WakeUpLive.com presents: “Never Give Up”

Ten years ago I was had a difficult decision to make. To this day I believe it was probably the most difficult in my life.

My two daughters had moved to Los Angeles with their mother from our home in Boston. After a year of visiting my children, who were still young, I decided that I needed to live closer to them. The distant relationship was breaking my heart. Leaving my family and friends in Boston and moving 3000 miles away, not knowing a single soul in Los Angeles or having a job, was a difficult gamble, to say the least.

After driving cross-country for a week, I arrived in L.A. I moved into a small apartment and, after unpacking my small van, the reality of my move soon unfolded. Although I was thrilled to be with my children again, my decision soon became a nightmare. My goal of quickly finding a job seemed to evaporate quickly and I wasn’t able to find a position in healthcare. With no family or friends close by for support, I soon became very depressed. I realized I might have to return to Boston. I would have to leave my two children again.

It was at this point in my life that I reflected on my accomplishments as well as failures. I had originally graduated from college with a B.S. in Aviation Management as well as my Commercial Pilot’s license. I had been a flight instructor and aviation had been my passion! Unfortunately, the economy of the early 1990s found me unemployed in the aviation field and I entered the healthcare field as a social worker to be able to support my young family. I thought my dream of being successful in the aviation field had ended. When I had worked with the elderly as a social worker, I remember many of my patients telling me how quickly their lives had passed. Many of them regretted not pursuing their dreams and told me not to give up on my passion to stay in the aviation field.

I decided to stay in Los Angeles, and I accepted a position as a manager with a fast-food restaurant to pay the bills. I was happy to be with my children, but I was miserable every day when I went to work. I was depressed and I knew I had to make a change. In my off-time I studied and earned my real estate license. Then a colleague introduced me to some personal development books. After I devoured the first two books which included “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen and “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill it seemed as though I had awakened from a lifelong coma. Although I was already an educated person, personal development tapes and books began to open new doors to a new chapter in my life. I have never looked back. My passion and love had been the field of aviation. I knew I had to get back into that business and so I started my quest to find a position even if it meant not flying as a pilot. I visited airports all over southern California and I soon got my break. I and was hired by a premier private jet charter company in Van Nuys as a flight coordinator, arranging flights all around the world for successful people and celebrities.

My commute to my new job was an hour each way or more, with the L.A. traffic. I soon found that listening to self-development programs made the commute a pleasant way to travel. Listening to dozens of those programs gave me incentive to accelerate at work. I began to be promoted to higher positions. I also pursued my Master’s degree in Aviation Management, a goal I had given up years ago. Soon after returning to aviation I earned the opportunity to become Vice President for a growing company in Las Vegas.

I was able to assist in the growth of this company, which is now one of the larger charter companies on the west coast. My continuing passion for self-development in the field of aviation found me interacting with some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood, as well as some of the most successful business people in the world. By simply becoming a goal-oriented person and using the tools I acquired from self-development, I changed my life!

After several years of living in Los Angeles, I moved to the fast-growing Inland Empire located between San Diego and Palm Springs to be closer to my children. I have since earned my Master’s degree with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and I teach graduate school as a part-time instructor. I am also an executive for a new private jet charter company, continuing in my passion for aviation. I have recently started pursuit of a PhD with the goal of becoming a success coach teaching others how to overcome life’s obstacles.

There is no doubt that life can throw you a curveball at anytime. Ten years of my life were filled with uncertainty. Personal development materials allowed me to set a direction for my life, and I was able to achieve the goals that I had previously given up. I am grateful to those elderly patients of mine who reflected on their lives and reminded me not to lose my passion. Many of those wonderful people had given up their dreams only to find themselves trapped in aging bodies, angry that they had given up hope early in life. Our time on this earth is a short ride with limited opportunity to achieve our passions. Start today and knock down the barriers that block your path to success. Set goals and work hard to reach them. By becoming a student of personal development and helping others do the same, you will be able to live the life you love with passion!

*** This article was republished with permission from the best-selling Wake Up...Live the Life You Love book series. To hear more information on this book and the book series, go to http://wakeupteleclass.com/.