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. It's my last month of being a full
-time employee after eight years. I've talked
with a lot of people about this transition from
being a full -time employee to being fully self
-employed to pursue my life coaching business,
the pursuit of calling coaching. Some are excited
for me and are super encouraging and others are
scared and wondering like, is this wise? Is this
smart? Are you making any money is a question
I got. Do you have another job lined up? Somebody
asked. Some of these questions I've asked myself.
To be honest, some of these questions, other
questions I've been asking myself are like, is
this a rash decision? Just because I had a bad
week at work. What if I completely fail at being
a business owner? No, you know, to answer some
of the questions, no, I'm not making any money
right now with my business. No, I don't have
another job lined up. And yes, I'm scared. But
in this episode, I want to talk about why I'm
still moving forward. You know, part of me feels
really dumb. Just being 100 % transparent. Part
of me feels so dumb. I have this little voice
in my head that says, You're not making any money.
You don't have any other income. What are you
doing? Why put yourself through this? Your job
is secure. It's safe. You have an income that
is honestly as closely guaranteed as you can
get because I have job security. You can stay
there and nothing would change. And then my other
self says, yeah, that's the problem. I typically
hate change, but man, I want change. And what's
probably in my head right now is a kind of a
meme, but it's like, On a team of people, somebody
asked, who all wants change? And people raised
their hand. Everybody raised their hand. Everybody
wants change. And then they asked the next question.
Okay, who's ready to change? Everybody puts their
hands down. And I wanted to stop putting my hand
down. You know, God says in his word, he said
this to Joshua. He said, have I not commanded
you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened
and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God
is with you wherever you go. That's Joshua 1
.9. I think that's a very widely used verse when
talking about courage. You know, right before
God is telling Joshua, if he followed the Lord,
he said, he said, right before he said this to
Joshua, he said this, he said, if you follow
the Lord, followed him and the Lord's law and
the Lord's laws that he already, that were already
laid out. If he followed and listened to what
God told him to do, then you would have success.
And to be honest, I think success back then was
honestly just surviving. It was surviving and
thriving as a community while relying on God's
provision. That's why I'm doing this, and I'm
going to explain what that means. I just realized
in my notes, that's why I'm doing this like three
times. You know, I want to do what I believe
God is telling me to do. The direction he's...
guiding me to go. I believe that, you know, I
believe God, you know, he's a light on our path,
but he's not like showing us the whole, he's
not showing us the whole path from point A to
point B to point A from point A to point Z. He's
just showing us what's right in front of us.
And I've heard the metaphor be used before that
like, it's like headlights on your car. They
don't show you the whole way to your destination.
They just show you what's right there. They show
you enough that you know where you're going.
You know, I want to do this, like I said, because
I want to do what God's, you know, asking me
to do. Even if it doesn't feel safe, even if
I don't feel like... Like even though part of
me feel like it's a dumb decision because I'm
not making an income. I know God is with me.
And if this is the wrong decision that I know
he'll redeem it and get the glory either way.
And I'm reminding myself right now of an episode
I did a little bit ago about not. about not thinking
about my future and my current circumstances.
And just because I know, just because I'm not
making any finances right now and I'm not making
any money right now in my business doesn't mean
I'm not going to be that by the end of the month.
That feeling excites me and just generates this
drive. No, like, okay. But like during this whole
process, like I've, During this whole process,
I have talked with a lot of people, a lot of
mentors, a lot of friends, people in my inner
circle who know me, who I trust their opinion
of me and the goals I'm setting out to do. And
as I've been talking with these people, I've
been identifying the fears that I have. All of
these are valid fears, and I know that, but these
are fears that I have once the transition hits.
Once I'm... fully self -employed and am essentially,
essentially I'm just, I'm like, I'm in it then.
Like it's done. March 1st. One of the things
I'm afraid of is, I've already kind of talked
about it, financial instability. You know, I
haven't been without income for eight months
or eight years, sorry. I haven't been without
income for eight years. Part of me feels like,
This is going to be like a hunter -gatherer season.
I need to go out and kill something and take
it home where I don't eat. I need to go out and...
I don't know if that's the right mindset or not,
but that's kind of where my head's at right now.
I also don't want to treat the people I'm aiming
to serve like... I don't want to be like, oh
man, I need you. So that shifts the way that
I... Talk about my coaching and like, I don't
want to push anybody is doing they don't want
to do. I want to serve them in a way that is
righteous. I want to serve them in a way that
is holy. I don't want to serve them in a way
where it's me pushing them to do something that
they don't need or want because I need to make
money. I don't want that to be my motivation.
And that's why I have a financial foundation
in my savings right now. I'm not going to give
you the number, but it's enough for me to last
a while. And luckily, like, luckily, though,
I know that God is my provider no matter what.
I know maybe that sounds like a generic thing,
but like it's to say, but. That I'm going to
be relying on him so much in this season of before
I'm making an income that is livable, I would
say. Believing in him to be my foundation, believing
in him to be my provider, whatever that needs
to be for. Honestly, man, I don't even feel like
I know yet what I'm going to need his provision
for. Because like I said, I have the finances
saved up. So I think I'm going to need his provision
just for like, honestly, for sanity to help me
to like provide me with peace. I think that's
something we don't really talk about that much
as Christians. Like he's not, he has, he's, he's
a provider of resources, but like, he's also
his provision. Is it just for like physical resources?
