Realignment – Getting Back on Track with Your Calling - Alyssa Avant and Company

Today we are continuing our series for the month of June on the Mid-Year Momentum. We’re going to talk about refocusing and getting back on track with your calling. I will help you to realign your business efforts with your calling and your original purpose, especially if you feel distracted, discouraged or off course.

Signs to Look For

Here are some signs that you might have drifted from your calling.

You’re constantly overwhelmed or unmotivated.
You feel disconnected from the work that you’ve once loved.
You’re chasing trends or comparing your business to others.
Your decisions are driven more by the metrics than by your mission.
You are second guessing everything or you’re feeling spiritually unsettled.

Meditate and Listen

All of these things can tie back to if you are needing to realign yourself with the purpose that God has for you. Remember that Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. We have to walk, talk, and surrender to God, letting him lead in our lives and in our businesses.

Another verse that sticks out in my mind and could help you to remember who you’re doing the work for is Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Remember who you’re working for. God often will remind us of our calling in those quiet moments, not in the whole hustle moments that we have.

I’ve had to in the past do this realignment. I’ve gotten burnt out in my business when I was trying to do too much or did the wrong things. There were times where I’ve had to lay down pieces of my business and pick them back up later. Some of those pieces that I laid down I never picked back up. Meditating on both of these verses and prayer has helped me. Pray about it, God’s going to point out what he wants for you. When he points these things out over and over again, you’ll start to recognize what he wants you to get rid of or focus on. I often will pray asking the Lord what I’m supposed to focus on in my business right now. With many possibilities sometimes you just have to pray and ask him to point you in the right direction as to what he wants you to focus on.

Rebuild Habits

One of the things that I do, that I mentioned about last week, that I wanted to continue to encourage you on is rebuilding some purpose-driven habits you might already have had in your life and business. Maybe you just have failed to do them for one reason or another. We all have these habits that we have done in the past that we fall away from. I call it “Falling off the wagon”. There have been times where I’ve had really good habits and have fallen off the wagon. One of my habits that I feel called to do is journaling my “Why” regularly. I go into journaling a bit more in last weeks blog if you would like more details on how I journal. You can rebuild those habits that you have and realize your calling by journaling and praying over your to-do list and your business decisions.

My Calling

I don’t know that I’ve ever shared the story of being called to ministry. Growing up in the church I had a very helpful, encouraging, and supportive youth group. I always had a youth pastor involved in my life helping me to learn to do things like prayer journaling and my daily devotional time with God. During this time I felt God calling me to have a career or life in ministry. At first I did not know what that was or what it looked like. I thought it might be in youth or children’s ministry. I spent five and a half years doing that in my early twenties and absolutely adored it. Eventually I resigned from that position to stay home with my kids. That’s when the Lord brought me to my current business. 17 years ago this October, He began laying the foundation for me to have this business as a virtual assistant consulting with Christian authors, speakers, and coaches. Growing up as a little girl, this is not something I ever would have seen as a possibility. This field didn’t really exist. We didn’t have the internet or social media.

Create Space

One of the hardest things to do that I am sharing with you today is creating margins or space in your life to hear from God. So many times we feel like we have to fill up every spot on our calendar. I was talking to my adult son yesterday, which just sounds weird to say because he’s 21, about this. He was talking about the upcoming semester of school. He is a senior in college this year. Last semester, his first year at a four year college, he had something to do almost every day and every night. He was talking about how he had decided not to sign up for specific, get togethers or events so that he wouldn’t have something every single night. I told him he needed margins. That’s the exact word that I used. You need margins.

Accountability

Another thing you should do is find accountability, whether that be business friends, mentors, or a coach who understands your calling. I have all three of those things. I have a lot of business friends for one. Two, my accountability partner in business is Tricia. If you’ve listened to my podcast for any length of time, you know about Tricia. And three I have mentors and a coach. All of these things are extremely important to me. You then have to stay focused. A lot of times that is hard, especially if you have other things in your life like your family. Even if you fell off track it doesn’t mean that you failed. It just means it is time to refocus. Remember that there’s a season for everything. There are seasons in our lives, but there’s also seasons in our businesses. As I have shared before, life goes up and down. It has its ebbs and flows. You always have a chance throughout it to realign with God’s direction for your business.

Need Help

If this is something you’re struggling with or you’re not sure where to go next in your business and you would like some clarity I invite you to book a strategy call with me. I will offer you support and help you to get a clear plan of action for your business. I also want to encourage you to share this episode with a friend that you know who might feel stuck and maybe something I say will resonate with them. Most of all, I want to remind you that you’re not alone. God is with you on your business journey.