Obtaining my driver’s license at 16 and purchasing a car (behind my fathers back) was my first step to freedom. This helped me break free of some psycho-social shackling. The more shackles I broke free of, the faster I ran—and run I did! I went everywhere I wanted to go, and did whatever I wanted to do. My two rules were, 1) don’t do anything that could jeopardize my ability to travel internationally (at least don’t get caught!); and, 2) don’t do anything that intentionally hurts anyone or anything. Other than that, I gave myself complete freedom to do whatever I was drawn to. And so began my 20+ year journey.

During this time I lived in different parts of Australia; and in England, Taiwan, Canada, USA, and New Zealand. Additionally, I traveled extensively through over 30 other countries. Amongst other things, my working positions included, a baker, an apprentice crash-repairer, a carpenter’s assistant, a plumber’s assistant, a spare-parts salesman, a gas (petrol) station attendant, an apprentice chef, a barman, a retail salesperson, a grave-digger, a graphic artist, a desk-top-publisher, an illusionist assistant, a cameraman’s assistant, an audio-visual production assistant, a corporate audio-visual and video producer, a photographer, a website builder, a resort representative; I sold hot-dogs at premier league football matches in England; I was a cellarman at the Brixton Academy (now the O2 Arena), worked in accounting at NatWest Markets, taught English to Chinese students in Taiwan, was an advanced SCUBA diving instructor, a ski-lift operator in multiple countries, an airline customer service agent, and a limo driver.

Approaching the end of this period, a close friend was diagnosed with two brain tumors. During this transitional period, I spent a lot of time with this friend, and in various hospitals and clinics. I had so many new experience, and witnessed so many things I was unfamiliar with. These experiences instigated the new direction my life would take. I returned to Australia and began a BSc program in Medical Radiation with the intention of entering the post-grad medicine program in Australia. I wanted to become a surgeon. During the final year of my BSc however, after witnessing significant dysfunctional behavior by surgeons too many times, and having my first experience with a borderline personality disorder, I changed my direction from post-grad medicine to psychology. And thus, after completing my BSc my occupational growth continued as a medical imaging specialist, a Special Procedures Technologist for cardiac-interventional and vascular interventional procedures, a CAT scan tech, and a surgical procedure instructor, while attending grad-school for psychology. Upon completion of grad-school, I was a now able to play the role of a psychologist.

So after being kicked out of high school at 16, I now have my GED, BSc, MA, and PhD. I have lived in six different countries, and travelled extensively through over 30 others. And, I’ve probably had more job variety than most people would even think about. It is amazing the drive one can have when self and Self are connected and leading each other; the purpose that can be felt, and the success that can be achieved.

This IS self-discovery; and much of it is about learning who you are not, which you can only learn by experience, by doing, and thereby knowing. How can one discover and learn more about who they are without journeying, exploring, and adventure! It’s impossible. Experiences help us learn, and learn about ourselves. Without independent journey and adventure, for better or worse, one remains a literal puppet created one’s by family, culture, and society. Therefore, part of knowing who I am is knowing who and what I am not. 

What I am not is my profession. That is, my profession in not me; it is nothing more than a role I play on a given stage. Don’t mistake your career or profession for who you are. If you are a physician, a lawyer, a butcher, a businessperson, this is just a role you play. This is NOT YOU!

Identify ourselves by our occupation is a cop out; it’s avoiding the difficult questions and the hard work—it is object referral. This is confusing our ego with our reality, also known as mistaken ego identity. Many people become trapped in their career, a career or profession of ultimate unhappiness because they think it is what/who they are. They identify with it. Careers are often nothing more than a vicious cycle of earning, spending, and ego-indulgence, with ego gratification, but no real, authentic gratification. I learned that climbing corporate ladders is not innately gratifying, only temporarily ego gratifying, and the drive is fed by fear and insecurity.

Of course this is not to say that one must change jobs/careers weekly, but rather to monitor and make appropriate changes as you journey; avoiding toxic people and environments to create and maintain balance and harmony while exploring who you are.

My journey may have been a little extreme for some. But this was, and is, my journey. Everyone’s journey is their own. What I did, and what I experienced was all part of my journey. Your journey will differ. You do not need to travel geographically, and change careers as often as I did to bring your self and Self together to know purpose, have leadership, and enjoy success.