Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That sounds terrific when you say it quickly, but the problem is, how do we make our dreams a reality?  

In January 2000, while working as an in-house oil and gas attorney for Hunt Oil Company, my employer made a decision that rocked my world—and not in a good way. Two months before that, my boss had asked me to take a three-year rotation as the in-country attorney in Yemen. I told him the timing was not right for me and my family, as I had two kids still in high school, but I would consider accepting the assignment the next rotation. But that was not good enough, as two months later, Hunt Oil Company terminated my employment for not being a team player.  

As part of my severance package, the company sent me to a consulting firm to help me find a new job. But the consultants were less about helping me polish my resume and more about helping me discover what I wanted to do with the rest of my life—determining my dreams and passions. I had become disillusioned with law, so I thought this might be a perfect time to change careers.

The consultants kept preaching to me to find my passion, and the money would follow. My desires at the time were teaching and fiction writing. I had written a novel that I thought was pretty good and had that confirmed by almost every person who read it. But those that mattered most (book agents and publishers) showed zero interest. And I knew I couldn’t live off their rejection letters.

So, I looked at teaching. I found a potential opportunity to teach research and writing at SMU Law School, but I withdrew my application when I learned the annual salary for this full-time position was only $36,000. It was better than eating rejection letters from agents and publishers, but not much.

As a last resort, I looked at teaching high school. I called the Plano ISD, and they told me that with my advanced degree, my starting salary would be $45,000—surprisingly better than a law professor but not much. But I would need a teaching certificate if I couldn’t teach science or math. I didn’t have one, so I would have to spend a year returning to school to get that certificate to make a measly $45,000 yearly. And during that year, my family would have to eat class notes and tests—they would not taste any better than those rejection letters.

So much for pursuing my passions. So, I stuck with the law and am glad I did, as subsequent jobs renewed my interest in my original career path. But two recent fact-based movies illustrated that pursuing your passion can work, but it often isn’t easy.

Gran Turismo[i] tells the true story of a Nissan marketing executive, Danny Moore, who convinces Nissan to establish a GT academy to turn a team of gamers into actual race car drivers. The gamers chosen for the academy were experts at the racing simulation game Gran Turismo. One of these gamers was Jann Mardenborough, a clothing store employee whose passion was auto racing, but his only experience was through the Gran Turismo simulation. Not surprisingly, his father, a former professional footballer, thought his son’s passion was a waste of time. But ultimately, Mardenborough proves all the doubters wrong. He becomes certified by the racing circuit, and Mardenborough and his teammates even reach the podium at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Mardenborough continues to race today, having competed in over 200 races and even was a stunt double in the film.

A Million Miles Away[ii] is the true story of Jose Hernandez, a Hispanic migrant worker who dreams of being an astronaut for NASA. Most people laughed at his dream, but somehow, Hernandez’s passion led him to join the space shuttle mission STS 128, which remained on board the International Space Station for 13 days. Hernandez became the first migrant farmworker to travel to space. He celebrated his heritage by eating tacos there.

How did Mardenborough and Hernandez reach their dreams when so many of us try and fail to reach ours? Both of them had the support of family, friends, or mentors. Hernandez’s elementary school teacher believed in him, and he credited her with changing his life. His parents put off buying a house to pay for his college. His wife put her dreams on hold so Hernandez could pursue his. Likewise, Mardenborough’s mentor, Jack Salter, who had once been in similar shoes, ultimately believed in him.

In addition to the support of others, both Mardenborough and Hernandez trained hard to master the skills that would make them successful. Here is a scene from Gran Turismo showing Mardenborough’s training on real cars:

Hernandez had similar training, as depicted in this scene from A Million Miles Away:

But perhaps the most remarkable attribute Hernandez and Mardenborough had was perseverance in the face of failure. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Despite hitting roadblocks at every turn, Mardenborough and Hernandez worked hard to create their own luck. NASA rejected Hernandez eleven times before they accepted him into the space program. During those eleven years of rejection, Hernandez didn’t pout. Instead, he followed the advice of Albert Einstein: “You have to learn the rules of the game and then play them better than anyone else.” Hernandez worked on the things that would set him apart from other candidates. He obtained his master’s degree in electrical engineering; he became a pilot with 800 flight hours under his belt; he became a certified SCUBA diver; he ran the San Francisco marathon, and he learned Russian. Or, as one of his NASA trainers said, “Tenacity is a superpower.”

Mardenborough, like Hernandez, had to learn to deal with failure, and perhaps his greatest failure occurred when he was involved in a serious accident in one of his races. Here is my favorite scene from Gran Turismo:

Any recipe for success includes having a goal, getting support from those who love us, learning the necessary skills for success, hard work, and tenacity, especially in the face of failure. Most of us don’t have dreams as big as going into space or racing at several hundred miles per hour or something similar. And even if we did, most of us couldn’t develop the requisite skills to make that happen. But, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” Not all of us can be racecar drivers, astronauts, or professional athletes. But there is nothing wrong with striving to be the best employee, father, mother, spouse, or citizen we can be. Regardless of our goals, to succeed at them, we need to follow the recipe of success used by Jann Mardenborough and Jose Hernandez.

And maybe our success should be measured by just getting through life. Or, as I like to say, do the best you can with what you’ve got. If you do that, then take a bow, for you have overcome your world, regardless of what that world throws at you.

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[i] Gran Turismo:

• Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment
• Director: Neill Blomkamp
• Screenwriters: Jason Hall, Zach Baylin, and Alex Tse
• Starring: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Archie Madekwe
• Release date: August 25, 2023

[ii] A Million Miles Away:

• Production Companies: Amazon Studios, Redrum, and Select Films
• Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella
• Screenwriters: Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez, and Alejandra Márquez Abella
• Starring: Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar, and Julio Cesar Cedillo
• Release date: September 15, 2023