As you read this and learn more about my own work life journey from clue-less to true calling it’s my wish that you pause and consider the parallels in your own journey and the realizations that come up for you as a result.

I was a five-year/three summer student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania finally graduating with a B.A. in Political Science in 1973. I mostly majored in fraternity, rugby and a multitude of intramural sports.

After a series of interviews I had my choice between a management-training program for a steakhouse and straight commission insurance sales.  It must have been something about the freedom because I chose the self-employed sales and for all 36 years since I’ve been continuously self-employed.

Generally I’ve been very slow to wake up to the need for change.   Even though all of my sales positions were straight commission, I still had sales managers and I have always stayed too long out of a misguided sense of loyalty, even when the situation merited moving on.

It wasn’t until 1989 when I begin imagining a work life with greater fulfillment, when I first considered creating more aligned and authentic work for myself.  It took me 16 years of working before I began to consider making meaningful work a priority.

Then I really went to town.  I read Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow.  I didn’t like the book or even find it that inspiring but I bought the message in the title all the way.  I left my most lucrative sales position first in line for a very lucrative management position in 1992 and it took me until April of 1995 to buy 12 acres of ground, raise 2.5 million dollars and build a 30,000 square foot family amusement center called The Challenge Center.

Pittsburghers may remember it in North Strabane Township.  The building is in use as a gym now.  Think American Gladiators meets Chuckie Cheese and you’ll get the gist of our offerings.  I totally loved putting the deal together and creating all of the amusements.

But the Challenge Center was very aptly named because after building it I discovered that it was a true challenge to operate.  It was an expensive lesson but I found out that I was more suited to creation and project work than long-term management.  We did indeed fulfill our mission (to enhance the level and spirit of play) but closed two years, nine months and 17 days after opening.

I promptly hit my bottom.  I had invested and lost everything including every penny of retirement funds.  I tried but couldn’t hold onto our home. My wife begged me to go back into sales but I stuck to my guns and told her that I could only do work that I loved from that point forward.  Shortly thereafter she requested a divorce and just when I thought that I could not sink any lower I ran over Toby, my daughter’s kitten.

Long days of anger, introspection and tears put me into a depression that lasted about two months.  Then I hit on another idea.  I’d always been a natural in front, of the room why not become a professional speaker?  I joined the local chapter of National Speakers Association in 1998 and began learning the craft while speaking at every rotary and men’s club who would have me, fee or no fee.

A few months later I was blessed by serendipity.  I was speaking at the downtown business library when a guy came out of the audience and asked if I’d ever done any coaching? At that time I wasn’t even aware it was a profession.  But I coached his wife on career fulfillment for three months and found it to be much more rewarding for me than speaking.

I began a coaching practice CoreU Coaching, that continues to this day but it took me until the fall of  2007 to finally commit to a niche when I began publishing my blog Delightful Work.

But that’s only a part of the story. A steady stream of first sales and then coaching income lead me to try all sorts of side businesses from network marketing (five times) consulting, training and many other failed joint ventures.

In retrospect I was looking for an outside system to make me wealthy along with a shortcut to that wealth.  Even though I’ve had some financial success with these additional ventures, they were not the final answer because I was not fully aligned with any of them.

It wasn’t until spring of 2009 when I began studying how to bring about my own calling that I had my big breakthrough realization.  In August I finally, deeply and completely realized that the only path to sustained wealth and deep fulfillment is a self-created path of true calling.  I remain committed to making that possible for you and that’s why I’ve created this site and these events.

Well, can you see the major lessons that I learned along the way?  Are they similar to your own?

Warmly,

Tom