A Father’s Advice

With Father’s Day approaching, I felt that I wanted to write about the advice I received from my father with the most impact.

It was 1998.  It was the year of the Seinfeld finale and the release of the box office hit -Titanic.  Google was founded, and Bill Clinton was president.  I was a young Structural Engineer with two years of work experience.

An opportunity came my way to interview with a different company.  I took the call and the interview.  Soon after I received a call from this new company, they had two openings and were offering me either opportunity.  One was a Project Manager, and the other was a Design Engineer.  Oh, no!  What?  The Project Manager role sounded exciting, but I had gone to school for five years to complete my masters in engineering.  I thought my dream to design buildings.

I spent time contemplating alone, then with others, and then finally, I called my father. After hearing all my angles, he said, “You need to make a decision and not look back.”

“You need to make a decision and not look back,”  I said.  It sounds so simple.  I found the statement to be a healthy way for me to approach decisions.  Take time to get to the decision but don’t feel regret and move forward.

Consider the advice above.  What advice have you received from your father?

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