eat before you run because then
you get cramps. But when I got home after that
run, when I got home, the phrase that was popped
that popped into my head was keep. So, you know,
I'm in a season where when it comes to my goals
and the vision that I have for my life, a vision
I believe God has given me to be a coach who
coaches others who live with circumstances outside
of their control. Just like me. You know, I have
chronic pain and I have a condition of muscular
dystonia. And I want to help those people. I
want to coach these people. I want to coach you
to Pursue your calling and to achieve more than
you ever thought possible. I've seen it happen.
And towards this goal, towards this vision, this
calling, I've been running recently. And that's
not always the case. Sometimes I walk. Sometimes
I stand still. Which is, when you're standing
still, it's more like you're moving backwards.
The purpose of this episode is to, well, it's
not to talk about my athletic ability. Because
like I said, I'm out of shape. I don't have athletic
ability. But it's to implore you when it comes
to your vision, when it comes to your calling
that God has placed on your life. I want to ask
you to keep running. And in this episode, we're
going to talk about two big things. The first
one is the number one best tool that I found
to help me keep running. Towards my goals. And
stay to the end. Because we're going to be talking
about. The number one reason I've stopped running.
And that one I think you're going to be able
to have a lot of. You're going to be able to
relate to it. So what is the number one best
tool I found personally. To help me pursue my
calling well. To keep me running towards my goals.
Is accountability. Nothing. has ever been done
by one person, has never been, nothing great
has ever been done alone. Recently, I've told
you about a accountability group that I started
with a couple of friends of mine. Really what
this is, is what's called a mastermind. What
a mastermind is, well, let me actually give you
some backstory. In the book, Think and Grow Rich,
Napoleon Hill has this concept of the mastermind.
Not a mastermind, the mastermind. And what the
mastermind is, is not one mind, but it's the
utilization of multiple minds working on one
goal. And because everybody's minds work differently,
you get to... Personally, and each person in
this mastermind gets to benefit from this, where
you get to pass ideas back and forth. The ideas
from one person get changed to the next and be
held accountable in your goals. We're going to
get into more of what that means here in a second.
When you're in a mastermind, you can tell each
other your plans for each week. Like mine, we
meet on a weekly basis and ask them to hold you
to it. Sometimes you don't even have to ask them.
And then the great thing is you get to do the
same thing for them. You get to help other people
achieve the goals that God's placed on their
lives. A mastermind keeps each other on track
and pushes each person further than they thought
they could go. It keeps your mind fresh on your
goal and on new ideas and next steps. Because
you always are to come to this mastermind with
what you accomplished last week and what you're
going to work on accomplishing the next week.
You're to come to every session, every meetup,
every phone call that you have with what you've
accomplished, with maybe where you fell short,
and what you're planning on doing in the future.
And the goal of this mastermind is to not only
be held accountable, but also be able to give
people ideas. You ever heard the term, more brains
are better than one, two brains are better than
one? It's to give your ideas out there and to
get feedback on those ideas. Maybe your idea
is good, but then somebody is like, well, maybe
if you tried this tweak, you might have some
more success here. And then you hear some other
people's ideas. And because of your research
and the way that you're pursuing your goals,
you can see their thing from an external perspective.
And you're able to build on top of their concepts
or even learn from something that they're doing.
How are they accomplishing the goals that they're
accomplishing? The other people in your mastermind.
And how can you apply that to your life? Apply
that to how you're achieving your goals. The
mastermind. The people that go into a mastermind
are people that are going to call each other
higher than where each individual is currently
setting the bar. So that's one part. That's one
way to be held accountable. But what's another
way? Another way, in my opinion, the next level
to the mastermind is hiring a coach. So a mastermind,
you can either build one yourself or you can
pay to be in one. And this here, coaching, is
the next level to that. It's the next level because
it's a one -on -one atmosphere. It's kind of
weird because I did say more brains are better
than one. So I was like, well, if two brains
are better than one, then three must be better
than two, right? And it depends. Because in coaching,
It's not a mastermind. If I'm coaching you, if
I'm coaching you, my goal as a coach is not to
tell you about my goals. It's not to tell you
how I'm striving to achieve the things I'm aiming
to achieve. This conversation that we're having
is all about you. This coaching relationship
is all about you and nothing about me. All I
do as a coach, I shouldn't say all I do, but
what I do as a coach is ask questions. A good
coach. ask you good questions about your goals.
