Michael Crom loved his career, and he was good at it! As the Chief Learning Officer for Dale Carnegie Training, he helped others lead with the best version of themselves, and his airline miles served as a record of his positive influence all over the world. In fact, in one four-year period, he traveled over a million miles on work-related trips. 

On each of these trips, he made it a point to send his daughter a postcard accompanied with a short note to ensure they remained connected. Even though she was too young to read them, she loved getting these little notes from dad and saved every single one of them. 

One day, when his daughter was in first grade, she was required to bring in 101 of her favorite items for a school project. She immediately chose her prized postcards. Michael watched as she spread the large pile of postcards across the living room floor to narrow them down to her top 101. As he reflects in the book Take Command, “In that moment, I felt sick. I looked at the enormous pile of postcards. Each one represented the days I was away from my family. I thought to myself, ‘What have I missed?’”

A stack of postcards. A signal. 

In Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, he says, “[The hero] may have deluded themselves into thinking that everything is alright. But sooner or later, some new force enters the story to make it clear they can no longer mark time. That new energy is the Call to Adventure.”

The postcards signaled Mike’s call to adventure was at hand. They provided him a sign that it was time to go inward and determine what he truly valued. Fortunately, Mike paid attention and began to make a series of key decisions that ensured he understood what he valued, and then he aligned his life in a way to live those values. His daughter got fewer postcards, but more presence. 

The key here is to pay attention! There are forces at hand that we don’t understand, and the universe (and our bodies) have a way of letting us know it’s time to leave the hearth fire of complacency and step out into the unknown. 

What does the new energy in your journey look like? Have you seen it? 

Are you restless, uneasy, feeling a little out of sync with your current environment?

Do you feel like you’re trying to get by or adjust to your current situation by using various coping mechanisms such as emotional or chemical dependencies like alcohol to “take the edge off?”

Are you about to make a major life transition, but are scared to death? 

Sometimes the call isn't accompanied by external signs like postcards on the living room floor; sometimes it’s an internal pull that we can’t quite shake.  

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One more thing! Copies of My Green Notebook: "Know Thyself" Before Changing Jobs are currently on sale for a limited time on Amazon! If you are looking for a way to get into journaling, check it out! 

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