You Control your Destiny

I have graduated almost a year ago as an Electrical Engineer. I went on to work with one of the biggest Aerospace companies in the world, known as Parker Hannifin. The moment COVID-19 hit, me along with half the staff around all the sites got laid off. I gave myself 10 days to see if I could find anything else in the area, and since I didn’t, I packed my bags and moved back with the family.

I have always told myself that it is experience over education. I never put my degree before my passions. If I felt something was more important, I didn’t let my studies get in the way. I managed to get by without caring about being the smartest engineer in the room. Even with all that work they give you, once you are in the real world, none of it matters. Neither me nor my friends that graduated in the field have carried on the material they learned into their work. Work is a whole other school, and one that has almost nothing to do with what you learn in school.

Since I have always had this mindset, it made me different than everyone else in my classes in college. I was one of the few who actually worked out, and I didn’t put in the hours of work that they did. I was always the one to help them when they needed it, but of course that didn’t mean they would do the same. I didn’t really care, I wished them the best but I could feel the energy towards me was no good. They did not want me to make it, so eventually they left me on my own. I went on years to be with them in the same classes, and I was a lone wolf. I focused on what mattered most to me while studying engineering, which was my book.

In that time frame, I wrote 2 books and now I am working on a third. Those books are yet to be published, because I had been working in engineering non-stop since I graduated. In the free time that I had, I wanted to keep my momentum in writing and motivational speaking so that took all of it in where I had no time to do research and find the right way to publish my books to make them a success. Now with COVID-19, I have had the time and now I am one step closer to publishing them and pursuing my passions in writing and speaking as a full-time career. I never let the opinions of others let me down or make the decisions for me. I understood very well that not everybody was going to support me with what I wanted to do.

In life, only one in a million will tell you that you can do it. That you are not dreaming and you can make it happen. But do not wait for that person, because the only thing standing between you and your success is yourself. Your destiny is based on the choices you make, simple as that. It can go one way or the other, a good ending to your story or a story in where you wished you had pursued that passion of yours.

Never let anyone tell you that you can’t make it, that you cannot do it. Your destiny is always in your hands. Everything happens for a reason. All this, me being laid off and having never lost sight of what mattered most to me, has led me to this moment. It has led you to this moment. It all happened for a reason, and it serves us.

Imagine if I had listened to all the people that told me to focus only on my engineering degree because it was my future. If I had done that, I would never have written my books. I would never have enjoyed the process. I would never have really been myself. The voices in your head that tell you otherwise, and the opinions of others, must all be cancelled out on the road to success.

On the road to success, you cannot be emotional. Understand that sometimes your closest friends and family members may not believe in you. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they do not love you, it may mean that they worry you might fail pursuing that passion. And most of the time when someone fails, they give up. Thus leading you to a life of depression and wishing upon what “could’ve been.” Sometimes they say things like that because they are fearful of the unknown and they want to have certainty in their life, such as their child graduating with a degree meaning they have a bright future, versus not graduating and taking the risk upon their passions.

Understand that in life nothing is going to come easy. If one way doesn’t work, then try another, And if that doesn’t work, try another and another until something works. If you believe in yourself and your ability to make it, then no matter what happens or what someone tells you, success will be yours in the end because you never gave up. No matter what you do, risks are going to be involved. Money is always going to be an issue.

When I got the job at the aerospace company, my move cost almost 10,000 dollars. I had started a new life up there. In the end, it all came crashing down and it showed that they did not care if I moved all this way for them, I am talking about the company. They don’t care what you do for them, they can do what they want when they please because they are the boss. I am so grateful I have my family to lean back on when I need them most and always. So I took that risk, and that risk was with a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in my hands, and did that matter to them? Did it matter to them that I was one in a handful that always showed up early to work, never skipped a day, and was the hardest worker in the room? Not one bit.

So whenever you have that thought in your head about taking risks, remember my story. I’m not afraid to invest in what I believe in. I have the discipline and the dedication to succeed in it no matter what, and when you have that mindset of believing in yourself and never giving up, then in the end you will rise on top and shine bright. Your success will be true fulfillment and it is the best feeling in the world when you prove to yourself that you can make it. Your potential is unlimited, and you can do anything you set your mind to.