1535: The Complicated But Beautiful Process of Finding Your Calling by Jeff Goins of Goins Writer

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Work Daily. The Complicated But Beautiful Process of Finding Your Calling by Jeff Goins of GoinsWriter.com

[00:00:39] My last day of working a day job also happened to be my 30th birthday, which made it a milestone in many ways. The truth, though, is the day itself, as climactic as it was, was less significant than the process it took to get there.

[00:00:54] How I Came Closer to My Calling

[00:00:57] For years, I wanted to write. I kept a blog and wrote for magazines, but never took it too seriously.

[00:01:03] When Ashley and I decided to have a baby, all that changed. We couldn't live off just my income, and she wanted to stay home to be a mom, so I became determined to make that happen.

[00:01:12] For two years, I stayed up late and got up early, squeezing in a few extra minutes of writing whenever I could.

[00:01:19] I didn't quite know what I was doing, or even how I would do it, but I just kept writing and sharing my work and trying to grow an audience.

[00:01:26] I knew that if I could get people to pay attention to my work, I'd find a way to make a living off my words.

[00:01:31] Then, after 18 months of hustle, a few opportunities emerged.

[00:01:36] Over the course of six months, I launched two books, one self-published and another traditionally published, started speaking at conferences, and released an online course.

[00:01:47] By the end of the year, we tripled our income.

[00:01:49] I was so focused on the goal of replacing Ashley's income that I wasn't paying attention to how much momentum was building.

[00:01:56] It took a wake-up call from a friend for me to realize what was really happening.

[00:02:00] My wake-up call.

[00:02:02] What's happened to you is rare, my friend Mark said to me one day while we were discussing whether or not I should quit my job.

[00:02:08] Nobody saw it coming.

[00:02:09] I know you, Jeff, and I didn't see it coming.

[00:02:12] You have to consider the possibility that if you don't do this, it might be an act of disobedience to God.

[00:02:18] After that conversation, I stopped thinking of this as an opportunity or even a dream, and replaced it with a much weightier word.

[00:02:25] I was so excited.

[00:02:26] And a month later, I met with my boss to tell him what I'd been working through.

[00:02:30] I said I was afraid of disappointing him.

[00:02:32] Jeff, he said smiling, I'm not disappointed.

[00:02:35] I'm proud.

[00:02:36] The truth is I've been waiting for this conversation.

[00:02:39] I think it's time.

[00:02:40] So, on March 31st, I worked my last day at the only real job I ever had, turned 30, and began my career as a professional writer.

[00:02:49] But that's not the whole story.

[00:02:51] This is the story I tell when people ask me how I got here.

[00:02:53] But there's so much more to it.

[00:02:55] Like the seven years of learning about marketing and business while working at a non-profit.

[00:02:59] Or the unintentional practice I got in college as a writing tutor.

[00:03:03] Or how my mom used to read me the dictionary on long road trips.

[00:03:06] The experience of finding your calling is both mysterious and practical.

[00:03:11] It takes effort, but also seems to happen to you at times.

[00:03:15] What I've come to understand is that finding your purpose is more of a path than a plan.

[00:03:19] It involves unexpected twists and turns that at times look like accidents, but actually are a part of the process.

[00:03:26] Everyone, I think, is searching for a purpose.

[00:03:29] For something to satisfy their deepest desires.

[00:03:32] I believe that something is a calling.

[00:03:34] What does that mean?

[00:03:36] To me, a calling means the reason you were born.

[00:03:39] It's that thing you were meant to do.

[00:03:41] And finding it is never as simple or as easy as we'd like it to be.

[00:03:45] What I Learned

[00:03:47] When I began working on my new book, The Art of Work, I thought I knew what the process of finding your calling looked like.

[00:03:53] But what I learned surprised me.

[00:03:55] Discovering your life's purpose, it turns out, isn't quite so simple.

[00:03:59] The journey looks different for everyone, but there are also common themes that tend to appear.

[00:04:03] So I had a thought.

[00:04:05] What if what happened to me wasn't so rare?

[00:04:07] What if everyone has a calling?

[00:04:09] So for a year and a half, I've been trying to answer that question.

[00:04:12] And after interviewing hundreds of people, reading tons of biographies, and reflecting more honestly on my own story, here's what I've learned.

[00:04:20] You can't do this on your own.

[00:04:23] You need help.

[00:04:24] Mark was one of many guides who helped me understand my life and what to do with it.

[00:04:28] You'll have to practice.

[00:04:30] It won't be easy.

[00:04:31] If you want to discover your life's work, you'll have to fight for it.

[00:04:35] And you won't just know.

[00:04:37] Discovery happens in stages, and clarity will come with action.

[00:04:41] The most important thing you can do is take the next step.

[00:04:45] In the book, I feature stories of everyday people whose names you probably won't recognize.

[00:04:50] And that was intentional.

[00:04:51] I wanted to communicate that calling is not something for chosen ones, but for everyone.

[00:04:56] And in these seemingly ordinary stories, I think we understand our own lives a little better.

[00:05:01] At times, I think we all feel like our own stories are a little too ordinary for our liking.

[00:05:07] But what if in that ordinariness, there was something extraordinary we could tap into?

[00:05:11] That's the idea of the book.

[00:05:17] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:05:19] The Complicated But Beautiful Process of Finding Your Calling, by Jeff Goines of GoinesWriter.com.

[00:05:26] And thanks to Jeff for giving us permission to narrate from his blog today.

[00:05:29] He is a full-time writer who lives just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

[00:05:34] He's the best-selling author of five books, including The Art of Work, which you heard about in today's post,

[00:05:39] as well as Real Artists Don't Starve.

[00:05:41] Now, Jeff believes that we all have a creative gift worth sharing with the world.

[00:05:45] So whether you have a business idea, a book in you, or some other project you want to start,

[00:05:50] Jeff's goal is to help you get that work out of you and into the world.

[00:05:53] His website has been visited by more than 4 million people from all over the world,

[00:05:57] and he's a great writer.

[00:05:59] So definitely check out his books and his blog.

[00:06:01] And a fun fact about him, he humbly considers himself the world's foremost expert on guacamole.

[00:06:07] So come by GoinesWriter.com for a lot more.

[00:06:10] Again, that's G-O-I-N-S Writer.com.

[00:06:14] And that's going to do it for today.

[00:06:16] Thank you so much for being here on this Friday edition of the show.

[00:06:18] Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'm going to see you back here over the weekend,

[00:06:22] where your optimal life awaits.