Status Updates From One Big Thing: Discovering ...

This is something I've struggled with for a long time, waiting to see it all come together in God's time. Very conceptual....

A life pursuing One Big Thing isn’t easy, but it will settle your questions about why you’re here and what you were born to do with your life. Helen Keller once said, “Life is either a great adventure or it’s nothing.” Millions of people spend their lives in the pursuit of nothing, but you have chosen the great adventure. Go. Seek it with everything you have, and don’t look back.

The faster you learn that it’s not all about you the better off you’ll be. I can’t tell you the number of times I helped connect someone else to a job, only to have them come back weeks, months, or years later and extend me a similar favor. Help other people connect to their dream, and sooner or later, someone will help you connect to yours.

When the time comes to make your transition, don’t make enemies. If it’s a case of leaving your day job, do it amicably and work hard to keep the relationship on good terms. Don’t leave your boss in the lurch or your team holding the bag. Perhaps you could make the transition in stages and start by moving to a part-time basis. Offer to keep the relationship intact by freelancing or helping during their busy periods.

Nothing so surprises and disarms a critic like someone who agrees with him or her. If it’s good criticism, your admission is appropriate and welcomed. Even if it’s not good criticism, then you’ve taken away his or her ammunition. Man up. Don’t argue. Just say thank you and move on.

The questions are: Are you going to continue trying a little of this and a little of that? Being unremarkable at a lot of things? Getting lost in the clutter? Or are you going to find out what your One Big Thing is, let go of everything else, and pursue that with all your passion?

Destiny isn’t a task.It’s not something you can check off a to-do list. Your destiny is a moving target, I prefer to use the word purpose or, as you’ve seen, your One Big Thing. Your purpose is bigger than any obstacle like physical limitations, financial circumstances, being fired, or other failures. Nothing can change the fact that you have a unique reason for being here, and there’s still time for it to play out.

The idea of destiny gives us a reason to go on, motivation that our lives matter beyond PTA meetings, job reviews, and visits to the local coffee shop. The Christian tradition teaches that God has a purpose and plan for our lives.

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” In many circles today, ambition is an ugly word. But the truth is, what’s wrong with it? As long as it’s braced with humility, what’s wrong with planning, thinking ahead, and the desire to achieve something significant with our time on earth?