You can take the MAN out of the DEAL, but not the DEAL out of the MAN

Summertime greetings to all my family, friends, and colleagues. My message comes to you on this beautiful Sunday afternoon from my office. Yes, that’s right, working on a Sunday afternoon, but as many of you who know me well can attest to, I am at my absolute best when I am the busiest. Also, my kids are not around, as they have already moved to FL. I just spoke with them, they are off to the beach (jealous), really miss those kids. Glad I will be seeing them next weekend, and will be moving myself (to Fleming Island, FL) in September. Another reason I am working on a Sunday is because I am just coming off the heels of “kind of-sort of” my first week back to WORK in quite some time. I just spent my first week as VP of the Dealer Network for a company called Anti-Fog Systems, a fairly new organization that has just introduced a revolutionary new anti-fog film into the marketplace. My task will be to set up a National Network of Window Film Dealers throughout the US, and needless to say, I am very excited to start this endeavor and help grow this company. Check us out:

http://antifogsystems.com/

I know, a very shameless plug, but this is my blog after all. This product is very unique, sustainable, has many applications, and is poised to take the window film industry by storm. After a long week of making sales calls, talking to dealers, setting up systems, marketing documents, correspondence items, etc.…something very interesting dawned upon me. What I realized is that I really miss working in a business environment, negotiating with potential consumers, and trying to “make the deal.” You see, for the last three to four years I have been working in jobs that were not the best fit for me. This is one of the reasons I started my own coaching and consulting group, Affinity5, at the start of the year. I figured that after all of these years of experience, I should be able to find the right combination of personal coaching clients and business clients to fulfill my desire to find balance between who I am as a person and what I do for a living. My hope is that by reading this piece, many of you might be able to ascertain weather or not you are in the right field, your doing what you want to each day to earn a living, and your career and personal quest to be yourself have synergy. After all, isn’t that what we are all after when finding the right thing to do to earn a living? I think it takes many of us (certainly true for me) quite some time to even figure out if we are on the right path, what we should be doing for a living, and how we attempt to find that all important and elusive balance.

For me, starting my own company was both nerve racking and exhilarating at the same time. I now have the great experience of being a personal life coach to others, and have already received rich rewards while helping people with their own mid-life struggles. Something that lies at my core, and always has. However, there was still something missing. When I started my company, I was trying to get some business clients for consulting and/or sales outsourcing. Low and behold, this new opportunity that I am now involved with has direct correlation with that quest. The person who owns this company was an old friend from years ago, who has also had a rich history of business success. When he noticed my announcement for Affinity5, he reached out to me to introduce me to his new product and company. After several months of discussions, we are now working together and I am back in the business world. I now get to experience a perfect combination of personal gratitude (from coaching) and professional gratitude (from chasing the DEAL).

With reference to my blog title, let me go back a few years. At the peak of my business career in 2008, the proverbial rug was pulled out from underneath me when I lost the best job I ever had. As many of you know, I was in the mortgage business, running the entire east coast for Citibank’s Home Equity division. Through no fault of mine, I was taken out of the DEAL. This was a huge setback for me, and the three jobs I have had since in no way, shape, or form came close to quenching my thirst to work the DEAL. Not to mention the major reduction in compensation opportunities that resulting from being forced from that industry. The point here is that I kind of lost my business mojo, and honestly didn’t feel like I had it back until just this week. That’s almost four years of unfulfilling business endeavors. I will say that being a life coach is extremely fulfilling, but it doesn’t offer the charge (spark) that I get from negotiating deals, managing salespeople, and obtaining/retaining customers. What I now realize is that I need BOTH, which is why I had the foresight to cast a wider net when I opened my business. Since it’s only me, landing a contract like the one with Anti-Fog Systems, is exactly what I was looking for. Perhaps, providence is finally kicking in I thought, but still a long way to go.

One of the quotes I strategically placed in my book, My Back Nine, has a direct connection with this piece I am writing today. In the Career chapter, I wrote:

“Be careful not to build an unbreakable bond between what you do for a living, and who you are as a person. It’s only the latter that matters. However, one who endeavors to build that bond in reverse order, opens the door to limitless possibilities” 

I feel like I am living this quote right now. I have improved in many facets of my life, reconnected with myself, have become a Certified Life Coach, and now I am back in an Executive Sales/Sales Management role to complete the balance. Who I am is someone that has a strong desire to help others, and also someone who enjoys selling/managing, especially when the latter has synergy with the former. A perfect fit. What is it for you? How do you feel going to work every day? What exactly are you passionate about? Are you able to connect that passion to what you do to earn a living? Is this even important? Well, you know how I feel, but let’s just imagine for a second how much time you spend at work in correlation to your time on this sphere. If you remove the time that you sleep as well as your younger and older years, the calculations are over 38%. Yes, over one third of your life you will spend working. Shouldn’t you be doing something you love? I realize that this isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Yes, I am writing a motivational blog, but I also live in the real world. None of this means that you have to go out today and quit your job. What is does mean is that you should at least think about your passions, try to connect them to what you do every day, and create opportunities where you can “be yourself” in all situations. That’s the key.

 For me, having freedom, flexibility, and connection to who I am are non-negotiable items. I have faced intense financial hardships chasing this premise. No, I did not turn down any great jobs, I haven’t been offered a high quality job since Citibank let me (and about 4,000) of my closest friends go in 2008 when they completely shut down the division. The bottom line here is that I never gave up, I kept trying to fight for what was right for me, and I now feel that my fight, focus, and purposeful quest is starting to pay off. I still have a long way to go to get to a place where I can feel comfortable that I can properly start taking care of my 5 children, not to mention get my own personal finances in order. However, I have kept my head held high, fought hard to separate myself from my circumstances, continue to help others, and always stay focused on my “Kaizen” (Japanese word for continuous improvement).

In the end, I still love doing the DEAL, it has never left me, and now I get to do it again and feel grateful as a result. I am hopeful that those of you reading this piece can draw upon situations in your life that have synergy with my topic. This is why I write, an attempt to help others using my personal experiences, while at the same time keeping the wind in my own sails by getting pen to paper and fulfilling my destiny. When it comes to work, career, your passion, where do these connect for you? Keep searching for that answer, as it’s in the search (or journey) that true enlightenment lies.

Peace to all…Tony