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Did you ever have a moment that made you come alive? When you felt like you could do this forever? When you started to dream about a life ordered around that gilded inspiration? We call that moment a spark of calling.

Three Remarkable People

Kypros Nicolaides was a medical student who didn’t care for medicine; he was in school to appease his father. Then a new professor brought an ultrasound machine to class. Kypros saw the image of an...

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A few years before I turned 40, I realized I didn’t want to keep working in my current job. Hitting middle age got me thinking about how I’d like to spend my remaining years. From the outside, the job looked great—I was making an impact, using my gifts, enjoyed whom I worked with, and earned a good salary.

What’s not to like about that?

I decided I had no reason to complain, so I told myself to get over it: Put your big boy pants...

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Hey, hey, Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a good start. I’m not big on creating resolutions for the new year, but I do like to evaluate what changes to make. In Dream Big, Bob Goff says that he quits something different every Thursday. I’m not going that far, but I like the idea of considering what to quit and what to add. Here are three changes I’m making in the new year.

#1: More Writing, Less Podcasts

Last July we started...

Today’s my last day at EnergyCAP, the family business where I’ve worked for the last 18 years. In July, I stepped down from my full-time Human Resources role to serve part-time. I wanted to spend more time developing my own business, Chris Heinz Co., and the Life Calling Institute.

But after trying that for a month, I decided it wasn’t working. I couldn’t give either workplace the time, focus, and attention they needed. So, I chose to leave the family business and...

Freedom almost didn’t happen. In 1780, William Wilberforce began his political career at the young age of 21. Four years later, he became an evangelical Christian and thought he should leave politics and enter professional ministry. He pondered this decision, fearing he would not be serving God if he stayed where he was.

For him, it was a pivotal moment. And a pivotal moment for freedom.

Writes poet Erin Hanson:

“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you...

I've been sharing quotes from my reading lists. As was true for Winter 2021, Fall 2020, and Summer 2020, this latest lineup features diverse characters:

• Human behavior researchers
• Businesspeople
• University professors
• Lawyer
• Catholic saint
• Leadership coach
• Holocaust survivor
• Pastors

Thanks to them, living and deceased, for their works:

“More often than not, our values are what lead us to the arena door—we’re willing to do something uncomfortable and daring because of our...

As of today, I’m no longer working full-time at EnergyCAP. I’ve moved to part-time status to make room for growing Chris Heinz Co. and the Life Calling Institute. I’m grateful for my history and excited about the future.

Five years ago almost to the day, I posted this on Facebook:

It was an opportunity to shift my career from software marketing to personal development. Like new steps, I didn’t know how it would go, but I knew that personal development was the kind of...

The Catholic Sisters smelled the stench coming from the apartment. When they knocked, an elderly woman timidly answered the door. Her toilet had broken and embarrassed to call for help, she had been relieving herself on the floor so that two rooms were filled with excrement.

After the Sisters cleaned up the place, the woman asked, “See, don’t you love me less?” to which they quickly replied, “See, don’t we love you more!” Love covered her shame when she...

A study looked at the early lives of 300 exemplary people who left indelible marks on the world. These were 300 world changers like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, and Clara Barton. They contributed in various ways across various times and in various industries but held some things in common. What did the study find?

Among these 300 exemplary people:

• 75% were troubled by poverty, broken home or difficult parents
• 74 of 85 fiction writers and 16 of 20 poets saw...

My Winter 2021 reading list was made possible by many exciting and diverse people. There were athletes and activists, scholars and entertainers, preachers and businesspeople. Some were a couple of these at once!

I'm grateful for their lessons, stories, and inspiration, which all came at a cost to them. Their marks have made their way into my life and work, and if you follow the Life Calling Institute or other blog posts, you'll see them too. 

We previously shared our Summer 2020 and Fall...