Certainty in your Calling

When I was 10, I started babysitting.

Why? Because I wanted some spending money and liked kids.

When I was 13, I got my first job as an umpire.
Why? Because it paid way better than babysitting and I liked being in charge.
 
When I was 16, I started working at a shoe store.
Why? Because it was more predictable income through my college years.
 
When I was 20, I started working full-time for a big company as co-op while I went to school full-time.
Why? Because I could build credentials and a resume.
 
When I was 22, I got my first grown up corporate job as a systems analyst.
Why? Because I had a degree in business and IT and they could move me close to a beach.
 
When I was 25, I moved into corporate management positions.
Why? Because I was more effective with people than computers.
 
When I was in my late 20’s and 30s, I changed companies a couple of times.
Why? Because I had very marketable skills and they doubled my salary.
 
When I was 35, I did business consulting gigs part time.
Why? Because I got a nice corporate severance and wanted to spend more time with my kids.
 
When I was 36, I started a fitness and health coaching company.
Why? Because I wanted to get in shape, help people and hey, I might as well make money doing it.
 
When I was in my 40s, I started my Business & Life coaching businesses.
Why? Because it merged my experiences, gifts and passions to help people get new results.

A life calling is something you are meant to do/become in your life

Most of us don't get just one specific calling on our life.  Being a wife has been a huge calling in my life.  Being a mom is the greatest calling on my entire life.  These callings are full of meaningful and intentional activity.  Beyond these roles,  have certainty that I am here for more impact, in more specific callings.

I have always known that I had a general calling, gifting and spirit to “help” other people. Now, here I am at age 51 and I can tell you that I know with absolute certainty what my specific calling is! 
 
My life’s specific calling is to coach, speak and train people that have a desire for unlocking their best life and experiencing great joy and fulfillment daily.  
 
Sometimes my path looks like developing organizations and their leadership to make their impact in the world.  Sometimes I am coaching with individuals or special groups on unlocking their best in different facets of a well-integrated life.  Sometimes I am helping Entrepreneurs find and live out their calling and make their amazing unique impact in the world.    On my path, I am committed to generously and compassionately put valuable free content into the world to help anyone that wants keys for unlocking best self and their best life. With the gift of our online world and my passion, I have a path to “put the cookies on the bottom shelf so anybody can reach them” 😊   

My specific path and “offers” in my business will continue to change.  However, I have certainty that if a path lines up with my specific calling,  I need assess and then step into it with confidence and learn and grow along the way.    
 
It is truly a gift that I have unlocked certainty in what I am specific called to do with this one amazing life I have been given.  I absolutely wake up excited and ready to live out my calling with certainty every single day.   I want that for you.
 
Could I have experienced this certainty at age 21?   Maybe I would have been living closer to a specific calling, if had a different upbringing or if I had been given different guidance or education or parents or resources or aptitude testing or less trials or more privileges or…  
 
I have stayed the course to enjoy my life based on the path I set out on… corporate career, marriage, raise kids.    Let me just say, I truly do not have any regrets about the path my life has taken because I see how it has all lead me to greater clarity in my specific calling. 
 
Like most of us, as I got older, there were instincts and urging to shift, to discover my greater purpose and calling.  Moments of inspiration have come as I attended events, met interesting people, read books, listened to speakers, sermons, podcasts, and online videos.  I have prayed for clarity and spent time and money on self-discovery tools.  I often reflect on all the learning, trials, victories and experiences.   I see how most of the pieces now fit to unlock the certainty that I have.   I am living out my specific calling.  I trust the journey was necessary to get me to the certainty that I have today. 
 
Have you been waiting for that big surge of insight to know your exact purpose and life’s specific calling?    Honestly, it just doesn’t happen like that for most of us.
 
Most of us accumulate evidence to confirm instincts and urges to move in a direction towards clarification.  Each confirming experience or piece of data we collect moves us closer to our specific calling.   When you become intentional in the pursuit of your specific calling, the paths open up.
 
Most of us go in the direction of our general life callings.  We begin to use our gifting, strengths and passions in the activity and work that we do.    As we develop our beliefs and values, they steer our decisions.  Our life experiences teach us what we enjoy and where we struggle.
 
Whether we are intentional or not… we start stepping on the path to clarifying our specific calling.  There are so many valuable lessons to learn along the way and get clarity about YOUR unique calling.
 
When you shift and become intentional on the journey to find your specific calling, there is no wrong path.   Commit to appreciate learning about the skills and resources and knowledge you need to stay the course.  You may underestimate the learning required or the number of missteps, but certainty of your specific calling will grow as you stay committed to the journey.    
 
I want to encourage you to be intentional about finding your calling.
 
Unlocking CERTAINTY in your specific calling is the key to joy and fulfillment on the journey of living out your purpose and making your unique impact in the world!
 
Here are 18 key benefits I have experienced from CERTAINTY in living out my specific calling:
 
You get your happiness from within
You no longer need the approval of others to keep moving forward
You don’t compare yourself to others with judgement
You say yes to the most important things
You connect better because you listen more than you speak
You speak with more confidence
You appreciate every small victory
You are more productive
You are in control of your priorities
You have better boundaries
You are teachable
You value your self-care
You can be your authentic self
You appreciate your mistakes as lessons
You take risks to support your calling
You celebrate others victories
You are not afraid to ask for support
You make the impact in the world that ONLY YOU CAN MAKE!
Do you recognize the urges and instincts leading you to your calling?
 
Have you moved from a general calling to a specific calling on your life?
 
Living out your specific calling is where you get to honor your desires, experiences, skills, passions, strengths and freedoms to make the unique impact in the world that ONLY you can make!
 
