It Begins Today! 12 Exercises to Discover and Live Your Life’s Calling
Exercise 1: Committing to the Process
Exercise 1: Committing to the Process
(Called for Adventure: 12 Exercises to Discover and Live Your Life’s Calling)
I believe in calling.
Not because it sounds poetic or mysterious.
I believe in calling because I’ve seen what happens to people who never find it.
They drift.
They settle.
They build a life around avoiding pain instead of creating meaning.
And I don’t want that for you.
Today marks the beginning of a process—a four-week journey made up of twelve exercises. Each exercise will include a short, self-directed activity that usually takes less than fifteen minutes to complete.
If you show up and do the work, by the end of this journey something will shift.
You’ll have more clarity about what matters. You’ll make decisions you’ve been avoiding. And you’ll give yourself the space you need to focus on what’s next.
This isn’t a class. It’s not a course. It’s a series of focused exercises designed to help you step into your next chapter.
But let’s get something straight from the start.
Your calling is not a cosmic scavenger hunt.
It’s not a voice from the sky.
It’s not a rigid plan you have to decode.
It’s not a fancy job title or something reserved for a chosen few who get it right the first time.
When I talk about calling, I mean something much more grounded.
Your calling is a crystal-clear vision of the story you want your life to tell—a vision shaped by your past, your passions, your pain, and your abilities.
It’s the moment you stop trying to outrun your failures and instead start redeeming them.
It’s the sense of purpose that rises when you realize your scars aren’t just something to hide. They’re clues. They’re invitations.
Most of us spend years thinking our story disqualifies us.
But in my experience, your story is exactly what qualifies you.
Your calling is the end result of everything that nearly broke you, transformed into something that can help someone else.
My Early Struggles with “Calling”
Years ago, when I was a pastor, people would often line up after church to ask questions. One of the most common was, “How do I find my calling?”
I hated that question. Not because it wasn’t good—but because I didn’t know how to answer it.
I usually gave a vague response I’d learned in Bible college: “We all share a general calling to love our neighbor. If you have a specific calling, you’ll know it when you see it.”
I still believe in the general call to love.
But the second part? I don’t believe that anymore.
I actually believe you can discover your calling. In fact, most people already have a sense of their calling—they just haven’t uncovered it yet.
Everyone has a unique calling. Many of us are simply missing it, not because it doesn’t exist, but because no one ever gave us a process to discover it.
Over the years, my understanding of calling has changed. I no longer see it as something dropped from the sky, but as something that emerges from your own story, values, and experiences. It’s less about waiting for a sign and more about paying attention to what’s already true.
For some, that sense of direction feels spiritual. For others, it’s more like intuition or clarity that comes when you slow down. I don’t really care what language you use. What matters is whether you’re willing to acknowledge this simple truth:
You can’t get where you want to go by drifting.
You have to intentionally listen—to your story, your desires, and whatever voice or sense of direction you trust most.
Once you do that, your future starts to take shape.
The Lies That Pull Us Off Course
The last thing any of us want is to get to the end of our lives and realize we spent decades on things that weren’t worthy of our time and energy. But many of us drift because we’ve quietly believed these five persistent lies:
The most important thing is what others think of you. This is the top regret of the dying.
Your work is worth endless sacrifice. It’s not. You’re more than your job.
Keep the peace at all costs. That’s how relationships quietly rot.
Money creates stability. Only healthy relationships truly do.
Happiness isn’t a choice. It is—through gratitude and perspective.
These lies keep us busy, distracted, and misaligned. Finding our calling cuts through the noise.
Why This Series
Over the next four weeks, we’re going to walk through a practical 12-exercise roadmap to help you discover your calling—your next chapter.
If you stick with it, by this time next month you can have a clear, actionable plan for what’s next.
This isn’t about grand declarations or mystical voices. It’s about doing the real work of excavating your story, naming what matters, and saying yes to the adventure ahead.
Let’s begin.
Your Work
This first exercise is simple.
Over the next 48 hours, go shopping for a journal. In person or online.
It can be a 99-cent spiral notebook or a fancy leather-bound journal. I don’t care. But make a small investment—something to tell your body, soul, and mind that you’re taking this process seriously. Find a journal that feels right in your hands, and a pen or pencil that feels good to write with.
This journal will be your companion for the next 11 exercises.
Once you have it, open to the first page and write at the top:
“5 Things I Want in 5 Weeks.”
Then, without overthinking, write down five things you want for yourself by the time this series ends.
What do you want to know?
What do you want to have decided?
What clarity do you hope to gain?
Don’t make this your “biggest dreams” list. Be realistic, but be honest. In five weeks, you probably won’t have your dream job, finish a novel, or marry your soulmate. But you can have new clarity. You can make meaningful decisions. You can regain confidence you may have lost.
Your list can include anything: health, career, family, finances, hobbies—whatever matters to you.
Nobody will ever see what you write unless you choose to share it. So be completely honest with yourself. That’s the only way this works.
A Final Challenge
Here’s the truth. I have about 1,800 subscribers on this Substack, and a little over 50% usually read the emails. So roughly 1,000 people will read this exercise.
There’s going to be one clear indicator of who this process will work for: the people who go get a journal.
If you do that, you’ll do the next exercise too.
It’s just how our brains work. When you take a tangible first step, you’ve already said yes to the journey.
So be one of the 1,000 who actually follow through.
And if you’re in, let us know in the comments section so we can root you on.
Stop waiting to say yes to the life you are supposed to be living.
Let’s do this together.
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This hit like a sermon for the post-religious. You turned “find your calling” from a mystical scavenger hunt into a rescue mission for our own neglected purpose.
The line that gutted me: “Your story is exactly what qualifies you.” That’s the gospel right there. Not the polished résumé version of you, but the one patched together with duct tape and scar tissue.
I wasn't gonna say anything until I got home from work since I already have a journal and pen I can use for these exercises, but circumstances have forced me to put 'start job search' as the first thing on my list. Because that's how my day's already started. 😤