Herndon L. Davis had three careers before landing on his feet. In his new book, 'Repackaged Common Sense: A New Age Path to Career and Business Success,' he writes about turning challenges into triumphs. Davis, a TV host and executive producer of DiversityTV.tv, an online news and entertainment video magazine, also writes how his spiritual growth helped him overcome the harsh realities of life.

Davis began his career in corporate budgeting and human resources planning. Later, he expanded his career to include communications, media and public relations. Later still, he became an author, commentator and syndicated writer, focusing on media analysis and the interpretation of issues pertaining to people of color, women, gays and lesbians, according to his Web site.

Davis holds a bachelor's degree in finance and spent nearly 25 years in the corporate world until he realized it was not for him. That's when he found himself jobless and in search of a new career.

"I was laid off from a job when I miraculously realized I didn't want to be on the corporate finance path,'' Herndon said in an interview with BV on Books. "I started writing and speaking full time. The lay off opened doors for me to transition to media, communications and public relations. I've had three different careers, including human resources and finance. Now that I'm on third one, I'm doing what I like. Although I majored in finance, I realized my strength was in something else. I just didn't transition into it voluntarily. It was a signal from the universe. I made lemonade out of lemons to use a cliché. So, whether you've been laid off or fired, take the time figure out what you want to do and do it.''

Herndon's Five Rules of Law:

I. You are not a victim. One of the biggest things that happens when we get laid off or fired is that we look for someone or something to blame. Some of us are so quick to say, 'Oh, they are racists.' Stop! We have to see every experience as a learning experience. Sometimes it's really not about us. It boils down to dollars and sense.

II. It's never too late to succeed. If you haven't achieved success by a certain age then you must be a failure and you'll never succeed. It's not true. It's a fallacy that has to be shattered.

III. You are not the check in the box that people put next to your name. You can transcend whatever it is others see you as.

IV. Do your own research. Always use as much information around you as possible. Use the Internet and network. We have to be intellectually curious to seek out our next opportunity. If we are expecting it to come us, it's not going to come. We have to go get it.

V. Use your spirituality. We have everything inside us to succeed. We have talents that we don't realize until we seek them out on a spiritual level. I try to teach people in workshops that we can accomplish whatever it is we want, but we have to figure out what that is. We can accomplish this through spiritual visualization.