I don’t want you to get hung up on having one specific calling for your entire life but it’s time to get clear on what you are called to do for the foreseeable future.
 
Maybe you don’t know how to put your thoughts around a “specific calling”.
 
Maybe you know what your calling is but feel stuck figuring out the path.
 
Risk is a part of everything we do.  It’s risky to pursue a specific calling, it’s also risky not to.   There is a short term price for anything worth having but there is also the permanent price of regret.
 
So, instead of a life filled with regret, I want to talk about unlocking your specific calling with more certainty!
 
Step 1:   Write out the general calling on your life.  This is how you have mostly made decisions in your life:
 
I make choices in my life so that I can DO WHAT to/for WHO, WHERE.
 
Example:

I make choices in my life so that I can encourage and love people to live into their full potential online and in real life with joy..

I make choices in my life so that I can share my music with elderly people in communities.

STEP 2:  Write out 3 Statements of your potential “specific calling” using this format:
 
I can see myself doing WHAT for WHO because I would love to see this kind of RESULTS.
 
Examples:
 - I can see myself creating pottery classes for autistic adults because I would love to see them discover their creative outlet and maybe even monetize their work.

-  I can see myself building a coaching business for women because I would love to see them unstuck from the busyness and overwhelm of life and living out their purpose and potential.
 
Your specific calling statements define the what, who and why of your specific calling. 
 
The how, when and where will be in the paths you chose to move forward.  They need to be part of the plan eventually too but you don’t have to figure all that out right now.
 
Would you like the keys to MORE CERTAINTY in your calling?
 
5 keys to unlocking CERTAINTY in your calling:
 
Rank your Specific Calling Statements with this CERTAINTY Scale:
 
Answer these 5 key questions for each specific calling statement you have written out.  Rank on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest
 
Key  #1 Passion  How excited do you get when you envision this specific calling becoming a reality?

Even if you are equally excited about all of them, give one an 8, one a 9 and one a 10.
 
Key #2 Opportunity   Do you have the resources you need to get started on pursuing this calling specific calling?
 
Anything you pursue in life will require time, money and skill.  These are resources that you might need to work on putting together first.  Your specific calling should receive a high score if the resources you need to get started are all in place.  Reduce the score if some of the resources are in place but others you need to work on attaining.
 
Key #3 Strengths   Do you have the natural talents and personality type needed to succeed at this?
 
If you want to be a singer but you don’t sing very well, your score here should reflect that.  You don’t have to be naturally talented at everything you pursue.  It does help increase your confidence and fulfillment when you are living into things you are naturally stronger in. The other factor to consider is your personality type.  I can recommend several strengths and personality assessments.

I highly recommend everyone at least take the test at www.16personalities.com.  This is just one tool to see if the career or path you outline in your specific calling aligns well with your personality type.
 
Key #4 Regret    How much will you regret never pursuing this purpose statement?
 
Everyone has regret to some level.  Your goal is to reduce regret as much as possible. Read your specific calling statements and score them lower if you feel you may have some regret by never pursuing that particular path.   Score higher for specific calling statements that you feel you would have a larger amount of regret by not pursuing.
 
Key #5 Sacrifice  To what level are you willing to endure hardship and make sacrifices as you pursue this specific calling?
 
We are generally are willing to sacrifice more for the things that we are most passionate about.  As you read each specific calling statement, do your best to envision the difficulty you will likely encounter.
 
If you are not sure, you should probably ask someone who is already doing what you want to be doing.  Again, don’t give each specific calling statement the same score here. 
 
Now add up your scores.  Consider the one with the highest number as your specific calling to work on this year!     This is the specific calling statement you should be going after because it’s specific and you have the strongest urge, or ‘calling’, to do it. 
 
You can pursue with CERTAINTY because:

•  You have emotion (passion) and it is pointing you in this direction.
• You have enough resources to get started.
• You have strengths and personality type to make it happen.
• You understand the reality of regret you will likely face if you don’t take action on this.
• You are ready to choose a direction that you are willing to endure the trade-offs.

 That is about as much certainty as you can possibly have in this life.  It will still take a large degree of faith in yourself to venture out in your calling.   You have measured your level of passion, opportunity, skill, regret and sacrifice and it provides the evidence that your specific calling, or urge is something that is tangible and doable. 
 
Pursuing your specific calling can be so exciting, scary, and the most fulfilling journey. Specific callings can and often do have seasons.  Some last for months, others for years or decades.  You have the freedom to choose and follow several different callings over your lifetime. 
 
Specific callings are not a guarantee of success.  If or when you fall short as you attempt to bring your chosen specific calling statement to life, there will be disappointment.   Stay in a mindset of growth and gratitude.  Be thankful for what you were able to do and learn in the process on this path.
 
When you stay mindful of your general calling you can continue to take risks with your specific calling.  Enjoy the ride!     Do these things and you will know with certainty that you maximized the desires, opportunities, skills and freedoms you to unlock your full potential. 

YOUR specific calling is the key to unlocking the impact that only you can make in the world!

You can watch the FULL 30 minute video teaching  by visiting our Unlocking YOUR Best Life Facebook page  

The video is titled CERTAINTY in your calling 11/27/19

Living out YOUR specific calling is a key to unlocking YOUR joy and fulfillment!

You are worth it!   

I hope to see you soon. 

Always with hugs, Tammy

JOIN ME every week for our FB LIVE chat on #tuesdaywithtammy at 12:00 noon cst on our Unlocking YOUR Best Life facebook page  

If you can’t join us LIVE, you can always catch a replay posted on the FB page or on YouTube later in the week.  Y’all know, I’m a people person. I really love when you show up with some input or just to listen.  Of course, I will check and respond to comments on the replays too!

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