It can be so frustrating to know you have a big destiny when your life looks like monotony, the status-quo or even boredom.
There has to be more to life than just going through the motions. So how do you get from where you’re at now to living out a passionate, exciting and impactful life? I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t just happen overnight, and there’s always a process that prepares you for promotion. Leaning into the process often looks like taking proactive steps towards your goals, and today I want to help you with some practical advice I’ve learned through my own moments of feeling aimless.
I hope they’ll help you break out of the fog and courageously and intentionally stepping into the unique thing only you can do on the earth!
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR FOUNDING FATHERS MAY
SURPRISE YOU
When America’s forefathers drafted our Constitution, they were interested in creating a very different governmental structure than the British monarchy that once ruled them. They had to think beyond their current experience. In response, they created a constitutional republic to limit our president’s authority and balance the decision-making power among three branches of government and the majority of our citizens.
But as our forefathers contemplated our young country’s future, they realized that a republic is great in a time of peace; but if our nation were ever under siege, a structure with so many checks and balances would process decisions too slowly to win a war at home. With this in mind, they provided something in the Constitution called martial law. When Congress enacts martial law, our president is empowered to make decisions necessary to win battles without the time constraints of the congressional approval required in peacetime.
What can we learn? It is clearly important to have the right structure in place in order to see the results you want in life.
Is it possible that your current life’s structure was built for a different season, and that you have been struggling to reach your destiny simply because of an outdated way of doing things?
The moral of the story is simple: if you want to maximize your full potential, you have to discover, develop, and deploy a structure in your life that is proactively built for you.
STRUCTURES SHOULD EMPOWER YOU, NOT CONSTRICT YOU
In my life journey, I have discovered four main questions/prompts to keep in mind when proactively creating structures built for success.
These keys are meant to help you process and evaluate the structures with which you are currently living, so you can determine whether they are empowering or constraining you. This is not a complete list but is rather meant to inspire you to catalog the qualities in you that need protection, and that need empowerment in order for you to achieve your goals in life.
1. Know yourself.
The apostle Paul said, “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment” (Romans 12:3). One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and the world is self-awareness. So the first step to determining what structure will maximize God’s purposes through you is to look inward and to do so with sound judgment. You must understand yourself, your strengths, unique giftings and makeup so that you can understand how to be the best leader you can be (even if this means you’re leading yourself into your destiny with God).
2. Know your season.
Can you imagine trying to plant corn in the dead of winter or insist that your two-year-old son or daughter learn calculus? These examples seem ridiculous, but many people do this type of mismatching all the time. Read Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 introspectively, and consider what might be your current season. Seasons are as natural in our spiritual walks towards our destinies as they are in the earth around us. They are structures that help you to know what to expect from yourself in this specific time of life.
3. Write a vision statement for your life.
What are you called to accomplish in this season? What is the mission (the why) of your life? What is the vision? What are your plans to fulfill your mission and see your vision accomplished? Understanding your overarching goals will create focus (structure) for the things you can put your energy towards.
4. Know and frequently re-center on your core values.
Nailing down your core values greatly determines who you will be to the world around you. Whatever you most value will ultimately be expressed in what you do, how you spend your time, and who you surround yourself with. If you want to happen to life instead of life happening to you, then core values will help you stay connected to your passions and purpose.
I want to encourage you to take some time and journal through these questions and what the answers may mean for your life. Were any of your answers surprising to you? How can you stay centered and focussed to move towards your destiny? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!
