Take a deep breath. And ask yourself why do you work? If you answer, “I work for a living”, this one’s for you.
The truth is that working is living. The two are inseparable. And work is not something that you do 9 to 5 or as in the BPO generation from 1 to 3! Work is your raison d’être, the purpose of your existence on this planet. Realize that your creation, your calling, your role, your performance__what we loosely call a career__has all been perfectly planned and is part of
a larger, seemingly invisible, Universal design. And what is expected of you is that you enjoy every moment of your career.
20 years ago, straight out of college, armed with a basic (second class) degree in Physics, I set out looking for my first job. For various reasons, I needed a job urgently and therefore I courageously applied for the post of an instructor at a just-launched Computer Aided Design (CAD) training institute. I didn’t worry that I needed to have an engineering background or at least functional work experience in CAD to be able to teach aspiring CAD professionals. In any case, there I was, talking with my prospective employer with no remorse that I had applied for a position that I wasn’t even qualified for. Predictably, we came to the point where I had to concede that I knew no CAD!!! Having said that very quickly, I went on to present__this was not because of any specific strategy as much as it was to bag the job__my case on what I was good at. I sold myself on three key parameters__that I was ambitious, hardworking and believed that anything is possible. Including learning CAD in a week’s time and turning into a proficient instructor in just under a month. When I finished, my employer reached out and held me by my shoulder and declared that I had a job with him__not as an instructor though but as the institute’s marketing executive. I was delighted but could not hide my surprise at his decision. Sheepishly I asked him on why he made me the offer. And he said, “You don’t have the skills I need. But you have a song in your heart!”
I will never forget those words: ‘Have a song in the heart!’ They mean a lot more than they may appear to. At most times, in life, especially in our careers, we come across trying, vexing situations where our mind overrides the heart and exhorts us to quit. That’s logic telling us to be reasonable with our ambitions. Often, it is not what’s in front of us which blocks our way, but interestingly, what’s inside us that holds us back.
Take any situation you have encountered in life and where you have failed. Play the situation back, frame by frame, in your mind. And ask yourself a key question: could I not have handled it with a more positive attitude? Amazingly, the answer will be “yes”.
Organizations today are looking for people with attitude and not just skills. When you are fresh out of college__armed with a smart degree(s) and “professional” qualifications__and are dreamy-eyed, it will be a great feeling to land your first job. Most people, at this point in life, naively, believe that they have arrived. Wrong. Life’s great test has just begun. As you climb the corporate ladder in your quest for success, your attitude will come up for test, time and again. And that’s when you need to search yourself and bring out the winner in you. Don’t we all adore Mahinder Singh Dhoni more for being Mr.Cool than for his skills as a great wicketkeeper?
The Learning:
The next time you catch yourself cribbing about your career, stop it instantly. Know that you can make things better with a song in your heart. Believe me, with a song in it, your heart will go on...
Image Credit: With a Song in my Heart by Paula Golden, 2004
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