Small Promptings

“Small promptings are often the invitation to miraculous beginnings.”

When I think back over the trajectory of my life and career, I can see the common thread that weaves my story together. It stitches together a collection of my responses to small promptings that have urged me to take steps that didn’t always seem sensible. These promptings have often nudged me to do something completely disruptive that would seemingly compromise my financial stability, require me to pursue something that in my eyes, I was unqualified for, and/or take action with very little information about the path forward. While incredibly uncomfortable, my decisions to act on these promptings have without fail, yielded the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my life.

So, what’s a small prompting you ask? It’s that small quiet voice inside that tells you to do or consider a thing outside of your comfort zone, often at seemingly inconvenient times. It’s that small nudge to pick up the phone and make a random call to someone when you’re not quite why or perhaps to take a call when you’d really rather not. It’s that compelling feeling to accept an unexpected invitation to attend or participate in something when you’d really rather stay put. It’s often that insensible feeling to just go for it and do something for yourself that you’ve never done before, despite the growing number of priorities already competing for your time, talents, and financial resources.

I see small promptings as God’s way of inviting us to something greater. We often measure our ability to accomplish a thing in proportion to the seen resources and capabilities at our disposal. At first glance, what we have often seems inadequate and that inadequacy can stop us in our tracks before we even get started. But I know firsthand that God can do a lot with our little.  Sure, we can use the gifts and talents that He’s given us to do a thing. But when we instead offer those gifts and talents back to Him, He elevates and amplifies them to places beyond our scope of reach.

It reminds me of the story of the two fish and five loaves. Remember that? Two fish and five loaves were clearly inadequate to make a sizeable impact, but when it was offered to Jesus, He used what little they had to impact many! He took what they had and blew it up beyond anyone’s capability of expectation and used their tiny inadequate offering to feed and serve thousands. The same is true here. If you are willing to take imperfect action and act on your small promptings with faith and deliberate intention, you will unlock the magic that allows you to be impactful beyond your wildest dreams.

I used to describe myself as “just a girl who said yes (to those small promptings)” to explain my success. This is still true today. Build the capacity to stretch yourself and respond to the nudge even when you aren’t feeling ready. Trust that what God is able to do is exceedingly and abundantly beyond your greatest vision for yourself. Understand that your response to those nudges will have a tremendous impact on others, those that you can and see and many that you cannot, however you choose to respond.

How will you respond to those small promptings in your heart? What action will you take to position yourself for the outcomes you desire? Your best life is on the other side of those promptings, simply waiting for you to take the first step. Here are a few tips to consider to help you bring clarity to the shifts you need to make to go from good to great:

• Begin to pay attention to those small promptings. What are the patterns? What are the messages affirming those promptings?

• Take inventory of your hesitancies. What’s stopping you from taking action?

• Instead of asking “what if” as you imagine all of the negative possibilities, shift your mindset to claim, “even if”, as you exercise your faith knowing that God will address every single “what if” you can imagine.

• Say yes to the promptings and get ready to step into your purpose of LIVING and living well.

If you are ready to find clarity and make the mindset transformations necessary to go from good to great and live a life of passion and purpose on your own terms, visit www.jihadagarrett.com and schedule your complimentary coaching consultation here.

“Small promptings are often invitations to miraculous beginnings.”