It's for peace. It's for joy. It's for stillness
in the storm. And I'm like, I'm just thinking
about this now. Another fear that I have is letting
people down. I've kind of touched on it. I've
told so many people about this. Now, the main
people, though, I'm worried about letting down,
though, are the people I'm aiming to serve. The
people that I care about the most with this business
and with this pursuit are those who I'm going
to be serving because that's who matters the
most. I don't matter at all. I'm the conduit
for what God's calling me to do. God's provision.
God's provided me with a gift. God's provided
me with skills. God's provided me with a drive.
It is up to me to utilize that in a way that
brings him glory. And so I want to serve people
in a way that I get fulfillment from. And man,
isn't that a cool thing when you get paid for
it? Like, to have a business isn't to... Serve
yourself is to serve others. That's the only
reason to have a business is to improve the lives
of other people. If it's about money, you're
doing it for the wrong reasons. If it's all about
money, money is a good bonus. I think money is
like a reward for a job well done. That's the
way I like to think about it. But no, I don't
want to let those people down that I'm serving.
And I want... I want to serve people with my
coaching. I want my services to be worth paying
for. And I believe they are. I've coached enough
people now to know that I'm at least decent at
coaching. I know it excites me so much to think
I can actually help change people's lives. So
I just pray. A prayer of mine is that I don't
get a big head. I don't, this is another fear
of mine. I wasn't going to touch on it yet. Okay.
We'll come back. I'm going to come back to it.
But I don't know. Like another thing is like,
I don't know if I care that much about what other
people think outside of my inner circle of friends
and mentors. Like, like those are the people
who I, whose opinions matter the most to me.
my inner circle, my mentors, my friends that
are, that know me the best. They're going to
tell me and call me out on my crap. Like I'm
going to ask people, like if I get a big head,
if I get arrogant, tell me. Like even ask Ian,
like I guess I can ask him right now. Like if
an episode that I send to you to edit is garbage,
like in the sense of like, it doesn't serve people
well. Speaking of ego and not out of a servant
heart, then tell me not to say, hey, Thomas,
you shouldn't post this. Either record another
episode or don't have one this week. I just want
to be able to have that accountability. You know,
I want to also figure out, and one thing I am
actually practically worried about. It is my
day, my scheduled day today. I think it's fantastic
though, that I've had a nine to five job for
the last eight years, like eight years and five
months, because it's taught me work ethic. It's
taught me how to keep a schedule. It's taught
me like, how do you prioritize work? And, but
man, I have shiny objects and shiny object syndrome.
And whenever there's not a clear structure set
yet, I am so more susceptible. to be like, maybe
I can do that over there. Maybe that would be
good to do for this part of the business. But
then I maybe see a tab, maybe I have another
tab open somewhere in it that like pulls my attention
away to be like, oh, maybe that'd be a really
cool idea to work on a podcast because the podcast,
like I could like. Use AI to generate. I was
doing this the other day. I could use AI to generate
this thumbnail and use AI to generate this video.
And AI is such a cool tool, but man, it's such
a distraction. I want to use it so much, but
I also need to make sure that I rein myself in
sometimes. That's the kind of what I am. Like,
it's a worry. I don't know if fear and worry
is the same. You can use those interchangeably,
but that's more of a worry than a fear, if that
makes sense. Like, I know I can figure it out.
But man, I know it's going to be a struggle at
first to figure out what structure works best
for me in that situation. So just pray for me
in that. So what keeps me still and confident
that this is the right choice, though? I said
that name of this episode, I feel like I'm going
to keep it named this, I'll say it, is what I'm
afraid of and why I'm still moving forward. The
reason I'm still moving forward is because I
am confident that God is calling me to this.
I am confident God is calling me to this. I want
to have the courage to dive into this. One thing
I kind of asked in preparation for this, I came
across the concept that courage does not equal
confidence. I don't know how this is going to
turn out, but I want to have the courage to do
what God is—I want to be obedient to what God
is calling me to do. I don't know how it's going
to turn out, but I have the confidence—I have
the courage to lean into it, to go and do it,
to go and take action, and the confidence that
God has it worked out, no matter what happens.
Does that make sense? Let me know in the comments
if that makes any sense. Now, what is one step
though this week? What is one step of obedience
you already know God is asking you to take even
though you don't really feel that confident?
Maybe like you're scared like me. You're worried.
You don't know the outcome. Maybe you're like
me. You're like an analytical person. You want
to find out all the little data points before
you move forward and take the first step. And
God's just like, just take it. Even if it's wrong,
take the first step in obedience. Even if you
take the wrong step, even if it's the wrong step,
God will correct your step. And if it's the right
step, he's like, okay, here's the next one. And
there's the next one. He's a light on your path.
So what is that thing? That was that one thing
this week that you can step out into in obedience,
even though you're lacking confidence. Guys.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the
Pursuit of Healing podcast. Guys, if you want
a free coaching session, I got that gift for
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that's all these little tiny tidbits you've been
thinking about as as you've been going through
life like the dreams that you have you like man
that'd be so cool and like the goal of coaching
is be able to take all these puzzle pieces like
take the mess that pile on the table and actually
start putting those pieces together that's what
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now don't wait And again, thank you for listening
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friends. See you next time. Keep pursuing your
calling. Do it well. Do what's excellent. All
right. Peace.