I am not sure what year it started, but I was for sure a single digit kid – we will go with eight. On the back of some comic book had wonderful toys and chemistry sets. I wondered what this was all about.

As I continued to read and pour over it –  I realized these toys, games and experiments were rewards you could win by selling greeting cards – door to door.

Jumping to the present, door to door sales people canvas my neighborhood all the time and I now hide behind a no soliciting sign.

My neighbor Brian always chats with them, but not me. I think that’s why Brian now has milk delivered from a dairy and his house is clear of any spiders.

What would my eight year old self thought of people hiding behind no soliciting signs? I’m sure he would have been pissed.

Back to 1982.

Somehow I figured out how take orders, what I needed to sell in order to make my goals, and started knocking on doors in my neighborhood.

The memories are vague for me, but I remember starting, knocking, and pitching the cards.

The process involved telling them what I was up to.
Showing them a catalog of cards, and asking them to buy.

It seems insane now, but it worked – for whatever reason, pity, sympathy, maybe they knew my parents – people bought.

I would go around the neighborhood and eventually make enough sales to come home and salivate over the chemistry set I could now obtain.

I have no idea how long I held this ‘job’ for, or how many times I made the rounds in the Springdale subdivision of Western Springs, Illinois, but enough times to get that chemistry set which I am sure is no longer available, and was for sure able to blow something up.

Even at a young age all of this taught me I had some knack for:

1. Meeting new people
2. Tapping into my inner courage
3. Being goal oriented
4. Understanding that after I hit goals, the whispers of ‘what’s next’ soon crept in
5. No one told me to do this – I just did it on my own

I have to give me parents some credit for letting me do this unsupervised at eight years old – seems crazy now, but I lived, and sold a bunch of greeting cards.

What about you? Can you go back to some early job or activity that gave you some clues to your talents? These things start early, so think back.. reflect.. what’s changed? What is exactly the same as when you were eight?

Does anyone still sell greeting cards door to door? I bet AI Robot will do that soon…