Life by Design

Published On: March 28th, 201318.9 min readBy 20 CommentsCategories: Aha Moment, Life Purpose, Meaning of Life, Passion, PR, Public Relations

Old Hotel Utah Lobby Chandelier & Stained Glass Ceiling_2
I was 15 years old and in the ballroom of Hotel Utah underneath magnificent crystal chandeliers when I discovered my true passion in life. Hotel Utah sits right across the street from the Salt Lake LDS (Mormon) Temple, the corner stone of downtown Salt Lake City.

An appropriate place to find one’s passion in life, right?

Now, I’m not saying that sitting on a hard chair in a 100-year-old hotel, no matter how beautiful, is the way for you to find your true calling. But, it was for me. It was there – at an Erhard Seminars Training est Course – that I saw the power of having a conversation. Not just any conversation, though.

A conversation for possibility.

In that room, I was fascinated how these

[seemingly] “put together” adults were talking about what was going on in their lives. “OMG, adults are a mess!” I thought to myself. It was right there and then I decided that when I was an adult I was not going to screw my life up.

Oh the joys of being 15 and naive.

But there were other people present, too: trainers – amazing transformation trainers. So miraculous that I also decided that whatever they were doing, I wanted to do that too.

Conversation… that’s all it was. But the people having the conversations had clear stories about their lives shifting on a dime. You could physically see it on their faces. There was freedom in their lives that hadn’t seen the light of day for a long, long time.

I was hooked and clear about what I wanted to do: give people that kind of freedom.

Sometimes after you have those bursts of clarity in life you back it up with actions, and sometimes you don’t.

So, after completing that intense course that changed my life (and the lives of many others), I headed back to the ‘real world’ at Layton High School. At least, it was my real world; a world full of chemistry and BMW’s pulling me away from my calling.

I really loved chemistry class. (I know, weird.) So one day I walked up to my teacher, Mrs. Yaney, to share my newly-discovered passion and to let her know I was thinking of pursuing chemistry as a career. I was a little shocked when she replied, “You don’t want to become a chemist, Drew. It’s boring and you won’t make any money. What you want to do is become a chemical engineer. That’s the highest paid BS (Bachelor of Science, not the other kind) out there.”

I was sold.

So off I went to college to become a chemical engineer.

But (surprise, surprise) after I received my degree, I knew that wasn’t it. That wasn’t my calling.

Sure, I know it would’ve been a lot easier and cheaper to sort that our earlier. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?

I thought back to that day at Hotel Utah and I knew the only way I was going to be happy was to impact the world through conversations.

So, what does all this have to do with launching Destination Aha?

You probably know I’m the CEO of Wasabi Publicity. And we’re committed to changing the world. Period. And I know that the most effective way to do that is to change the conversations people are having.

We can’t do it alone. We need for YOU to share your contribution, your conversation with the world. And the only thing that may be standing in the way of you doing that is getting unstuck and getting to that next Aha moment.

Ready to share your conversation with the world?

Let’s chat.

author

About the Author:

Drew Gerber

For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. As the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc., lauded by the likes of PR Week and Good Morning America, he sparks "aha" conversations that lead to personal and business success. His PR firm is known for landing clients on Dr. Phil, Oprah, Anderson Cooper, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, and other top media outlets. Wasabi Publicity lives to launch conversations that make a difference and change the world.

Comments

  1. Jim Palmer March 28, 2013 at 1:56 pm - Reply

    Hey Drew, Congratulations on launching your new blog. You are a big thinker, an action taker, and someone who inspires me. I’ll be checking back in to make sure this is not a shiny object and you in fact keep posting!! hehe Give my best to Will and your cool dogs! Now go change the world.

    • Drew Gerber March 28, 2013 at 2:34 pm - Reply

      You know me too well, Jim 🙂 Thanks so much!

  2. Patricia Weber March 28, 2013 at 4:32 pm - Reply

    Budapest, Hungary? I’m hopeful we will find out why there. Congratulations on your blog launch.

    Old sofa? My husband and I are clutter avoiders and if we did have a new sofa, the old one would have been donated to some local organization.

    Will watch for your posts.

    • Drew Gerber March 28, 2013 at 3:35 pm - Reply

      Hey Patricia! Yes, I will share what I’m doing in Budapest; and also about my adventures in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Stay tuned 🙂

      • Tatijana April 27, 2013 at 12:11 pm - Reply

        HI,, so nice to join this group of people! Love to read and hear your opinion about, Hungary, Croatia, SERBIA…. All the best 2 u!

        • Drew Gerber April 29, 2013 at 9:23 am - Reply

          Thanks, Tatijana!

  3. Kerry Armour March 28, 2013 at 3:26 pm - Reply

    This looks like a great start. I’m intrigued. I’ll be back for more. I’m BS in Biochemistry…it wasn’t what I needed either….

    • Drew Gerber March 28, 2013 at 3:37 pm - Reply

      Kerry – a BS in Biochemistry… I love that. Isn’t it funny where life leads us?

  4. Ron Carpenter March 31, 2013 at 3:17 pm - Reply

    Reformed microbiologist here! Too funny where life’s paths take us. Nice blog. Have enjoyed following your adventures on FB.

    • Drew Gerber April 1, 2013 at 1:45 pm - Reply

      Thanks, Ron. Reformed microbiologist – I love it!

  5. Clint Arthur April 11, 2013 at 8:50 am - Reply

    I had a chemistry teacher who changed my life too. Mr Litwin took one look at me and said “You’re going to play Conrad Birdie in the school play.” That was 33 years ago and I remember that moment like it happened yesterday. I think there may be a lot of magical chemistry (alchemy) teachers out there….

    • Drew Gerber April 11, 2013 at 3:41 pm - Reply

      Hi Clint – thank God for chemistry teachers!

    • Indi June 14, 2013 at 4:59 am - Reply

      Hi Clint! I loved your parallel between magic, chemistry, and alchemy…and the effect these teachers had on seemingly so many people here…:) Did you become an actor? 🙂

      Regards, from Budapest

  6. eleonora lauter April 14, 2013 at 9:19 am - Reply

    Aha ! My Friends ! Just my best regards also from Hungary, Eleonora

    • Drew Gerber April 17, 2013 at 9:47 am - Reply

      Hi Eleonora! Isn’t this Hungarian spring beautiful?

  7. john spencer May 5, 2013 at 10:50 pm - Reply

    damn powerful share Drew!

  8. Sally Hoover May 9, 2013 at 4:24 pm - Reply

    Been there, done that, love it!

  9. http://bpoilspilldamages.us/ May 10, 2013 at 11:49 am - Reply

    “Life by Design” ended up being a superb posting, cannot wait to
    browse far more of your blog posts. Time to waste some time on the
    internet lol. Thank you ,Torri

  10. Indi June 14, 2013 at 5:29 am - Reply

    Hi Drew!

    Your blog is really interesting and I was surprised to see that you’re based in Budapest. I love the idea of starting conversations with people, that can always spark magical things! I’ll be tuning in to see more. Good luck with your efforts and your new home!!

    Katalin Indi H., Budapest

    • Drew Gerber June 14, 2013 at 12:29 pm - Reply

      Thank you, Indi! I’m glad you’re here 🙂

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About Drew

For 30 years, Drew Gerber has been inspiring those who want to change the world. As the CEO of Wasabi Publicity, lauded by the likes of PR Week and Good Morning America, he sparks “aha” conversations that lead to personal and business success. His PR firm is known for landing clients on Dr. Phil, Oprah, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, and other top media outlets. Wasabi Publicity lives to launch conversations that make a difference and change the world.

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