Let me tell you a story about the time I was days away from my dream job when all of a sudden I had it ripped away from me...

I was a soon-to-be-married 23-year-old wondering what to do with my life trying to make it as a salesperson. I really wanted to make a difference in the world so I wouldn't have to go back to uni and start studying from scratch.

I wanted to be able to build a career where I loved doing what I was doing and I could support my new wife and leave a legacy that matters.

The thing is I was barely making budget in my sales job most months. That meant I wasn’t able to build a career where I loved doing what I was doing, let alone support my new wife and leave a legacy that matters.

To make things worse, I felt terrible because I was trying so hard and couldn't seem to achieve breakthrough. I felt even worse about the situation because I was supposed to be able to build some amazing career that would make my wife and family proud. I felt like a failure at 23.

The problem was that after 4 years of working as a salesman, I finally had an opportunity to step into a dream role in a large Australian bank. They were willing to take me on board without a degree and it ended up down to just me... I was a shoe-in for the job!

Then in the last few days of hiring, someone internal put their hand up for the position.

And they got the job.

I was devastated to be stuck in the world of sales when I KNEW it wasn't my sweet spot. PLUS there was pressure mounting on me to hit the next month's targets (but I was less motivated than ever).

Then, as if by chance (I don’t believe in coincidences), something amazing happened...

That's when I turned up to a 6pm service at my church - Gateway Baptist Church - and Derek Peters was preaching.

All of a sudden, while I was sitting anonymously in the congregation, Derek mentioned my name (we didn’t know each other) prefaced with ‘the guy who was worship leading last week’ and said he had a word for me.

He then prophesied over me for a couple of minutes (which I have a recording of!) and one of the things he mentioned was a scripture about having hot coals in my mouth.

As Derek finished speaking, I felt transfixed in the moment, almost like an out-of-body experience. I was crying and it was suddenly crystal clear what I needed to do to learn how to chase after my calling and get a clear sense of direction for my life.

I also learned that you CAN speed up the process of finding your calling and clarifying direction by just having the right person beside you!

That’s why after the service I went up to Derek and asked him to be my mentor.

After I did that, I started seeing breakthrough in my life spiritually, relationally and in my work, too.

Suddenly, I was clear on what I wanted to do with my life and what to do next in order to get there.

That’s when I realized that the secret to growing as a person and understanding your calling is to find the right person to support you and challenge you as a mentor or coach.

My plan was to start spending more time with God and finding ways to serve others.

So I started carving out time every day reading the Bible, praying and listening to God. But I didn’t stop there.

I started stepping out in obedience when next steps felt clear (even if they didn’t always make sense to me!).

After that, I started encouraged those around me by investing in them and challenging them to chase after God, too.

But there was still a problem...

It still took a LONG time before I was able to do the work that I feel I'm here on earth to do.

It took years of stepping out time and time again and having equal measures of successful breakthroughs and disastrous failures.

Some steps were fun, others were the most painful seasons of my life. Despite asking God what to do next, I believe He took me through seasons that formed my foundation as a person and helped me become who I am today.

The devastating lows were the most formative moments (unfortunately)!

THEN, I had to humble myself, pick myself up off the floor and decide whether to keep chasing after God or to give up.

(Side note: Though most people don't admit it, there's NO WAY most followers of Jesus - including Christian leaders - haven't had monumental moments of doubt.)

So, it was still a LOT of work, a LOT of time, and a LOT of failure to find my calling and purpose this way.

Also, because I knew I needed to chase after God but didn't have clarity around how I was wired, I spent long periods of time doing work that I now know wasn't in my sweet spot when I wish I could have learnt what I know now, sooner.

In fact, it was during the season where I was overwhelmed (which I later learned was anxiety) that I felt God calling me to step out and get alongside people (Christians and non-Christians) to help them find their calling and purpose much faster than I did.

So I started Clarity.

I thought if I could create something that would make it possible to help people get clear on who they are, what they're called to do with their lives and what to do NEXT, I’d be really fulfilled.

After hours and hours coaching people through the process again and again and again, I LOVE helping people to have ‘Aha!’ moment, get clear about who they are and what they're called to do with their life, no matter what age, industry or role they're in, easier and faster than ever before.

As a result of all this at Clarity (my organisation), we’ve been able to achieve the following:

Within just 5 years, over 1,400 leaders have done Clarity's 7 questions on leadership and I've had the privilege to walk alongside people from Australia, the UK, the US, New Zealand, Canada and more to help them have 'Aha!' moments about who they are and what they're called to do with their lives

Since I’ve been coaching people, I’ve not only been able to build a business to support my family based on work that I LOVE that makes a massive difference in people's lives, I’ve also been able to stop doing work that drained the life out of me (and even though I 'sell' to new clients, I certainly never EVER have to 'sell' like I had to in those previous sales jobs that I hated!!!).

Now I can now spend all of my time investing in work that I know I was born to do that fills me with energy and has me waking up every morning excited for my day.

And in the end, all of this means I’m now able to do more important and significant work than I ever dreamed possible while at the same time deciding how much time I want to spend making lifelong memories with the people I love and care about.