“And you're not always going to know what it is that you're going to be doing in, you know, one month from now, two months from now, because you don't know what's going to happen. Investing in yourself is very, very important. And one of the quickest ways to demonstrate that you know something is to have some sort of a certification or qualification that speaks to it.”
Army Veteran and military transition mentor, Mike Lopez, found that in order to succeed in the dynamic environment of the military and in the corporate world, one needs to develop a very important skill. Persistence. Persistence to keep growing, to keep learning, to keep investing in oneself.
In a recent interview with Mike Lopez, KP of The Morning Formation Podcast, was able to sit down with the Army Veteran and learn about his experience retiring from the Army and his transition into the corporate world.
Mike Lopez spent over 6 years in the U.S. Army where he served in active-duty and as a commissioned officer. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Mike is also very active in the military community as a mentor to veterans and military spouses, helping them to achieve success in their education and employment.
In the interview, Mike shares his experience in the Army and how he had be be adaptable, in order to succeed in his various roles, doing things that he had no prior knowledge of. Although Mike was thrown into different situations with no advance notice, he did not quit. He was persistent and curious, which led him to learn new information and skills.
Mike not only had this persistent attitude during his time in the service, but he maintained his curious and persistent attitude as he started working in the corporate world.
“Investing in yourself is a powerful tool. And the reason why I say that is because most people that, at least most of the people that I've been around that are successful, are continuously curious, and they're continuously persistent…The idea is, that you're going to continue learning and you're going to create this habit of learning. And so when new things come up, or new challenges come up you're gonna be persistent and you're going to be curious. And you're gonna be curious enough to find out, you're going to be persistent enough to figure it out.”
At the time of the interview, Lopez was working for a wonderful online learning platform called, Coursera. Coursera is a great online resource which not only offers a vast catalog of courses, but also degrees and professional certificates. Lopez mentions how Coursera works with nonprofits, such as Act Now Education, to offer free learning opportunities to the military community.
To hear more about Mike’s story and the challenges he faced in the service and after he retired, listen to the whole interview. He is very transparent about the PTSD he experienced as well as his struggle to find meaningful work as a civilian. Mike has great advice, especially for those who are looking to transition out of the military and want to have success in their new careers.
Click here for the whole interview.
Blog post written by: Lina Gomez
