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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I’ve had several people tell me I look like James Hetfield from Metallica (I don’t see it), and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’ll share a lesson found in the simple act of asking.
Friday Forum
Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can participate in Friday Forum by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com.
What I Learned Yesterday:
I could make today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday really short and sweet. If you don’t ask, you won’t receive. I mean, that’s not the way it works 100% of the time, but it’s a pretty solid statement. I would say that the vast majority of the time, if you don’t ask, you won’t get what you seek. Let me share an example that drastically impacted my life.
This story begins in the fall of 2012. During that time of my life I was very discontent with my job at the bookstore and focused on building a career in new media. Things were progressing, but not quickly enough for my satisfaction. I was really struggling. I it was either late October or early November. I had no desire to go through another Christmas season in retail, but at that point there was no way to avoid it. There was one morning in particular that I was getting ready for work and it was the last place I wanted to be. My heart wasn’t there. My passion for that career had gone.
The truth is, nearly every morning had been that way for a while, and as the Christmas season grew nearer, my discontent grew stronger. Each morning before going to work I would spend time in prayer. I would ask God to help me deal with the situation. That he would give me patience and wisdom. I wanted to ask him to give me an opportunity to follow my passion of new media, but I just couldn’t.
I couldn’t ask God for another opportunity because I felt like doing so would be selfish. The truth is, my job was great. It was a steady paycheck and a comfortable salary with a company that had values and a mission that I believed in. Yes, there were a few people there that I thought were bad apples, but the majority of the people there were great. The people in my department were awesome. Most people would want the type of job that I had. To ask for something else would be out of line.
I don’t know where it came from, it was either a sermon from my pastor, something I heard on the radio, or something a random person said to me, but when I was said, I felt like God was speaking directly to me. It was a portion of a verse found in the book of James chapter 4. It says that we do not have, because we do not ask God. I immediately dismissed it because I felt like asking God for an opportunity to change careers would be selfish.
A few days later, in another totally different way, someone else mentioned that verse to me. It wasn’t just to me, it was in a public setting, but I immediately felt like God was trying to tell me something. Again I dismissed it and refused to be selfish.
A few days later it happened for the third time. Again, that passage from the Bible was mentioned to me in a totally random way. I conceded that perhaps God was trying to teach me something. The next morning as I had my prayer time, I asked God for something. I told him that I wanted a job that would allow me to follow my passion. I wanted to podcast full time and help others with their podcasts. I wanted to see my website business grow and I wanted to be able to support my family with income that I received by following my passion. I told him that I felt selfish asking such a thing, but that it was the true desire of my heart.
The next day I got an email from my friend Cliff Ravenscraft. He told me about an associate of his that was starting a new podcasting project and that his friend was looking for a few hosts to get the project started. Cliff was reaching out to me and a few other people that he thought would be good candidates for the project. The project was called TV Talk.
I knew immediately that I’d be interested in hosting for TV Talk. I did a bit of research on the guy starting the project and from what I could tell, he was not a podcaster himself. This told me that he did not personally have experience producing podcasts. I knew that he would need a producer. I sent an email to Stuart, the owner of TV Talk, and I told him that I’d be interested in hosting for him. I also told him that I was of the opinion that he would need a producer. I said that if he didn’t already have a producer lined up, I’d like to be considered for the role.
It turned out that I was right. Stuart did need a producer. He and I spoke via phone a few times and I sent him some samples of my work. He liked what he heard and he hired me to do a lot more than just produce audio for TV Talk. I became responsible for doing the voiceovers for each show, creating artwork, coordinating music, sifting through host applications, and finding the right hosts for each show. I helped decide which shows TV Talk would cover, made sure everyone had the right equipment, and conducted training sessions.
As TV Talk grew and there was more production work than I could handle, I became responsible for finding additional producers and training them so that the audience couldn’t tell which one of us was producing each show. TV Talk started with 4 shows and has grown to cover over 80 shows. In April of 2013 I turned in my resignation and on May 3, 2013, I left my career of nearly 19 years to follow my passion of new media.
Here’s what I learned. We have not, because we ask not. I believe with all my heart that it is no coincidence that less than 24 hours after I finally asked God for an opportunity to follow my passion that I received an email that would lead to me doing exactly that. I also know that if I had not asked Stuart if he would consider me for his production needs, I never would have been given that opportunity.
Here’s the other thing I know to be true. All of the work I’d done and experience I’d gained before meeting Stuart prepared me for that day. I didn’t get the job just because I was passionate. I got the job because I’d taken steps to prepare beforehand, AND I was passionate.
Don’t be afraid to ask. Even if you’re told no, or you’re passed over for an opportunity, keep your head up. Keep working to improve your craft. Your opportunity will come.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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