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I had just graduated college in 1983. I was forced to quit my job as a janitor in the final semester in order to intern at a prestigious firm. I loved being a janitor. That janitor job made it possible for me to pay for college. I was very grateful to Mr. Calandria, the Head Custodian, for massaging my work schedule so I could attend college full time.
As my final semester ended, however, there were few good accounting jobs available. It was a tough employment market in 1983. I remember being very down one day because of the scarcity of job offers and my very empathetic Mom tried to soothe me. “Everything will work out. Leave it to God, It’s God’s will. God’s will be done.”
I was very religious back then, but I didn’t like the idea of waiting for God to come to the rescue. I also didn’t like the idea of having to blame some divine ethereal being for not coming to my rescue.
These thoughts were running through my head like simultaneous lightning bolts, when I turned to my Mom in anger and blurted out, “My will be done, Mom! Not God’s! Mine!”
That moment was a huge turning point for me. I decided then and there that I would determine my fate. Not some divine being. I made a decision that very day that I would take control over my life. I would make it impossible for any future employer to ignore me. So, I took out my only credit card and immediately ordered the Becker CPA Review Course.
During the next two years, I took on any and all small-time accounting jobs that came along, while diligently studying for the CPA Exam. When I passed two parts of the exam, I began applying for prestigious accounting jobs, highlighting on my resume that I had passed two out of four parts of the CPA Exam.
Arthur Anderson was one of the first prestigious firms to call me in for a job interview. When they offered me a position, I asked them why me? They said, “You passed two parts of the CPA Exam. You’re clearly going to pass the remaining parts and become a CPA. We need CPAs. We’re a CPA firm.”
The point of my story is this – you control the circumstances of your life. No one else. No one is going to save you except yourself. Stop playing the victim. Stop blaming others.
If your life sucks, you must change who you are. You must change your daily habits. You must change your daily thinking. You must change your daily attitude. You must improve and grow into the person you need to be in order to succeed in life.
Who do you want to be? What do you want to be? How do you become the person you need or want to be? Answer those question and then get busy growing and improving yourself until you become that person.
Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, Effort-Less Wealth, Change Your Habits Change Your Life, Rich Habits Poor Habits and “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”
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