CHAPTER 1
Discover and Ignite Your Purpose

Everyone's lives changed on the Tuesday morning of September 11, 2001. Whether you were getting ready for school, at the office, or not even born yet, the world was never going to be the same after that day. The innocence of years past was shattered as we watched the tragedy unfold live on television. This became a defining moment for many of us—a moment that helped me discover and ignite my purpose.

On September 11, 2001, I was in the third week of my first semester at a small community college in rural Minnesota. I didn't have the type of family that encouraged me to go to college. They didn't take me on college visits, help me fill out applications, or submit financial aid forms. I had to do it all myself. I had barely graduated high school, and with no real direction in life, I started skipping classes that very first week. As far as college was concerned, I wasn't on the fast track to success.

As I watched the events of 9/11 unfold on the television before me, I felt those same feelings that most of us felt—helplessness, sorrow, and anger. I knew I had to do something. I couldn't just sit idly by as our country was getting ready to go to war with those responsible.

I visited the Army recruiter's office the day after the attack, but they were closed. I came back the next day and told them that I wanted to enlist in the active Army. At that time I was a member of the Minnesota National Guard, but I knew the National Guard would not be the first ones called up, if at all. Little did I know that the prolonged Global War on Terror would see numerous National Guard units deploy multiple times to combat zones and many National Guard soldiers pay the ultimate sacrifice. The challenges that I faced as a child helped fuel my desire to achieve more in life and I think even gave me a leg up on others as I began my active‐duty military career.

Purpose Is Your Journey, Not Your Job

I was only 18 when that defining moment happened that set me on a journey driven by purpose. But that journey has been filled with many ups and downs, twists and turns—many times where I had to rediscover and shift my purpose as I grew older. Though the stories I share in this chapter will be different than your specific situation, the principles I outline still apply, and when put into practice they can help you discover and ignite your purpose.

When I think of purpose, I think of the sense of having meaning and fulfillment, the idea that what I do in life—whether it's my personal life or professional life—is bringing me joy and making a difference. That purpose is different for everyone. Does that mean that your day‐to‐day job is always going to define what your purpose is? Of course not. One of my best friends since I was a kid, Bruce Koepp, works full‐time at the local soybean processing plant in our small town in rural Minnesota. He likes his job, but that doesn't mean it defines who he is and or what his bigger purpose is. He knows that it is part of the process. You see, Bruce's purpose is farming. He loves it. But farming is tough and his full‐time job allows him the benefits he needs to support his family while also pursuing his passion.

Proactively Pursuing Opportunities

Do you ever feel stuck? Like you're just going through the motions day in and day out? You don't have to. You can change that. 9/11 was obviously a big event, one that served as a call to action for many. I pray we never have another event like that. Your opportunity to break out of the rut may not play out on television like mine did; it may not knock on your door or ring on the phone. More than likely, you need to be proactive, willing to take a chance to step outside of your comfort zone and take a risk doing something different. That idea was put to the test early on in my military career.

In January of 2002 I was stationed in Bamberg, Germany, with the headquarters unit of an artillery brigade. This unit had Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, rather than the type of job that the Army had specifically trained me for: shooting howitzer cannons. Since they didn't have my particular job, they assigned me to be the colonel's driver. I didn't drop out of college after 9/11 to drive a colonel around and make sure his coffee was hot. I signed up because I wanted to be part of the fight.

Early in the summer of 2002, our unit was conducting a two‐week training rotation to a place called Grafenwoehr in Germany. As I finished unloading some of my stuff from the Humvee, I looked up in the sky as I heard the unmistakable “whoop‐whoop” of the double rotor blades of a Chinook helicopter passing overhead. I watched as, one by one soldiers, jumped out of the back and their parachutes opened. At that moment, I knew that was what I wanted to do. My first sergeant, George Harvey, happened to be standing next to me. He knew that I would rather be doing something else besides driving the colonel. Later on that evening he did something very uncommon—he took me to where this unit was staying and introduced me to some of their leadership, telling them that I wanted to join them. I never saw or heard that happen again throughout my nearly seven years in the Army.

As a young private first class in the Army, you can't just say you don't like your job and ask for another one. You are there for the needs of the Army. Where they tell you to go, you go. But that moment standing there, watching these high‐speed soldiers parachute to the ground, stirred something inside of me. A few weeks later, my first sergeant called me into his office and recommended that I try to get what is known as a letter of acceptance from some of the senior leadership in that airborne unit. With his connections and my tenacity, I secured letters from Command Sergeant Major Wade Gunther—the top enlisted soldier in the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy. I also received one from the command sergeant major of the Southern European Task Force, which the 173rd fell under.

There was a lot of back and forth on the phone and through email over the next month with people from the Army personnel command. At that time, there was only one Field Artillery Battery in the 173rd Airborne Brigade—Delta Battery (The Doghouse) of the 319th Field Artillery Regiment. So out of roughly 2,500 soldiers in the brigade, only about 120 were Field Artillery. You need to either be lucky and/or know someone to get assigned to that unit. I think I had a little bit of both on my side as I officially got reassigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in August of 2002.

Take a moment and think about your career. Most of us have probably taken a job with an organization with the hopes of moving up the ranks in that company. But depending on the size of the company and the industry, moving up might require you to have a breadth of experience. What are you doing to seek out those experiences? Are you actively pursuing them or just waiting for someone to ask one day? I knew that I wanted to do something unique in my military career and I was not satisfied with my initial role. We will always have some type of constraints on us—financial, time, geographical, family, the list goes on. I found a way to work within the constraints of the military by getting letters of acceptance. Trust me, if I can do that as a private first class in the Army, I know you can do it too.

What might that actually look like for you? Maybe you have a strong desire to work in marketing, but you took that open job in HR to get your foot in the door. Are you networking with those who are currently working in marketing? Does your manager and their manager know your desire? Have you sought opportunities to potentially partner on projects with marketing? You also need to be performing in your current role if you want them to help you pursue your professional goal.

Committing to Your Path

I would be lying If I said it was easy showing up to a new unit full of paratroopers who proudly wore their jump wings on their uniform, and I had nothing. Let's just say they did not let me forget that I was still a dirty nasty leg (a term of endearment paratroopers have for those not airborne qualified). Serving in the military can be very physically demanding but they do a really good job of getting you in shape. I really didn't find it all that difficult to find success and move up in the ranks early in my career. My new first sergeant, James Mitchell, gave me some great advice: “If you want to be successful in this Army, all you have to do are three things: do what you're told, do what you're told, do what you're damn well told.” For the most part, it worked out pretty good for me.

I mentioned how the Army does a good job of getting you in shape, but I was definitely not prepared for the demanding physicality of being a paratrooper, which was quite different than the unit I was in previously. This was evident in the very first run I did with my new unit. In my old unit, I used to run with what was known as the “A Group,” which consisted of the fastest runners in the unit. When the time came early in the morning to get into groups to run at my new unit, I bravely lined up with the “A Group.” It was not pretty. That was the only time I have ever fallen out of a run—when you're not able to keep up with the rest—and it was very humbling.

In February of 2003, I was sent...