Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Stephen Covey on How I Found My Calling

Stephen Covey shares his journey of vocational discovery:

"It was understood that I would follow in my father’s footsteps and join the family business after college, but that plan changed during my mission, a period of missionary work undertaken by every young Mormon. "

"I was 20 years old and serving in Great Britain when my mission president asked me to lead a seminar to train the local leaders of the church. The leaders were 40, 50, and 60 years old. I said, 'I can't do this. There's no way.'"

"But my mission president told me that he had complete faith that I could do it and eventually persuaded me to take it on. He helped me prepare for the event, and it ended up going extremely well. I found I experienced a great deal of satisfaction from extending myself and really helping other people change their lives. That, to me, was so much bigger than going into business that I knew that I'd found my calling—I wanted to be a teacher, helping people to have happier, more successful lives."

Source: Jack Canfield & Gay Hendricks, ‘Stephen Covey,’ You’ve Got to Read this Book! (New York: Collins, 2007), 228.

Image: Stephen Covey

Thursday, May 15, 2008

‘One Step Forward, Please!’

I had some currents of revelation recently on the topic of discernment.

I was ‘standing up to the plate’ at a urinal in the toilets of the Shanghai airport. I looked above, saw this sign (pictured) and dutifully, stepped forward.

While meditating on this sign, some truth trickled into my mind and then came as a pleasing rush: usually in discerning the way and making decisions about life, the most we are called to do is to take the next step. To take the step that is right before us. The step in front of our nose.

We are not always given a one or a five year plan of the way ahead.

So ‘One Step Forward, Please!’ might be the message that is flowing to you today.

Dr. Geoff Pound

Image: Isn’t it amazing the places where truth can be found?