I was called to this work. I know it now, but I wasn't always so clear. One of those special pivotal moments occurred for me when I was 5 years old. I don't really remember that much of my life at 5, but for some reason, this memory stood out and continues even today. I remember at first just having this odd realization that most adults seem to be in some kind of haze, not really awake to their joy and to the wonders of life. It was as though they had become deadened somehow, and didn't seem to be very happy. I noticed that this was especially true when it came to the work they did which occupied the majority of their time. Soon, everywhere I looked, I noticed adults who were 'not really here'. It reminded me of those old zombie movies - you know- the "walking dead". Adults, from a child's perspective, seemed to have lost their sparkle, the sparkle that is so readily apparent in the eyes of children.
This of course is how I describe this experience from an adult perspective, but back then, it was just an innocent observation. As I continued to notice this pervasive deadness in adults, I grew stronger in my personal conviction to not allow whatever this was to happen to me, as I became an adult. No way I was going to grow up and lose my joy, my wonder, my passion for life when there were so many wonderful creative possibilities that lie before me. I knew I had to find a way to stop this from happening. This was the pivotal moment that launched me on a life long quest to bring greater clarity to this childhood observation and gain a deeper understanding of what was happening.
As I grew older, I studied everything I could get my hands on, to see if there were others who understood what I had recognized as a child. Of course, most adults I knew were of no help for mostly they didn't understand what I was talking about. So, I delved into Eastern philosophy, western science, enrolled in every psychology course I could, read every related book and research paper and basically anything else I could find to solve this mystery. In fact, I specifically chose to get jobs in libraries when I was in college, so that I could have unlimited access to the knowledge that resided there in my search for answers.
My quest continued into undergraduate school. It was my primary passion to understand this deadening of spirit that seemed so all pervasive. It was like an epidemic had taken hold, yet one for those afflicted, which kept them unconscious of their symptoms. My undergraduate work was primarily focused on physiological psychology at one of leading universities where the majority of experts served as research professors. It did seem to me that the answers I was seeking should have some basis in human physiology. It turned out it did. But of course this was only part of the puzzle for me. The next question was how to avoid it.
I took a pilgrimage after undergraduate school, one of intense soul searching in order to seek the way to reverse the deadening effects that seemed to effect so many adults, as well as a personal vision quest to find my own life's work, work that would allow me to do what I love and make money at it. It was directly as a result of this quest that I realized I wanted to study vocational psychology because it seemed to directly confront the issue, especially when work is the primary activity of adulthood.
As I entered my Master's Degree Program, I chose a major in Vocational Assessment and Counseling. I felt that one's choice of work had a significant impact on whether they would join the ranks of the "walking dead" or not. Of course, less consciously, I was also motivated by my need to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, for I hadn't totally solved my own puzzle in this regard. Courses in vocational guidance seemed like the best way to do that. I did not realize at that time, that I was preparing for my higher calling all along.
I now see more clearly my path of vocational awakening. This personal quest, the mystery that captivated my attention for so many years, was my destiny in its seed form. Of course, to me it felt more like torment, for all the while I did not realize that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. For so long in my life, I felt confused and lost in this regard. I detested being asked the question what do you want to do for a living? I soul searched, I researched, I traveled, I meditated, I studied, personally took every assessment instrument I could find, and anything else that could help me figure out the answer to what seemed to continually escape me.
I went through numerous career planning seminars, met privately with career counselors, spent years in psychotherapy, all with the underlying need to gain insight into my own situation as well as understanding what the majority of other individuals were going through as they entered adulthood. I wanted to know how I could keep my passion alive and find work that would bring me joy, to do what I really loved for a living. I knew that the career I chose had everything to do with my keeping my spark alive as I was very much committed to not joining the ranks of the Śwalking dead'.
Obviously, I am not one of those rare individuals who just seem to know what they want to do with their life. I did marry one though, which is quite ironic! Like the vast majority of people however, I have wandered through a large portion of my life in search of answers. I have in essence come to my own awakening, the hard way, through trial and error (mostly error). My formal education and professional career gave me credibility, offered me tools of the trade, and sharpened my mind, but it was my own personal quest that really honed my talents and challenged me to tap the vast creative intelligence within me and bring it to bear on my personal quest for vocational awakening. In other words, I have learned from experience what it actually takes to get to clarity regarding your life's work and the necessary requirements one must meet if they are to escape the fate that so many in our society succumb to. I have personally learned what works and what doesn't through my own experience.
In retrospect I can now see the turning points in my life and pinpoint the challenges that re-directed my energies towards my life's work. At the same time, I have come to intimately recognize the pitfalls and obstacles that have served to block my own and therefore other's awakenings. There is no substitution for personal experience. It is quite often the special challenge that confronts you that will propel you towards your calling. I have come to value those odd occurrences as higher guidance, alerting me to pay particular attention, because something very important is clamoring for attention. I have also come to realize the many twists and turns in life that actually are guiding you towards your own unique higher destiny.
This guide represents the summation of my work, that I have dedicated myself to for now over 30 years. Besides my own in depth understanding of what works, I also refined this process through decades of working with ten's of thousand's of individuals across the country. It was the result of so many who have attended my seminars over these many years who put this guidance to the test that ultimately provided the necessary feedback to refine this seminar into its final form. As well, I am especially grateful for those individuals who put their trust in me and courageously participated in my six month intensive "Breakthrough Clubs" for the purpose of literally transforming their lives and living in alignment with their higher purpose. I am indebted to them for their persistence, their insights and their passionate yearning to fulfill their life's work. I feel blessed to be in the presence of so many who were so deeply committed to the unfolding of their highest capabilities and making a difference with their lives.
And here I am, offering to you what has eluded me for so many years in my own life. I now realize it was my path and it had to unfold this way in order for me to be fully prepared to offer guidance to others. I have learned by experience that discovery of your path is not just a matter of taking a career test or seeing a career counselor and you're done. What works is using the formal tools available along with the correct interpretation of these assessment instruments (while being well aware of their limitations) combined with a deeper process of seeking your own higher truth and bypassing the conditioned personality that offers false callings and untruths regarding the work that you are here to do.
In my own unfolding, I have learned to recognize the eternal signs of calling, the many forms of intuition (or inner guidance) as well as the special, synchronistic happenings that provide daily guidance to prod you each day to wake up to what you are here to do. This guide represents what I have learned to effectively and practically guide people in this all-important task of discovering life's work.
