I often get suck on “how.” I want to move even closer to living my dream, but I don’t know how. So I get stuck and stay put.
This is where a lot of us get stuck. We don’t know how to get there, so we wait for the plan to appear.
I’ve discovered that if we approach living our calling this way, we will be stuck like glue to our current situation in life. We need a different approach – something that removes the glue.
The Key
The key to living our dreams is this: Take the next step anyway.
I know. We’re afraid that this step might take us in the wrong direction if it doesn’t line up with that master plan (that we don’t yet have). So we’re held back by fear. I know I often am.
You want to know the truth about this master plan that we’re waiting on? Even if we had the master plan right now and started our marching orders following the plan, in the end it would look different than the plan. The way things work out pretty much never look the same as our original plan.
We Don’t Need the Master Plan
So, the truth is that we don’t need the master plan. What we need is a clear sense of direction for our life at a high level. We need to have that ultimate compass heading for who we want to be or what we want to accomplish. We don’t have the specific methods, steps, and mechanisms. These will emerge as we get going – as they always do because the project never goes according to plan.
The process looks like this:
1. Take the next step.
Volunteer. Speak. Sign up. Give. Share. Pray. Listen. Show up. Connect. Shift. Experience.
Just start.
2. Watch what happens.
See what we learn in the process. What other opportunities appear because the first step was taken? Have we gotten greater clarity in our dreams?
3. Make course corrections and repeat.
I listed ‘pray’ as one of the ways to take the first step, but we need to be careful that this doesn’t become just another excuse to stay put. Often it’s more comfortable to pray and stay put than it is get out there and try something. Of course, if we didn’t hear from God, staying put isn’t any more divinely inspired than stepping out.
A good way we can pray and listen is to pray and act. And then listen to what God is saying to us through our experiences.
What about you? What would you tell someone who wants fulfill their dreams and live their calling?
