Originally posted on Facebook HERE
As we watch the movie that is our life from behind the curtains of our personalities, sometimes it seems like we’re just the “watcher”. We’re sitting in a theater, eating some popcorn and watching it all unfold… and then reacting to it. It can be easy to forget that we are also the ones writing, directing, producing and starring in the film as well. So, if I asked you to make a movie of the rest of your life, and to imagine it in the best way you possibly can, what would you see? There’s no wrong answer really - but whatever it is that you see for your future self is most likely what you’re going to see as your future self. So, ask yourself - who do I want to be? Because you can be anything. No matter where life has taken you so far - that’s the past. 36 years ago, I could have made the decision that I was going to be a professional musician the rest of my life and kept playing shows in bars, and continued to use drugs and alcohol. Even once I decided to quit using - I could have just kept playing music for a living. There’s nothing wrong with that - I still love to play. Most of my friends are musicians. Those were choices I could have made. But - once I stopped drinking, I really wanted to get out of the bar environment. And, for me, anyway - this is how major changes seem to come about. I feel an inner passion or desire to go a different way. Once I start to feel it - in this case, I need to do something that doesn’t require me to be in bars and around alcohol every weekend - I start to look for opportunities. And one thing I’ve always been good at is believing that when I want something to happen bad enough, and open myself up to solutions, one is going come to me. I won’t need to force it at all, I just need to be patient and open. So, I starting thinking about, you know - what could I do? My resume since high school said “played bass in rock bands 1977–1990”. One of my friends, who was at the time (1990) making over $100k a year suggested I’d be good at what he did (sales). And so, now I had a little direction and I adopted a new goal as well (make $100k a year - look into getting a sales job). I started looking for an opening is sales, but… that resume. No sales experience. By chance, in a parking lot one day, I met a friend who ran the Electrolux office in Oshkosh. At the time they were selling vacuum cleaners door to door. He was always looking for salespeople. He hired me. All I can say about that moment in time is - it changed both of our lives, in huge ways, for the better. A chance meeting in a parking lot. But I was open to the opportunity presented. Selling vacuum cleaners door to door. Many people would have run away from that idea, but not me. My first month I sold 35 vacuum cleaners, and with the bonus I earned I made $8000. I remember that number, because it was what I made the entire year prior playing in bands. I quit the band, and had my new sales career. The story from there is absolutely insane on how it ended up with both of us working for Edward Jones, and how the skills we needed to be successful in the vacuum cleaner industry helped our careers after we had both moved on. So I had my sales job, but that $100k/year goal was still far off. One thing about goals, for me anyway - I like to keep them somewhat vague. “I want to make over $100k/year” was the goal. Didn’t even necessarily have to be in sales. I remained open to all opportunities. I wound up getting back into music after leaving Electrolux - I got the gig with Road Trip Band in 1997. But it didn’t pay $100k. So, I looked for a sales job to do during the day and I settled on becoming a Realtor. From 2003–2005 I did both. Together, they were close to $100k/year - but never went over. But I held that one in my head. I had faith it would happen, I could see it and I believed it, I just didn’t know how. In 2006 I left Road Trip to try getting to $100k in real estate sales. And… the market slowed way down. And… I didn’t have the band income anymore. And… Edward Jones sent me an email on a particularly bad day in real estate. “Come work for us”. I took a look at their “hiring” website - it said an average advisor was making $100k/year at the five year mark. My number. After verifying with my advisor this was true, and having a short discussion with another friend who was leaving her job as a TV anchor to do the same thing I was considering - I left a job I loved to take a shot at a career I knew nothing about. And it became obvious very quickly - everything I had ever done my entire life prepared me to be a financial advisor. It was,and to this day is - my calling. I love it. And I long ago surpassed my annual income goal I set years prior. We write, produce, direct and act in our own stories. But along the way, we can set the direction and surrender to the path the story takes as it unfolds. Because when we do, there is magic within the ether. See yourself succeed. Everything always works out for the best. See yourself acting in every day, no matter what happens, from that place within you that knows only love. And the Universe will respond. You’ll see what you believe. I wish you nothing but the best on your journey. If I can ever help you along the way, I will.
