10 Empowering Secrets to Fulfilling Your Life Calling by Yvonne Velez (Part 1)

Guys -- I love having friends join us and write on the Do The Thing Movement blog! Today, my friend Yvonne is sharing with us from Living the Cozy Life!

​Yvonne Velez is an accountant, writer, and creator of the Living the Cozy Life
blog (www.livingthecozylife.com). She wants to help women get away from the
numbers they use to define themselves in order to live more empowered, brave,
confident, fearless and authentic lives through self-discovery of their talents and passions. 

I wanted to split what she shares into two weeks; so today is week 1 of  10 Empowering Secrets to Fulfilling Your Life Calling​. Week 2 will be next week! Enjoy!

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If ever there was a role model for how to “do the thing”, the apostle Paul comes to mind.
He received a calling on his life which caused him to do a complete 180 from life as he
knew it.

And this calling of his was hard work. As in you-and-I-can’t-even-imagine-how-hard
work. Nevertheless, he persisted in following his calling despite enduring a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7); physical beatings; a stoning; being shipwrecked; long, arduous
journeys where he faced dangers from the elements and from robbers; opposition from
his own people and from those he was trying to help; sleepless nights; and lack of
necessities such as water, food, and warm clothing (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).

Speaking for myself, any of those difficulties would have been a deal-breaker for me.
But Paul knew the secrets to following his calling to the fullest, and lucky for us he didn’t
keep them to himself! Here are ten of his empowering secrets to aid us in fulfilling our
own life calling:

• Distance yourself from toxic people (Titus 3:9-11). Paul knew when you follow your calling, there will be opposition. People will push back against your message and your methods, and will try to tell you what you should (and should not) be doing. Don’t waste your energy on useless arguments that are unproductive. Although we are to love our neighbors AND our enemies, we have to recognize disruptive people are just distractions and hindrances. We must set healthy boundaries so they don’t interfere with the good we’re trying to do.
• There’s no need for fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Many people will tell you “do it scared”. And do it scared if it means it will get done - because taking action is better than being paralyzed by fear. But realize there’s no need for fear. Paul counseled Timothy to push through whatever fear he was feeling in his new ministry because those in Christ have gifts of divine power and everything else we need to get the job done.
• Don’t use greed as motivation (1 Timothy 6:6-10). God always intended for us to work and knows “the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7). Money itself is not evil. But the love of money - being willing to do anything for it and wanting to keep it for ourselves - is an unhealthy mindset that can hurt us-and our message. Don’t sacrifice your morals for wealth or dishonest gain. Content yourself with what you have and with where you are in your journey. And keep in mind if God blesses you with financial success, He is the ultimate Giver.
• Have confidence that what you have to share could be a blessing to someone else  (1 Thessalonians 5:11). No doubt you’ve heard the saying, “no man is an island”.  No one is self-sufficient: we need others. That’s how God created us to be, in community, sharing our gifts for the greater good. There is someone out there who needs to hear your message. Encourage others in their journey and help to build them up - and you will find yourself encouraged.
• Don’t be a people-pleaser (Colossians 3:23-24). Paul knew his calling was not to please or impress people. You work with diligence to serve the people in your sphere of influence, but the only one you should try to please is the Lord. His is the only opinion that matters.

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Prayer for the entrepreneur:

Jesus, You have given me a spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. Help me cling to those things in the midst of the every day. At each corner, I pray I would make the choice to say "no" to fear and yes to receiving Your grace and Your power in each decision, conversation and new  day.

In Your name,
​Amen