Staying True to Your Calling with Jo Saxton   Episode 322

Staying True to Your Calling

Today, we are delving into the wisdom and brilliance of Jo Saxton, a woman who has stayed true to her calling. Her insights and achievements are sure to inspire you.

Jo has dedicated her career to empowering women to live into their God-given potential, confident in their call, intentional with their influence, and equipped with the support and resources they need along the way.

Over the course of her career, she has led in ministry and non-profit settings, as well as pastoring and church planting. She has also written several books to help women be intentional with their influence. She is also a podcast host and led online Leadership Coaching communities of women dedicated to their own development as leaders in their spheres of influence.

Let’s get started. 

How Jo Got Started to Where Her Calling Is Today

My favorite part of Smart Girl Summer is bringing you behind-the-scenes conversations that you don’t get anywhere else. And so, I asked Jo how she got started with what she is doing today. Jo shared that she’s always been in ministry, whether that is being a youth pastor or working with churches who were transitioning from one model of doing church to another and also working with non-profits. 

But currently, she’s been really focusing on women because she enjoys serving women and seeing the lack of women in leadership spaces; she felt called to encourage women, invest in them, and rise them up into what they’re about and their calling. 

Jo is Making Sure Women of Access to Opportunities 

I asked Jo if she sees herself in the future, dedicating herself to developing women and making sure that women have access to opportunities. And she said yes! Jo said some things are project-based and for a season. For example, she was in children’s ministry for a summer, but after she was done, she knew she wasn’t ever doing that again. But serving women in this chapter of her life and moving forward feels like her calling. It feels like it’s the loudest stage of her life right now in serving women. 

The Expectation Jo Is Letting Go Of

There’s an idea that women in their 40s have their careers set, their work, ministries, nonprofits, etc, and they can just let go until they are able to retire in the next twenty years, but Jo and I know that’s not true. And Jo shares that she’s learned to change her expectations. She said one thing she’s found disempowering is that expectation that you go on this conveyor belt in a particular direction and that leadership is lineal, your calling is lineal, and opportunities are lineal, and any interruption means you’re off track, but that’s not true. 

Because life is happening to us all the time. Yes, we have our passions and dreams, and we are praying, but life is happening, and it takes you in a different direction. Yes, the pandemic is the most recent major event that uprooted everyone’s lives, but if you look back at your life, there are different events that have taken you in different directions. Jo said she is learning to embrace the messiness of it all rather than be disempowered by the confusion or the uncertainty of it all. 

Isn’t Jo just the wisest? She’s the best, now let’s get into some coaching. 

The Simple Steps to Overcoming Fear and Taking Action

For today’s coaching, it’s a confidence boost. This is really important for growth and success. It’s taking chances and building your confidence, but hesitation holds you back. There’s a really strong link between hesitation and self-esteem. The more you hesitate, the more you see others taking chances, and the more you’re going to feel stuck. This constant hesitation wears down your confidence bit by bit until taking any step feels scary, but here’s the truth: there is great power in taking that first step. 

Taking that first step can make a huge difference because it’s like taking a shot of confidence in your arm. When you step out of your comfort zone, you realize it’s not as scary as you thought it would be. Nothing terrible happened, but can you do it again? The way you build confidence is through taking action. Confidence is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets. 

So today, I’m giving you super practical steps to build confidence. 

1. I want you to set a small and easy goal. Start with something small, and that’s going to push you out of your comfort zone. 
2. I want you to think about your past successes. Remind yourself of times when you took a chance, and it worked out. Write them down, and look at them when you feel like hesitating or when you feel like holding yourself back. 
3. Spend time with encouraging people. Be around people who inspire you and encourage you to take risks and step out of your comfort zone. That positivity will rub off on you. 
4. See yourself succeeding. I want you to take a few minutes every day and just imagine yourself succeeding in your mind. Imagine it in as much detail as possible, and I want you to go for it. 
5. Take action quickly. When you feel the urge to hesitate, I want you to count down from 5 and then take action. This simple trick can trick your brain into not getting stuck in a cycle where you don’t do anything. 

Listen or Watch now:

iTunes.

Spotify.

YouTube.

Favorite Quotes: 

“Just because it’s uncertain doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. It doesn’t mean it’s all falling apart. And even if it is all falling apart, it doesn’t mean it’s over. It means I’ve got to be curious about it rather than give up and walk away.”

13:10 (Audio)

“Transition isn’t just an aberration and an evil thing. It can be hard for sure, but transition is an opportunity to be creative. This is an opportunity to become more self-aware and aware of what God is saying to me.”

14:48 (Audio)

“Experiments are successful because of what they reveal, not just on account of whether they work or not.”

15:16 (Audio)

“Arriving at the end of the transition isn’t the point, it’s how you transition that matters.”

17:46 (Audio)

“I think we forget what it is to learn. And we forget that learning is integral to our gifting and our calling.”

24:59 (Audio)

Links to Great Things We Discussed:

• Jo Saxton Website
• Jo Saxton Instagram
• Ezer Collective
• Elemis
• Clinique
• Jen’s Ice Cream
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Apply for Alli’s Free Coaching
• Create a Course
• Alli on YouTube
• Remaining You While Raising Them

Order your copy of Remaining You While Raising Them here.

Hope you loved this episode!  Be sure to subscribe in iTunes and slap some stars on a review! 🙂

xo,

Alli