Soon after I was born again as a young man, I was with groups that were focussed on evangelism. I learned from them that the main purpose of someone who had come to Christ was to bring others to Him. So I went into it with zeal, witnessing to everyone I met wherever I went, passing out tracts, writing letters to my relatives and friends, etc. At the end of two years, I realised that not one person had come to Christ. I was very disappointed and asked the Lord why there was no fruit in my life. The answer I got was that evangelism was not for me but that it didn't make me any less as a Christian because my calling was something else. Later, as I was getting disillusioned with churches I was attending I thought maybe I should start a church like some others were doing. I started one, but gave it up soon because I realised I was not suited to be a pastor of a church. As time went by I came to realise that my gift was not preaching but one to one counselling and teaching through writing.
If we don't recognise our calling, we will try to follow our own ideas or imitate others. Perhaps we can't avoid this phase because it may be needed for our learning. But it is God who decides what He wants each of us to do, and He gives us spiritual gifts accordingly (1Co.12:11). We won't really succeed if we go any other way.
When people come to face the question of their calling, sometimes they base it on the natural abilities they have from God. A person with a good voice decides that he or she is going to become a singer for God. But sometimes natural abilities are not at all an indication of what God wants us to do. Moses thought that since he was not good at speaking, he couldn't be the leader God wanted (Ex.4:10). Many times God uses spiritual gifts more than natural abilities. Sometimes dependence on our natural abilities can even become a hindrance to the calling He has for us (Is.5:21). Jacob in the Old Testament had to be broken in his physical strength before he learned to submit to God.
The apostle Paul learned that cleverness of mind was not what was going to touch people's lives (1Co.1:17). He depended on the working of the Holy Spirit who alone was able to change those who heard and responded to his message (1Co.2:3-5). Paul was a brilliant man, but he knew that if he impressed them with his clever words there could not be any lasting work done in the life of people.