In my sixth
standard, when for the first time I got to be the topper of the class I loved
the feeling and wanted to never let the feeling go and work towards it. And
that continued till I got to my seventh standard where I met more intelligent
gang of students and had to compete with them. Their company had shown me the
way to think about my education after school. And started preparing for it. As
it is still a dream for every high school student in India to crack the
IIT-JEE, I was one of them. However I couldn't make it to the IIT-JEE but was
satisfied to get myself into the top Engineering schools in the state. This
proved one of the favorite proverbs that we were taught at school "If you
aim at a star, you may reach the top of the tree".
And as it is common
with 90% of the engineering students who realize that it was not their cup of
coffee, I was one among them. I always wanted to work on computers but
considering the college option and the social advise opted for electronics. And
after college took computer classes. And my ambition at college downgraded from
being the topper of the class at school to score more than 70%. And I was happy
with it, or you may say have come to the realization of your abilities. At
about third year when for the first time my aggregate dipped below 70%, I
worked for next two years to get to 70% by the completion of my final year and
with some luck I barely managed to get 70.25% and passed with a distinction.
Thank God!
Now the immediate
requirement, well this was not a goal more of a need was to get a job. And when
I realized that I had wasted the opportunities of
campus recruitment by not studying for them and the competition
in the outside world was far more worse than the college, I had
prepared for the entrance examination of a multinational consulting firm. And
again with a bit of luck and hard work I managed to get in. As always, it
proved that if I work hard with dedication - I would be able to achieve the goals
I aimed for.
And thus started
the journey, the first year at job to prove it to yourself that you can do your
job and the second year to prove it to yourself that you deserve the
opportunity provided to you. The third year to ensure you don't let down the
hopes and confidence of your peers and managers. The fourth year to prove
yourself in the new world and the fifth year to prove yourself that you are not
a one-time wonders, then the sixth year work for financial stability. The
seventh year work for the next step and prove yourself that you can work at
next level and the eight year to prove some doubters wrong, and once you think
that you got it, what next? And when I had the feeling for couple of months, I am now
into a phase to try for the next level. But what next?
In the last eight
years of my experience I can honestly share the feeling that the phase of work
where I looked for financial stability was the least enjoyable. Though it may
be when I was earning for the first time in the early days or once I was able
to feel comfortable in the new world. I must say, if there is no emotional
attachment to the work you do you will never enjoy it. Though I am true
believer in the saying that money makes many things and you need to earn a lot
of money. I realized and without any doubt I can say "never work for
money alone."
You need to have
some kind of emotional attachment to the work you do like you want to prove
something to yourself - if not to the world, you want to prove your doubters
wrong, you want to work because you want to keep up the confidence that your
managers have in you, you do not want to let their confidence down, you are
solving a complex problem, you are steering a tough phase of a project. And
money is just an offshoot of that effort or want that you have. Trust me you
will love every bit of it, even if you don't have time to sleep, eat or take a
break. You will never feel tired. And this is coming from someone who has gone
through this situation in the last six months. There were times when I came
home just to have 4 hours of sleep a day for 4 months in a stretch and I didn't
feel a bit tired. I just went through this phase because I wanted to prove
something to myself, yes I can do it. If you have followed this paragraph, it is
more of a WANT to work, where you have an Adrenaline rush that makes your work
enjoyable. That for me is more important than the LOVE towards the work you do.
It is WANT to work!
"Regardless of who you are or what you have been, you can be
what you want to be. " -- W.
Clement Stone.
And now at this juncture of my life, I feel I am missing that aim
or immediate goal, and that makes me feel very hollow. One should always have an aim
or want to do something to keep oneself motivated to work towards. Else it will
be a journey without a destination.
When I shared the feeling with a friend and colleague he asked
"What do you want to do in next 10 years from now? Don't tell what you
want to be called like Director, Partner etc. But tell me what you want to do
like execute the high and medium complexity projects. And never plan for long
term. Plan your aims and goals for short term and work towards them. And align
your short term goals according to your long term goals". When I read
through this post and relate to his questions, it makes more sense and every
bit of it is true. And now I think it is time for me to identify my goals and
work towards them with short term planning and achievable goals that keep me
motivated towards reaching my ultimate ambition. And need to be careful that I
plan and work towards what I want to do rather than what I want to be called.
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