TECC 245: The Three C’s to Working Through Difficult Life Events as an Engineer

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In this episode, I talk to Michael Tranmer, PEng, MSc, PMP, a bestselling author, professional engineer, and TEDx speaker talks about how he worked through difficult life events and how those events led to opening some great opportunities in his engineering career.  

Engineering Quotes:

Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Working Through Difficult Life Events as an Engineer:

• Sometimes things that happen in your life can cause a lot of pain, confusion, and changes. When these difficult life events happen, you need to look for new opportunities that have arisen because of the things that have happened to you.
• The three C’s to working through difficult life events are:
  1. Commitment: You must commit to making the changes that will make your circumstances better and begin to move forward yourself because nobody else is coming to save you.
  2. Clarity: Get clarity on who you are, things you like to do, and try some new things to find out more about yourself. It will give you clarity on how to move forward and have a more fulfilled life.
  3. Courage: Have the courage to continue with the new things you start to do, no matter what anybody has to say about the changes you are making to better yourself.
• If you are changing and evolving yourself, you must still remember who you are. The people closest to you have things that they love about who you are. It should not be an exercise of completely shattering yourself and starting afresh on rebuilding yourself. You will sometimes need to change things in your life to better suit the new version of you.
• The book “Satori Ananda – Awaken to Happiness” is about the time after difficult life events happened in Michael’s life, and how he made changes to make it better. The word “Satori” means a flash of enlightenment, and “Ananda” means the bliss of being.
• Things that you can do today to help you have a more fulfilled life are to be open and curious to try new things, be humble enough to ask for help, and treat yourself like someone you love.
• There are two things you need to do to get out of being stuck in a rut: Do not fear what other people think of you when you pursue your passions, and have the courage to try new things and put yourself out there.
• Courage is a muscle that you can build by learning from your successes and failures. As you do more courageous acts, you build the courage muscle and become more fearless every time you do them.

More in This Episode…

In the Take Action Today segment of the show, Michael talks about a great idea on meditation that he has created.

About Michael Tranmer, PEng, MSc, PMP

Michael Tranmer, PEng, MSc, PMP is the author of “Satori Ananda – Awaken to Happiness,” a memoir about his conscious awakening following the sudden end of his marriage. He is a leader in Western Canada in the highly specialized field of coastal engineering, where he designs and builds infrastructure along the British Columbia (BC) coast. Michael connects all his teachings to his experience adventuring deep in the BC backcountry. His TEDx talk, Re-engineer your life and awaken to happiness, is available to view on YouTube.

“A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Satori Ananda – Awaken to Happiness

Resources and Links Mentioned in This Session Include:

Michael Tranmer’s website
Connect with Michael Tranmer, PEng, MSc, PMP, on LinkedIn

We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on how you work through difficult life events as an engineer.

Please leave your comments, feedback, or questions in the section below.

To your success,
Jeff Perry, MBA
Host of The Engineering Career Coach Podcast