Welcome to “Sunday Inspiration,” a bi-weekly devotional for those seeking spiritual encouragement in the pursuit of their passions. Each post comes from an outside resource (as referenced). I hope these posts will inspire and motivate you in your life and career in addition to our weekly original blog posts. Enjoy!

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 1:6-8

If you look hard enough, you will find that there are clues to your assignment everywhere.

Finding your assignment in the kingdom is critical.

You are treasured. You are valued.

If it was true for Jeremiah, it’s true for you. Before you were in your mother ‘s womb, He knew you, called you to an assignment, had a plan and a purpose for your life.

We all become pretty good at believing in other people’s call and other people’s assignments and other people’s potential, but we don’t see it in our self. We call it humility, when, in reality, it’s the spirit of intimidation and fear that causes us to feel unimportant.

In God’s eyes, you are treasured and valued. He knew you before you were in your mother’s womb.

The first step in finding your assignment is understanding God can talk to you.

We need to know that God is still speaking today, and He is still calling people to be a part of His kingdom purpose. He speaks through church services, through  preachers,  He will speak through  circumstances, and through other people. And He always speaks through His Word.

You’ve got to learn to listen and hear God’s voice. That’s how He puts dreams in you! He will speak to you.

I get amused hearing people say, ”I’m going to take a course on how to hear God’s voice.” When I call my mother and hear her voice on the other line, I know it’s her. I don’t have to take a course on recognizing her voice.

When you know God, you know His voice. It’s that simple-and it is important.

You get to know Him by spending time with Him and listening. The more you listen, the easier it will be to recognize His voice.

Jeremiah begins chapter one saying, “The word of the Lord came to me saying … ” The Word spoke to Jeremiah, and The Word is still speaking today.

Listen for Him. He knows how to talk to you.

A true assignment from God will showcase your inferiority and your limitation. It will be bigger than you are and make you feel incapable of achieving it.

Don’t focus on your weakness; God gets glory out of what happens in spite of your weaknesses. God said, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

You’re not here by accident. You were created for purpose and for His glory.

Start believing your assignment is so much less about your ability and so much more about your availability.

It’s not your responsibility … it’s your response to His ability.

Think About It

1. Rate your confidence level in knowing your calling in Christ on a scale between 1 and 10, with 10 being “I know exactly what I am supposed to do” and 1 being “I have never thought about having a calling.”
2. Rate your ability to hear God’s voice on a scale between 1 and 10, with 10 being “loud and clear” and 1 being “never ever.”
3. Based on today’s study, what can you do to move those numbers closer to a 10?

Source: https://jentezenfranklin.org/daily-devotions/fasting-day-18

Fall is my favorite time of year to paddle board. Here in Tennessee, both the water and the weather is still warm through September and October, but there’s less humidity. Also the water is calmer and the leaves are prettier.

I remember one autumn when paddling with a couple who had bought their paddle boards around the same time I bought my first board. We’d gone a short distance, not quite a mile and a half, when we were about to pass the public access boat ramp.

It was at this point the husband said,

“I guess we should turn around now.”

I looked at him a little confused and asked him why. It seemed to me we were just getting started.

His response was,

“Because my wife and I have never gone further than this point before.”

My response:

“All the more reason for us to keep going!”

Eventually the couple started moving beyond their self-imposed boundaries. In doing so they discovered new scenery, and developed more stamina and confidence.

But they’re still limiting themselves in a lot of ways. They only paddle downstream in the day time. But due to the cliffs downstream, you can’t see the glory of a full moon rising during the monthly full moon group paddles in the evening. You have to go upstream to see the big orange moon coming up from the horizon.

The wife often admits to me she has a lot of fears about a lot of things, many of which she knows are irrational. It’s this fear that creates walls and unnecessary self-imposed boundaries on her life. And it causes her to miss out on some beautiful things life has to offer.

Don’t Confuse Comfort With Contentment

I’ll always remember the husband’s statement because it made me sad. There appeared to be no reason for the limit the couple was imposing on themselves other than they’d never paddled any further before. (But was that really a “reason,” or just an “excuse” for something?)

What makes me even sadder is knowing there are a lot of people who live their entire lives this way, stopping short of their full potential and the things life has to offer them. Mainly because they confuse comfort for contentment.

Have you ever put a limit on yourself for no particular reason? Or you say the reason is because you’re content but that’s really just an excuse to remain comfortable and avoid the fear of the unknown?

The best way to know if you have (or are currently doing so) is to ask yourself this question:

“Am I more afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone or more afraid of staying stuck where I am?”

If you’re more afraid of staying stuck where you are, then it’s time to push the boundaries of your goals.

Do You Have Self-Imposed Boundaries?

But let’s break this down a bit. There may be some areas of your life where you have no fear. You plow through your goals and continually push yourself in certain areas.

But in other areas you’re stuck because of your self-imposed boundaries.