A coach causes you to be introspective and thinking,
well, who do I know in my life that can help
me learn how to achieve the goals I'm aiming
to achieve? Because you have to start to identify
the things that you don't know. And then you're
going to look and coach. A coaching question
could be, well, who do you know? Or what do you
know? Or when are you going to accomplish that
by? And every week, the way I do coaching, it's
a weekly basis. You meet at the same time every
week. And the client's job, your job, is to come
every week, kind of like the mastermind, with
what you've accomplished. What got in the way
of maybe you falling short of you accomplishing
your goals? And what are you going to be working
on next week? What do you want to focus on for
the next week? And it's okay not to know. Sometimes
it's okay not to know and it coaches you through
that. It coaches you through, well, what do you
know? Because a lot of times you'll find that
you do know more than you think you do. I find
that out whenever I get coached. Yeah, the accountability
here is a bit more intense because instead of
having taking turns in a mastermind of each person
talking, the coach is directly focused on you.
I'm focused on you. When you accomplish what
you say you're going to accomplish, me as a coach,
I get to celebrate that with you. And maybe we
get to break down why you're able to accomplish.
What you said you were going to accomplish and
maybe even did more than you said you were going
to accomplish. Faster than you thought you were
going to accomplish less. But even on the flip
side, if you didn't achieve what you said you
were going to achieve in this last week, there's
no condemnation. There's no shaming. It's, well,
okay, let's think about that. Let's just go realistic.
If the answer was yes, okay, well, then what
got in the way? What were the obstacles to you
accomplishing this goal? Or if the answer is
no, it's like, okay, then how can we make this
goal more realistic so that we can keep moving
forward, so that you can keep pursuing your calling
well? And you would answer those questions, and
we would keep moving forward for you to pursue
your calling quicker than you would otherwise
be doing on your own. Both of the above help
you to get from where you are to where you want
to be faster. And it's my personal belief. It
is a personal belief and not just personal belief,
but I believe I've seen this in action firsthand
that whenever a mastermind does help you get
from where you are to where you want to be faster.
But there's a reason I said coaching was the
next level. Coaching will get you from where
you want to be faster than even a mastermind
will. Because. Instead of it being group -centric,
it's you -centric. Coaching is all about you.
It's all about the person being coached, about
your goals, about what you're aiming to achieve,
about your obstacles, and how you're going to
overcome and go through those obstacles. Okay,
so I have a confession. I know that I said wait
to the end to hear the number one reason why
I've stopped running, what causes me to stop
running towards my goals. But actually... We're
going to wait to part two. We're going to create
a part two to this episode on the keep running
small little series. And so come back next week
to hear the number one reason I stopped running
and how to overcome that. And if you're looking
for that next level of accountability, you can
sign up in the description of this podcast episode.
There'll be a link down there for you to sign
up for a free complimentary discovery coaching
call where. Leaving the call, the goal of the
call is to get you closer to your goal, get closer
to achieving and living in the calling that God
has placed on your life that you would otherwise
be if you didn't sign up for the call. So if
you're interested in that, go ahead and sign
up below. Again, it's completely free, complimentary,
and I can't wait to talk with you. And I want
to leave you with a challenge. I want to leave
you with some homework. Are you being held accountable
to your goals? Are you being held accountable
to living in a calling and God's place on your
life? If not, who in your life do you trust to
hold you accountable? This is particularly somebody
who is already achieving. Somebody that you respect.
Maybe it's a close friend or it's a relative,
or maybe it's a mentor. Somebody in your life
that can and will hold you accountable to the
goals God has placed on your life and will give
you new ideas, will give you suggestions on how
to continue to pursue your calling well. What
I'm talking about is... potentially starting
a mastermind of your own. It's free to meet up
with a couple of friends and to talk about the
goals that each other has on their lives. You
can also find one online. There's plenty of Maxwell
Leadership certified coaches that have masterminds.
I do not have one right now, unfortunately, but
there's plenty of people out there that have
masterminds of people who are aiming to achieve
just like you. Again, I already said it. If you're
looking for that next level, I'm giving you a
free complimentary coaching call so that you
can get closer, get an actionable plan, plan
that is tailored 100 % to you through a conversation
that is all about you and the goals that God
has placed on your life. Again, you can go down
to the description of this podcast episode and
click the link and take some time on the calendar.
Guys, thank you for listening to this episode
of the Pursuit of Following Podcast. If you liked
this episode, you know, share it out on social
media with your friends, your family. And guys,
for me as far as this is fantastic, that means
you're probably somebody that wants to be held
accountable or is being held accountable to their
goals. So share this with somebody that you also
believe has goals in their lives them be held
accountable to those goals as well. Guys, thank
you for listening to this episode. Give it a
five -star review and I'll see you next time.
Keep your ears hearing and calling. Do it well.
Peace.