Like many of us, I grew up in a dysfunctional family. I suffered from a great deal of stress, struggled with grades, and had a very bad temper. One summer vacation, I was working night crew, stocking grocery shelves with one of my buddies. While we were talking, I asked him how he kept things so together. After all, he had recently gotten divorced and was working two full-time jobs—yet somehow remained calm.

He told me that he did TM, which I had never heard of. On the spot, I decided to check it out.

My Whole Life Began to Improve

When I returned to Kent State that fall, I attended my first Transcendental Meditation® (TM) lecture. I was totally intrigued.

Some time later, I signed up to learn TM. The first time I meditated, I could visibly feel the stress draining out of my body. I felt giddy and literally skipped out of the local TM Center.

It wasn’t long before my whole life began to improve. For instance, while I had been a “C” student, the following three quarters, I received a 3.8, 3.9, and 4.0 GPA… and several years later, I “aced” grad school.

On a personal note, I had become more relaxed, slept a whole lot better, and experienced significant improvement in my personal relationships.

On a personal note, I had become more relaxed, slept a whole lot better, and experienced significant improvement in my personal relationships.

Meeting the Right Person at the Right Time

After completing my Bachelor’s degree, I focused on breaking into the Human Resources field. This proved to be darn near impossible, and I only knew a few other Industrial Relations grads who succeeded—one’s family member hired him, and another’s fraternity brother brought him into his company.

Not long after this, I attended a TM meeting and got to talking to a very friendly gentleman who turned out to be the director of HR and public relations for a major division of a “Fortune 100” company.

To make a long story short, he got me lined up for an interview, and I got the job. I was about 23 at the time and was happy for the opportunity to be in charge of the hiring for a nuclear research center. I have always been grateful for the director’s introduction, and we’ve remained friends since then.

Over the years, TM has totally changed me. I’ve become more outwardly directed, kind, generous, and loving. It’s become easy for me to focus, sell our consulting services, and continually grow our business.

From Angry Young Man to Even-Keeled Humanitarian

So, it’s been about 43 years since I learned TM, back in 1974. I meditate shortly after awakening each day, and then again after coming home from work. It is the one thing I have been disciplined about doing every day. In fact, it is extremely rare that I miss my two-times-per-day meditations—maybe a handful of times during a whole year.

When I tell folks that I used to be an angry young man with a horrible temper, they’re shocked. Many people have told me that I’m one of the most relaxed, even-keeled people they know.

Over the years, TM has totally changed me. I’ve become more outwardly directed, kind, generous, and loving. It’s become easy for me to focus, sell our consulting services, and continually grow our business.

I’ve also become much more concerned about the environment and was inspired to co-launch a 24/7, 365-days-a-year foundation for helping homeless children and their families regain independence. Since I have been truly blessed, I feel a great deal of responsibility for giving back to the community, in many ways.

My Top Three Decisions

In retrospect, I’ve made good choices and bad choices along the way, but learning TM and practicing it religiously, year after year, has proven to be one of my top three decisions.

Oh yes, and the other two? Committing to building a personal relationship with God and marrying my best friend, who is the love of my life!

The Comp family—Conner, Larry, Terry, and Colin

Larry Comp is the President of LTC Performance Strategies, a nationally recognized High Performance & Total Compensation Solutions firm. He has served as a Fortune 100 corporate leader, board member, and graduate and undergraduate instructor, and is the co-founder of Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley. He is also the co-author of the book Executive Compensation for Private Company CEOs and Business Owners.

Larry lives in Valencia, California with his wife Terry; their sons Conner and Colin live, respectively, in Santa Monica and San Francisco.