00:00:01
Solar eclipses? Earthquakes in New York, the Sakata Copalypse. All these events I just mentioned are natural events that are once in a lifetime, and they're happening as I'm recording in 2024. However, maybe there are some once in a lifetime events that have nothing to do with nature but had everything to do with your creative life. How do you know which ones are truly once in a lifetime events?
00:00:29
And those opportunities that you are getting, are they right for you? Is it time to take a leap? Or should you pause and realize that maybe some of these opportunities are not right for you at all? We're going to discuss six questions that will help you decide if a once in a lifetime opportunity is truly right for your life in this episode of the God and gigs show, give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our show, and then we'll get right into this important conversation.
00:01:10
Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. And if you are new to our show, thank you for giving me and our community a chance. And let me tell to you why you're in the right place as a content creator, musician, entrepreneur, artist, anyone in this intersection of the arts and entertainment space and content creation, but also with a heart for God, a heart for ministry, and your christian foundation, you are here where all of us are learning how to thrive as creatives by connecting the dots between our spiritual life and our creative life so that we can solve temporary creative problems with timeless spiritual principles. So you're in the right place.
00:01:55
And let me tell you why. This episode that we call a creative checkup episode where we deal with one specific issue that can help you navigate this creative life, we're going to dive into this question of once in a lifetime opportunities. Now, as I mentioned, in the open, there's lots of natural events that are happening that are getting a lot of news. But right now, I want you to think about your own life. Have there been pivotal moments that you realize now where once in a lifetime and you had to make a decision, there was a fork in the road where there was a major opportunity, maybe an artist, maybe a job, maybe a connection or relationship where you had to make a step of faith, a leap of faith.
00:02:40
Now, how do you know which one of those opportunities would truly be life changing and which ones will come around again? Which opportunities are those that you can't pass up and which are those you should definitely pause and not take advantage of this time? Well, my friend, we're going to look at six questions that will help you answer this question. I'm going to be using some references to a book that I highly recommend from our friend Rachel G. Scott at taking the Leaps podcast.
00:03:10
She has written a book called taking the five leaps. It's on our website as one of our recommended books, and it's definitely right in line with this conversation about when to take a leap of faith into something that God is guiding you into, or if it's something that you simply need to pass on for now. So let's look at this idea of God first being in charge of our once in a lifetime opportunities. Clearly, it's God that really makes the decision and is the most important person to consult with when it comes to our decisions on what to do next. So my first question is, did you pray about this once in a lifetime opportunity?
00:03:53
Did you seek God? Did you look for his direction? Have you sought counsel from other godly people, godly creators in your life? Or have you just assumed because it was a big stage and a big opportunity that it must be from God? You see, sometimes we look for open doors and we assume it's God, when God might have us in a season of preparation.
00:04:18
So first, I want you to ask this question. What's God's opinion? What does he think about this opportunity? And if he was to say no, would you gladly let it go? Because there's many times that we are going to wrestle with God when it comes to these opportunities if they're not from him.
00:04:40
And of course, if he does give you the green light, it might be even more of a struggle to take that leap of faith and to step into something knowing that he's going to guide you through this new season. So the first question you've got to ask is, what is God's opinion on this opportunity? Is it something he's leading me into, or is it something that I simply want for myself? And in that book I mentioned, there's a great chapter on prayer and how to approach God when it comes to big leaps of faith. So definitely check out taking the five leaps.
00:05:16
Now let's look at question number two. Does it align with your values, your principles and your vision for your life? Now, I'm not saying that every single once in a lifetime opportunity will always be something that you saw coming, but it should have some connection with your vision, with your principles, and it certainly shouldn't violate your values. If it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, it should grow you and help you to see what you're capable of while still accentuating and coming in alignment with who you are as a creative, with your faith, with your beliefs, and of course, with the way that you're wired so that you're not putting yourself in a position that you are not ready for or not wired for. So I would highly recommend that you do a lot of work on personality, on your health, on your mental health, on your emotional health, and think about all of these situations that you're going to be putting yourself in before you jump into the next opportunity, no matter how lucrative or how exciting it may seem.
00:06:26
There's a great episode we did with Ryan Whitney, who are vocal coaches for Alicia Keys and many other amazing artists and background vocalists themselves. And they share this idea about waiting and making sure you're ready for the next big opportunity. Go check out that link. I'll leave a link in the show notes to listen to that episode because that will give you some great perspective on how to make sure that your next opportunity aligns with your values and your principles. Question number three.
