This week’s motivating word is #determination. The definition of determination is firmness of purpose; resoluteness. My story of determination involves my move two years ago to Indiana for work. It took a lot of guts and faith to jump in head first and agree to move to the other side of the country and to an area that I have never been to in all 24 years of my life.
It all started in April of 2015 when I was approached with the option to move to Indiana when the company I was working with decided it was best for the company to move their entire corporation to Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a normal day, until I was pulled into my manager’s office and approached with the possibility to move with the company.
In his words, they couldn’t find anyone to replace me and they didn’t want to train someone new for the new facility. This move required me to move from Los Angeles, California to Indianapolis, Indiana…over 2,000 miles away. To be honest, when I was first asked, I laughed at how well things were working out at that moment. It was incredible timing because my husband and I had just started discussing plans of moving out of California the week prior to being approached about the option to move to Indiana.
I definitely showed interest in the move right away, as we were planning to move out of state at the time. I text my husband shortly after I left the meeting and asked him what he thought of the idea of moving to Indiana to follow the company. His response was short, sweet, and to the point – “Let’s do it.”
No concerns, no talking about it, just “Let’s do it.” My husband’s undying confidence is the best thing about him and the absolute polar opposite from my normally shy, timid nature. Within two days, the final offer had come through for us to move with the company to Indianapolis. It was a fantastic offer and there was no way we could turn it down.
Then came the timeline…I was needed in the office as soon as possible. This meant my start day was decided to be June 16th, 2015 and we were flying out June 15th, 2015. So, only six weeks from the initial offer to the final move date and our new start in a state we never even saw prior to that day.
“Crazy”, “Insane”, “Stupid”, “Selfish”….all words thrown at us after we made the announcement that we were moving out of state and away from everything and everyone we had ever known for a job I had held for fourteen months. To me, that did not matter and I couldn’t let it matter. Ultimately, I knew it was what was best for my husband, my daughter and myself and that’s all that could matter.
I was determined to make this happen and let nothing stand in the way. As hurdles arose, I reached out to my senior management team and they jumped at the chance to help me push through and rise up to take the opportunity.
When we had difficulty finding an apartment, they were alongside me during the entire search until we finally had success.
When we didn’t have a car to get to our new home from the airport, they were right there ready to pick us up.
When we didn’t have any way of getting our personal belongings to our new home, they immediately offered to load our stuff onto the company moving truck and transport it to Indiana for free.
Ultimately, they were determined to keep me on the team and I had to be determined to not let obstacles stand in the way. To not let bumps in the road detour my new start. This company saw something in me that I could never see for myself and I had to match their determination move for move to take advantage of an opportunity of a lifetime.
More than two years have passed since our move to Indiana and I never have a single regret about that day. The day I agreed to move to Indiana with this company, I found out how strong my determination was and how much I desired a fresh start and was willing to do anything to get to that start.
Determination will get you everywhere in life, as long as you focus on your desire to succeed. No matter how many obstacles get in your way, you have to stay steadfast and focused on your end game. Whether that’s following a job across the country or starting a new career. Determination will get you to your ultimate goal every single time.
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