You’re Fired! It was June 15, 2009 when I heard these words. I am so thankful now that it happened. I wasn’t so thankful back then. I had just moved my family from Austin to San Antonio to take this job. My dog died the same week. My sister-in-law had an accident. We were 1 week away from closing on our new home, which we significantly upgraded! My wife and I were arguing constantly due to the stress level. Eleven years later, I’m running a successful business with my wife and a small team. We bought our first commercial property last year and we love what we do!
Bigger Plans For You
Currently, the unemployment rate is 13.3 percent compared to 3.5 percent pre-pandemic. When I was fired, the US was in a recession primarily due to a housing bubble. Being unemployed in 2009 at the age of 40 with our first child less than 1 year old was scary. But I knew that I had to be my best in order for me to be the husband and father I needed to be for my family. After some self-pity and having a mid-life crisis, I pulled myself together and got serious.
Some of you may be in this situation, whether getting fired or furloughed. Or your business just closed and you don’t know what’s next. Don’t despair, God has bigger plans for you! My time off provided me clarity on God’s true calling for me.
Get Clarity on Your Purpose
Sweet Spot
Two years before the incident, I read Max Lucado’s book, Cure for the Common Life. It challenged me on what truly is my “sweet spot”. Lucado gives an example of grabbing someone else’s bag at the airport and none of the clothes fit. Many people throughout their lives live out of someone else’s bag, ending up being miserable. I wouldn’t say I have been miserable throughout my career, but I did feel like I was moving more towards a perfect fit and I wasn’t quite there yet.
You must define your sweet spot or you will not be utilizing your God-given talents and gifts to its fullest, resulting in frustration and mediocrity. The book takes you through an exercise of helping identify your sweet spot. Going through it gave me clarity on my strengths from my life experiences.
Hedgehog Concept
Once I had clarity on my sweet spot, I started thinking of how I could earn income utilizing my gifts and talents. In Jim Collin’s book, Good To Great, he refers to the Hedgehog Concept where the following circles intersect: What you can be the best in the world at? What are you deeply passionate about? What drives your economic engine? The first two were answered by Lucado’s book. Now I had to do my due diligence in knowing what would make me money to provide for my family.
We can be deeply passionate about something and not make money. These are usually hobbies! You can also be an expert in something that you’re not passionate about. These are usually jobs with no fulfillment. Looking at these 3 intersections led me to The Alternative Board (TAB).
Take the Leap
I took the leap to buy the TAB franchise from John Dini in April 2010. If you think entrepreneurship is your path, I would highly recommend reading Gino Wickman’s book, Entrepreneurial Leap. I wish I had this book before taking my leap as I would have been more prepared for the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. If you’re struggling on whether to leap or what leap to take, I would recommend reading Gay Hendrick’s book, The Big Leap.
Taking More Leaps
I’m grateful for having had the courage to take the leap and I’ve been extremely blessed. I’m also thankful for the support of my wife who helped me through the ups and downs. What started out as a crisis in my abilities, confidence, and significance; led to a fulfilling journey of purposeful work. Other leaps I took were expanding into New Braunfels in 2014, becoming a Professional EOS Implementer in 2015, my wife joining in 2018, and buying our office in 2019!
With our current environment, it’s easy to be scarcity minded instead of abundance minded. Whatever situation you’re in, I encourage you to be abundance minded and take steps in identifying your sweet spot, then taking a leap!
For more information on creating a healthy business lifestyle, read about The Alternative Board (TAB) and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Don Maranca- TAB Owner and EOS Implementer