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My path to this gig wasn’t the result of dressing up in my best and chasing leads at the college fair; it wasn’t a result of being a shining success, that landed me my dream job. When I take time to reflect – something I do often, reminding me to be grateful – I point to my failures and shortcomings that led me down this path.
I did well in school but I didn’t like it. I was that kid who was always in trouble, a “bad seed”, one that was going to “learn the hard way.” I tried the corporate world very briefly and quickly found out, or was told, I was just taking up space. When my heart isn’t in something, I am not good at hiding it.
After a few false starts, and flashes in the pan, I landed in the right place with the right people; we share the same unconventional philosophy on life and success, and here we are a year later, in the middle of two books with more coming down the pipe.
I recently spoke to a group of high school students about the work that I do as part of their career day. During the Q & A session – amongst the questions about how much money we make and what we studied in college – one student asked all of us what we felt was the most rewarding aspect of our job.
My answer was people. I get to sit down with interesting people from all walks of life, learn about them inside and out. They allow me into the deepest parts of their mind and trust me to write their stories. Stories like Chris Luera aka Tatted Strength.
We come from very different walks of life. He served nearly a decade in prison and when he was released became a world champion calisthenics athlete. Me, not so much.
It is that a relentless tenacity for life and chasing your passion as feverishly as you would chase water in a desert that will get you exactly where you supposed to be in life, just be patient.
What I have learned from all of this is the road to success and happiness is not straight – you’ll have detours and obstacles but they are part of the journey – and chase what you love to do. There is always a way to turn your passion into a career, especially in the age of technology, when you can reach your audience anywhere in the world. It’s possible and I am proof; I have found a way to turn my writing into something I get paid to do.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