One exercise you can do is to honestly evaluate the following seven categories in terms of the ones where you limit yourself the most:

1. Spiritual
2. Family
3. Health
4. Work
5. Financial
6. Social
7. Educational

Feel free to add additional categories where you know you limit yourself.

In which categories do you recognize a lot of limits? Are those limits real or imagined? Are they self-imposed?

This exercise is one of the first steps in the 8-Step Goal-Achievement Plan. The plan teaches you how to overcome your limiting beliefs in each category.

You’ll also want to check out “How to Overcome Negative Self-Talk Like an Olympian”.

Only after you categorize the areas where you need improvement and address your limiting beliefs can you begin to set long-term and short-term goals.

Reaching Your Full Potential

It’s good to make sure you’re setting goals that are realistic. But it’s also important to keep pushing the boundaries of those goals so you can accomplish the things you were created to do.

Getting stuck in fear, comfort, or a particular way of doing something can prevent you from reaching your full potential. Which by the way hurts others who could benefit from your full potential. Plus it can become down right boring!

Maybe it’s time to be honest with yourself on whether you’re truly content or just comfortable. One way to do so is to start working through the 8-Step Goal-Achievement Plan. You can download the plan for free when you subscribe to the paNASH newsletter.

In last week’s Part 1 post, I talked about the unfortunate reality of ageism that still occurs in the hiring process. I also talked about several things you can avoid on your resume to reduce your risk of age discrimination and increase your chances of landing an interview.

This week I want to share several ways to reduce your risk via your LinkedIn profile.  

What to Include on Your LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to, and nor should it, be just a repeat of your resume. There are several things you can include on a LinkedIn profile you can’t include on a resume. Do the following suggestions and you’ll convey the spark and energy you still have to offer an employer.

1. Talk about your future goals and show some personality!

Your resume only allows you to discuss your past work experience. But your LinkedIn profile also allows you to share your future professional goals. Your headline and summary section are the perfect places to do this.

Sharing your goals shows you still have a lot left to accomplish in your career and a lot to offer a company.

Your LinkedIn profile also allows you to show a little personality since you can use wording that paints a picture. Be yourself by including your passions, personal mission statement, and hobbies. Just make sure you remain professional in your descriptions.

While you should never write in first person on your resume, it’s better to write in first person on LinkedIn (at least in the summary) to be a little more personable. And so it doesn’t sound like you had someone else write it for you.

The LinkedIn profile is where readers of your resume go to learn more about you. Give them something more than just what’s on your resume!

2. Include the current buzz-words of your industry.

Sprinkle your industry’s current buzzwords throughout your descriptions in your summary and experience sections.

Not only will this make you appear up-to-date on the latest industry trends, it will also make you more searchable when recruiters do a keyword search on those terms. Your profile will likely pop up in their search results.

3. Share trending articles about trending ideas in your industry.

In addition to including your industry’s buzzwords in your profile, you can also show you’re up on the latest trends by posting articles about the current and future issues facing your industry.

You’ll not only want to post these articles in the general news feed, but also in the relevant groups where your industry’s recruiters are likely to be a member.

4. Join the right groups.

Speaking of LinkedIn groups, you want to make sure you join the right groups!

Recruiters can go to your profile and see which groups you’re in, so you’ll want to stay away from any groups with the words “mid-career” or “mid-life” in their name.

You’ll want to join more industry-related groups than you would job search groups. Being a member of a bunch of job search groups will scream desperation.

Instead, join the groups of the industry you’re in (or trying to transition to) since these groups often announce job openings within the industry. (To see jobs in groups, go to a group’s page and click on the “Jobs” tab to the right of the “Conversations” tab.)

This saves you time from having to sift through any job announcements you may not be interested in.

5. Include your updated skills.

Include your new skills, programs, platforms, and technologies you’ve been learning on your own time. (See #5 in Part 1.)

6. Include online courses.

LinkedIn offers a lot of online courses. So do MOOC (massive open online courses) sites like Coursera. These are great places to learn new methodologies and technologies in an affordable way. And many courses give you a badge to add to your LinkedIn profile once you’ve successfully completed them.

Listing these courses on your profile shows you’re constantly learning new things, you know how to use current technology, and you’re staying abreast of the latest knowledge.

7. Decide if you should include your photo or not.

If you look young for your age, or you have a photo from a few years ago that’s not obviously out-of-date (i.e. you’re not wearing out-of-style glasses frames), then definitely include it on your LinkedIn profile.

If you feel like you may be at risk of age discrimination based on your photo, you may decide not to include one. But you should know recruiters are also wary of profiles without a photo. In this case, you’ll need to decide for yourself which risk you’re willing to take.

Conclusion

You’ll never be able to completely eliminate your risk of ageism. But, by following the above suggestions, you’ll at least reduce your risk and increase your chances of getting an interview.

When you do land the interview, you’ll want to walk in with confidence and wow them with your competitive advantages by addressing their pain points and showing how you can be a problem solver for them.

To learn how, purchase my on-demand course Steps to Acing the Interview and Reducing Your Interview Anxiety.