Yes, it is possible.

Is there something on your mind you are wondering if you can achieve? I want to tell you, yes, it is possible. Today, I share why and how I came to believe that it is possible. My hopes are someone reading this post realizes that their goals are possible, and in truth it just comes down to effort and intention.

Channeling A Dream

At 5 years old, I told myself I wanted to be an inventor, later in life I would define that to be an engineer, and at 22 years old I became one. Throughout my life, I have heard people say, “They’re still young, their mind will change” and a variety of different versions of this phrase. These phrases are a way of downplaying the dreams of kids, it’s a way of stating they don’t have enough life experience to determine what their goals are yet. While I would agree there is some merit to part of this statement, not all of it is true. How do we know the kid who wants to be an artist, won’t turn into the next Van Gogh? We don’t, so I believe we need to give kids and people a chance to channel that passion for a dream.

My parents gave me a place to channel my dream and they did it in the following ways:

1. Allow me to decide to take honors math classes in middle school
2. Placed me into a STEM program at my high school
3. Sent me to a summer engineering program in high school

These were simple steps, but they prepared me for the course work that would allow me to become an engineer. This is why I recommend that we give people time and tools for them to channel their dreams. Whether that is giving them a limited amount of time, or providing them with training resources, we must give time and tools.

I recommend that we give people time and tools for them to channel their dream.

Decide and Put in Work

It took me 22 years to become an engineer, if that is not putting in work, I do not know what is. 8 years later I am now a manager at Microsoft, but it took me 4 years to decide I wanted to be a manager, and another 4 years of prep work for me to be ready to be one. Work ethic has been part of my DNA since I could remember. What comes to mind is when I first was learning addition, I would challenge myself to solve more difficult problems then we were practicing in class. I knew more difficult problems were going to come so might as well get ahead. This is something I have done throughout my academic and professional career.

In reflecting, I have realized that when you are chasing a dream, you must place strong intent and will behind each goal. Life goals are intentional. Think of it like this if you want to learn how to swim, you are going to have to get into water. With goals it’s the same process, you need milestones, experiences, or opportunities to measure growth. For example, if you want to get into photography, your milestone might be shooting your first major event like a wedding or conference. If you want to become an engineer, your first milestone might be a technical certification, or a technical internship. Once your goal is set, make sure your intention is set with 100% resolve.

You must place a strong intention and will behind each goal.

Don’t Fear the Unexpected

Even with having time, resources, intent, and will there is still a chance that you won’t achieve the original goal…in the way you see it or how you expected to achieve it. For example, in high school, my goal was to work for Google, on the Google Car to make the car more energy efficient. I now work at Microsoft as a manager where I focus on the efficiency of my team and the growth of the team around me. If you notice, I am still working on efficiency and at one of the top tech companies which was really my goal. For context, here are some other times I have had to deviate from my original goals:

1. Wanted to get into UC Berkeley, didn’t get accepted and attended UC Riverside
2. Did not want to code for my career, started my career at Microsoft
3. Thought I would be a principal engineer, realized I enjoy growing and leading people more

My point is yes, it is possible, and more than likely it is going to look differently then you eventually envisioned. Be ok with a goal looking differently then you originally envisioned. You are continuing to grow, you are continuing to change, and at the end of the day, it is ok if your goal changes too. Life is about continuous growth and at the end of the day, that is what makes our goals possible.

You are continuing to grow, you are continuing to change, and at the end of the day, it is ok if your goal changes too.