Oct 293 min read

How to Achieve Your Biggest Goals: Lessons From an Astronaut

Jose Hernandez working in the fields dreaming of space

A story about perseverance and achievement

This is a story about Jose M. Hernandez.

His life story is a remarkable tale of perseverance and achievement against significant odds. Born in 1962 outside of Stockton, California, Hernández grew up in a family of Mexican migrant farmworkers.

He spent his childhood moving between Mexico and California, half of his time in Mexico the other half working alongside his family in the fields. As a migrant farm worker, he moved from one town to another to pick strawberries, cucumbers, and grapes. He began working when he was about 10, struggling to learn English until he was 12.

Despite these challenges, Hernández developed a passion for science, engineering, and space. He said in one interview that the subjects and teachers were always different when going to different schools each year. But mathematics was always the same, so he focused on that.

Stockton is about an hour south of Sacramento, CA. I grew up about 2 hours north of Sacramento in a small farming town. Each fall, I would see young people my age, scruffy, brown-skinned, and simply dressed, suddenly show up in class. Kids that weren't there the year before. They didn't speak English well and weren't involved in school activities. They were there for about a month to pick olives with their families before moving to another town to pick something else.

No doubt, it was a tough life. And if you have spent any time picking fruit, you know how back-breaking it can be.

One of his teachers encouraged Hernández and his parents to pursue his education. He did so, earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific and a master's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He began his professional career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he made significant contributions, including developing the first full-field digital mammography system for early breast cancer detection.

In 2001, Hernández joined NASA's Johnson Space Center, but his journey to become an astronaut was far from easy. He applied to the astronaut program 11 times before finally being selected in 2004.

His persistence paid off when he flew on the Space Shuttle mission STS-128 in August 2009, spending 13 days in space.

Following his NASA career, Hernández has continued to make an impact. He ran for Congress in 2012, authored books, including his autobiography "Reaching for the Stars," and founded Tierra Luna Engineering, LLC, where he works as a consultant.

Last year, a movie was released based on Hernandez's life, A Million Miles Away. (It is currently on Amazon Prime.)

I recently watched it, and it highlights the struggles Hernandez faced as a child and young man and his will to achieve his goals. It also reveals the exceptional support of his family, one of his teachers, and his faith.

I recommend watching it, especially with your children.

5 LESSONS

Hernandez's father taught him 5 lessons as a child. They are very practical for kids – and adults. These lessons also closely parallel the concepts in our Practice MBA program for chiropractors and other healthcare practice owners and the Goal Driven System covered in my book, the Goal Driven Business.

Here they are:

Find your goal (or determine your purpose in life).
Know how far you've come (or recognize how far you are from your goal).
Draw a road map (so you know how to get there).
If you don't know how, learn (or prepare yourself according to the challenge you picked).
When you think you've made it, you probably have to work harder (or develop a work ethic second to none)