00:06:59
Is this once in a lifetime opportunity really worth the risk? Is the return and the reward worth what you'll be giving up? Now, I know at first glance you might say, well, of course it is. But make sure you take a close look at this because once again, what looks like a once in a lifetime opportunity could cost you something. As a matter of fact, it will cost you something.
00:07:23
The question is, is the cost worth what you'll gain in return? Is the connections and the growth and maybe even the income, are these things actually worth what you'll be giving up? And you do need to do an analysis to see if this really is something that will bring more to you in the long run and not just the short term. Some opportunities that look like a once in a lifetime opportunity actually fizzle out pretty quickly and you'll find that you actually gave up more to take that opportunity than you would have gained by staying put or doing a more long term type of strategy. So make sure to think of that.
00:08:07
Question number three, is the reward worth the risk? Number four is, will you be a better, stronger, more fulfilled, a better person? At the end of this once in a lifetime opportunity, will it not just fulfill your career goals, but it will it also fulfill your personal, your spiritual and your emotional goals so that you become a better person? Now, if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that stretches you, that's absolutely a sign that you'll become better, stronger, you'll be able to handle more. It will grow you as a person, but there are also times that opportunities don't do that, that they simply drain you and they don't actually add to you.
00:08:54
And you have to see the difference between these. And once again, this is where having great counselors and advisors and people in your creative circle, like guidengigs 360 does for our mastermind students. So this is one way to evaluate whether an opportunity is right for you. Number five, does this once in a lifetime opportunity grant you access, but also give you accountability? You see many opportunities open you up to new people, new relationships, but sometimes those changes in relationships don't really come with the accountability to the people who really know you.
00:09:33
And once again, this is why it's so important to keep people around you who you trust and who you can confide in and who can lead you and guide you when you're in new rooms with new people and new relationships because of these opportunities that you're considering, you've got to have accountability with your access. Now, maybe you are given access to rooms where people are trustworthy and you can be accountable, but you need to make sure that that is in place before you take these big opportunities to work with new people. Because if you are in the wrong rooms and not having the right voices, you will make the wrong choices. So make sure as you look through these opportunities that you sync and look for accountability, as well as the access you'll get to these brand new rooms, brand new platforms and brand new stages. And finally, ask yourself honestly, if you said no to a once in a lifetime opportunity, is it possible that that opportunity could come around again?
00:10:35
You see, this is where you come around full circle to really be honest and ask yourself if this is something that must happen now. Is it the only chance, the only window of opportunity to take this chance or this leap of faith? Seek God and make sure you have godly counsel to make the right decision and not leap when actually this might be a cyclical, seasonal type of thing where another opportunity will come around that could be even better than the one that you are considering right now. So always make sure to ask yourself, if you said no, is there no possibility of this happening again? Or is this something that you can consider that would happen again in your lifetime and might be a better route or a more advantageous decision or situation than the one you're facing or considering?
00:11:31
So once again, let's look at those questions and make sure that you have everything you need to make the right decision when it comes to once in a lifetime opportunities. Did you pray about it? Did you seek God's opinion? Number one. Number two, does it align with your vision, with your purpose, with your principles?
00:11:48
Number three, is the potential return worth the risk? Number four, will you be a better, stronger, or better equipped and more fulfilled person because of this opportunity? Number five, does this opportunity give you access but also provide accountability? And finally, if you said no, is there a possibility that this once in a lifetime opportunity actually could come around again? If you answer these six questions, I know you'll have a better sense on making the right call when it comes to that big break, that big opportunity that possibly God is putting in your way.
00:12:29
And if it is time for you to make that leap of faith, by all means do it with confidence. Do it with courage, knowing that God is directing your steps as a creative my friend, thank you so much for listening and watching and following through with this entire creative checkup. Please. Now that you've heard the whole thing, share it with a friend who's also facing a once in a lifetime opportunity. And if you are interested in a worksheet workbook type questionnaire that will help you work through these issues as you're thinking of taking a big leap of faith, I invite you to check out guidingigs.com questions because this is a questionnaire we did for those of you who are considering full time creative work, a leap that many of us have taken.
00:13:15
So I want you to have the guidelines to think about what you need to have before you take that leap into full time creative work. If you've been a hobbyist or a amateur and you're ready to take this on full time, go to godandgigs.com questions and it will help you decide on what to do next. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for being a part of the God and gigs community. And until next time, continue to become the creative that you were created to be.
00:13:46
God bless and we'll see you next episode.