Motivation

Do not Underestimate Yourself

After working in Corporate America for about 6 years I recently decided to leave my job this past April. As much as I enjoy engineering I was starting to fill a little restless and unfilled. I have always been interested in traveling. I took a few vacations to Egypt, Japan, Brazil and Ghana. However, I always felt like I was just scratching the cultural surface by staying a few days at each location. I felt like I was moving from hotel to hotel protected by my money. I yearned to experience the culture first hand. I wanted to stay in a location for 6 months to a year. However, something in my head told me “You have a good job, you just can’t quit.”

Below are the 4 items that motivated me:

1. One day I will be old and perhaps my body and mind will start to fail me. At the end of the day my money and possessions will not keep me company on my deathbed. However, I think memories and experiences are intangible entities that cannot be taken from me. The risk of missing out on the material items out weight the possible reward of the intangible entities.

2. Theodore Roosevelt Island is one of my favorite places to visit in Washington, DC. It is a small island in the middle of the Potomac River only accessible by foot or bike. It is a serene place that brings nature to the forefront and allows me to clear my mind. A quote inscribed on a memorial wall is “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never have tried to succeed.”

3. This next quote is probably my favorite quote of all time: “If we don’t offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull. Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don’t lift to the horizon; our ears don’t hear the sounds around us. The edge is off our experience, and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and find we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days.” — Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son

4. I thought people would ridicule me for my decision. However, I received responses like “I am so proud of you. I wish I had the courage to do something like that.” He/she would then proceed to tell me something he/she really wanted to do besides his/her current occupation. It made me wonder how many people are scared to step out of their comfort zone due to the sense of security their current life style affords. If you are one of those people I would like to tell you that you under estimate yourself. Just take the first step and you will be surprised how the fear dissipates.