How do you know when you’ve found your calling?

I was lying in my bed one winter night, wondering what to do with my life. I had come to London a year before to pursue a career as a freelance writer, but that wasn’t working out. I didn’t like the job as much as I thought I would.

By this time I had discovered coaching. Just thinking about helping women find their passion and pursue it gave me chills. I knew this is what I was meant to do.

And yet, my mind started coming up with all sorts of reasons why this wasn’t my calling:

• “You don’t know anything about coaching. You have no experience or qualifications.”
• “You thought freelance writing was your calling and look at how that ended up. What if you’re wrong again?”
• “You’re too old to start again from scratch. Just stick to writing. At least you know how to do it.”
• “Do you know how expensive it is to get a coaching certification? You can do that once you win the lottery.”
• “Why would anyone hire you to coach them? Who do you think you are, Marie Forleo?”

And so, I totally ignored my calling for the next 4 years while I continued in a career I didn’t enjoy. 

But, my calling to be a coach never went away. If anything, it only grew stronger until I listened to it.

That’s one of the signs you’re onto the right track. Here’s how to tell you’ve found your calling rather than just an interest or passion:

1. Your Calling Scares You

Wait, shouldn’t your hear bells ringing and angels singing when you first find your calling? You did it! You know what you’re meant to do with your life and you can finally move forward full speed ahead.

Not exactly…

Forget the bells and the celebration. All you’ll hear is the terrifying roar of fear telling you to run in the opposite direction. 

Your calling is both exciting AND scary. It’s calling you to step outside of your comfort zone. To do things you’ve never done before. To be visible in the world. It’ll test you. Stretch you. Challenge you. Break you, even, at times. 

It’s the universe testing you: “Do you really want to do this? If you’re all in, better step up to the plate and achieve your full potential.”

If your calling doesn’t scare you, it’s not the right calling for you.

Related: Are You Scared Of Not Fulfilling Your Full Potential?

2. Your Calling Isn’t Going Away

You may try to run away from your calling… but it always catches up with you. Always.

Your calling never goes away. You can ignore it while you pursue a “proper job”, numb it with chocolate chip cookies and too much alcohol, and tell yourself your life is perfectly fine as it is.

And yet, you sense it. That soft whisper telling you there’s more to life than this. That uncomfortable feeling you’re wasting your life away doing something you don’t really enjoy.  

That’s never going away. The whisper will get louder and that uncomfortable feeling more intense until you listen to them. Guess how I know?

I got the call to be a life purpose and mindset coach 4 years before I actually went for it. 4 years spent building the wrong business because I was scared of stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something I didn’t feel ready for. 

Don’t waste all that time. When your calling calls, say yes.

3. Your Calling Doesn’t Fit In A Box

If you’re multi-passionate, your calling won’t fit in a box. 

It’s not about picking your one true passion. You have more than one true passion. Your calling will ask you to combine multiple passions to create something completely unique. Something that’s never been done before.

You’re one of a kind. You have a unique combination of passions, skills, and values no one else in the world has. How can you label that?!

Be a pioneer. Create your own box. Be the first to do something amazing other people will want to emulate.

Just because it hasn’t been done before, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It means it’s up to you to do it.

4. You’ve Spent Your Whole Life Preparing For This

Those mistakes you’re beating yourself up about. The wrong turns that made you waste so much time. The challenges you’ve had to overcome. The hard lessons you’ve learned along the way. They were preparing you for your calling.

It took me 15 years of trying different careers and starting different businesses to finally find my calling. 15 years of feeling like a failure for not having it all figured out sooner.

Now I know why it took that long. I had to go through all that so I could be the right person to teach women how to find their calling, heal the limiting beliefs that keeps them stuck, and build wildly profitable businesses.

Everything you went through – the good and the bad – prepared you to fulfil your calling and be the right person to help the people who need your help.

Related: Who Do You Need To Become To Find Your Calling?

5. You Feel Aligned

Your calling may scare you, but it also feels… right. You have a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart that tells you “this is it”.

When you think about pursuing your calling, you intuitively know this is what you would do if you didn’t worry about money, being good enough, being too old, how to make it happen…

You know that, if only you could do this, your life would just improve in every way. You’d be happier. Have better relationships. You’d attract people who get you and help you achieve your dreams.

When you’re aligned with your calling, the universe will move heaven and earth to help you achieve it.

Wrapping It Up

You’ll know when you’ve found your calling. It’ll feel right, if scary. It’ll challenge you. It won’t fit in a box. It won’t go away. And you’ll feel like you’ve been preparing for it all your life.

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