“We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.”
Anonymous

“I just kind of fell into my job,” Jane explained. “I’ve never really tried to figure out what I’d love to do. I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Jane is not alone. Many of our career coaching clients describe how they “fell into” their job, letting circumstances or other people decide their career path for them.  A few months or even years later, they realize that their work isn’t getting them where they want to be. They are overworked, underutilized, or without a sense of meaning and purpose in what they do each day. They often feel trapped, not knowing what to do to get out of the rut in which they find themselves.

Widening Tunnel Vision

Many people have a very limited perspective of what they might do with their lives. They may suffer from “tunnel vision,” having a restricted view of available choices. When making career choices, they have been unaware of the thousands of career possibilities that exist. Their vision of the world of work is often confined to jobs held by family members and friends, those they have personally observed, and careers to which they have been exposed in the media. Yet they may think they have sufficient information about career possibilities. It is possible, therefore, that they may be completely unaware of the type of work God created them to do.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “To achieve anything significant, everyone needs a little imagination and a big dream.” Most of us have “dreaming muscles” that are underdeveloped and could use a little exercise. Too often, we either don’t dare to dream at all or let ourselves dream only “safe” dreams we know are achievable within our own power. It is no wonder our lives often lack power and excitement—and that we feel we are missing out on what God designed us to do!

God calls you to a life of purpose, joy, adventure, and great rewards. The Lord calls you to fulfill a “God-sized calling”—a mission that you can accomplish only with His power and resources. Discovering your calling requires you to stretch your vision and risk seeing yourself, your gifts, and the world from God’s perspective.

Vision-Stretching Strategies

Most of us could benefit from stretching our vision and exercising our “dreaming muscles.” Here are three ways you can get started in the process of envisioning your God-sized calling:

1) Brainstorm a list of new ways that your skills, gifts, talents, interests, etc. could be possibly used within work or volunteer/ministry activities. (We recommend completing some assessments prior to brainstorming so that you have a list of your most-enjoyed skills, compelling interests, spiritual gifts, etc.) Brainstorming by yourself and with others helps you connect the “puzzle pieces” of your design in creative ways.