It was a normal Tuesday at the Oakland Airport that early morning. As usual, the engineer team began work at 5 a.m. PST. We were all conscientious aircraft engineers for United.
I had been assigned my job for the day, which was to prepare for a complete fuel wiring replacement of the right wing fuel tank on one of United Airline’s Boeing 767’s.
I had been paired with a newer member of the engineer team and was tasked with walking him through the process of replacing this critical piece of aircraft equipment. I would be teaching him each step in performing the delicate seven day long procedure.
Then It Happened
Shortly after 6 a.m. Pacific Time someone from the aircraft planning center started spreading information about a plane that had hit the World Trade Center in NYC.
The engineer I was working with agreed with my assumption of what was going on. I thought it was a small plane that someone had possibly lost control of. We carried on with our job, and about 30 minutes later others began talking about another plane that had crashed into the World Trade Center. At this point suspicion heightened into realizing this was more than just coincidental.
That day changed my life forever. United Airlines was the top airline in the world, until that day. United Airlines was flying more people to more places than any other airline. Our profits were at an all time high.
Little did I know that just 3 years later UAL would go from first in the world to completely bankrupt.
During the three years after 9/11/2001 the airline incurred massive layoffs, extreme cutbacks due to declines in worldwide air travel, and worst of all, a terminated pension.
After resigning my position with United Airlines in 2005 I began a massive dive into self-development. This website is an extension of that incredibly enlightening adventure. It’s a work that will help all who read it. It will help anyone deal with our most prized possession of all, everyday life!
Contact Martin personally by sending a message HERE>>
Society thinks that success means wealth and fame.
Well, wealth and fame can be part of success.
The real part of success is feeling fulfilled and becoming the best version of yourself.
That runs into a big problem because so many are constantly involved in just treading water and trying to survive. They forgot how to swim and live in flow and enjoy life. Mindfulness Methods is the foundation for being able to experience flow. Many never experience flow for any long period of time. That’s sad.
It’s tough to improve other people around you when you can barely make it yourself. And that doesn’t mean making it financially. There are plenty of unhappy and disgusted wealthy people.
The most miserable person in the world.
I remember, after resigning from UAL, an event that happened to me while being a manager at a nationally known health store. Of the tens of thousands of customers I helped, one stands out as the most miserable one of all.
Every time I worked at the cash register and helped customers check out I would scan a customer’s club card. Before we started using our phones to carry the image of the barcode, the convenient way to carry it was on our keyrings. This man handed me his club card and the key on his keyring was of a late model Ferrari. I had served him several times before and he rarely smiled and seemed in a bad mood all the time. Anytime I encountered someone in a heavy mood I was careful of what I said or asked, but always presented myself as being happy and encouraged everyone to feel good.
This day started like every other day until he came in and wanted to return some protein powder. We had no problem with this as long as the customer had a receipt. He didn’t. When I asked him about his receipt he immediately got defensive and told me to return it anyway.
I stayed very calm and just explained it was absolutely no problem to make the return but our policy is to have a sales receipt and it was to protect all customers. He wanted to argue and I couldn’t help but mention the recent news of people manufacturing labels and shrink wrapping them onto plastic containers emulating the real product. Inside these containers that looked like official workout protein power was fake protein powder illegally manufactured and packaged.
Who knows what the actual contents were, but it was far from muscle building protein power. By insisting he have a receipt and explaining it was company policy for everyone, he got even more defensive and began threatening me. I comforted him in letting him know I don’t think he would be doing that or but if he could kindly present a receipt with his return everything would be smooth and we could complete his product return with streamlined success.
After some harsh words and more threatening language he directed at me he called our corporate office, which I encouraged him to do, and they took some information from him. They immediately called me on the store telephone with instructions of how to make the return without a receipt. I was able to refund his money and use a tracking number to write on the returned product. He left the store angry.
Later I felt really bad for him and couldn’t help but wonder how someone with a new Ferrari, wearing expensive clothing, and highest fashion eyeglasses be so miserable.
Money can help but isn’t the only or final answer to getting in touch with our authentic selves.
I get my thrill out of helping others be at their best. I like it when I can see myself being a positive influence in someone’s life. I’ve found that a great way to do that is by being completely open with people, and even being vulnerable about my life, about the experiences I’ve had, and even the failures.
It’s my belief that if I can be my authentic self that I can forge a great relationship with anybody. It boils down to; authenticity helps create genuine connections.
I think it comes from my grandmother and her influence on when I was growing up. She loved to travel the USA visiting relatives and friends. I got to spend lots of traveling time with her, going on road trips and actually living full time with her for several years. From those experiences I developed the innate positive quality that I really love people.
I seem to find something fascinating about everyone I meet. This extends from homeless people to CEO’s of corporations. I’m just blown away by the stories people tell me, and the things they open up about and the information they trust me with. I just have great empathy towards everyone and it’s genuine, and I think people really feel that.
Sincerely, Martin Hamilton
Contact Martin personally by sending a message HERE>>