Yes, its serious discussion time. As it has always been on this blog. What? You had a feeling this wasnt a place for serious things? oh, whatever gave you that impression! Unbate your breath- The topic of discussion today is as serious as it gets- Career. Yes, you heard that right. I am talking about career. (What? No, I didnt hit my head or anything)
So I watched the last lecture by Randy Pausch and was touched (amongst other things) by the fact that he loved what he did for a living. And it shone through his speech. Wow, I wish I was that passionate about selling lightbulbs, I thought to myself. haha,you got me, no i didnt think that. I instead thought "oh god my life is a waste what am i doing oh shit i am going to die and the only thing that remains by way of legacy is... NOTHING oh shit oh shit" and so on. But after the waves in my brain had settled down a bit the question meekly resurfaced. " What is it that you should be doing, as a career"
I distilled the wealth of blogs and articles I read and came to these few points: What you love, your hobby, that which makes you feel like you arent working (Translates to you dont crib on monday morning and you arent depressed sunday night), that which makes a difference to other people's lives significantly in a positive way.
Of these, the last point was the easiest- Pretty much every decent job affects others positively- you arent a waitress- you bring coffee to many people before they get to work. And to realise how important that is, just meet them on a morning they have been denied coffee. You arent simply laying bricks on a road- You are enabling trading and industry and so on.So pretty much anything that doesnt involve murder or drug dealing you can put a positive spin on. The only group which escaped this is the finance industry- Seriously, what DO you guys do?. But then, why are so few waitresses happy with their work despite knowing that they are so important in the grand scale of things? I have a theory that you think your contribution is significant only if you bring your personal touch to the work you do. If there is just one way of pouring coffee or laying bricks and you come to teh conclusion that anyone can replace you tomorrow, you will be unhappy with your work. WHich is why I presume professors and researchers are the happiest- they are irreplacable. They might be wrong but they are wrong in a way only they can be.
So, that leaves us with the harder bits. How do you figure out what you do? Some people are extremely lucky to have their talents jump at them at a very young age. They know that they want to be a painter, a pilot, a car mechanic- whatever. The majority of us have to figure out what we want to do with absolutely no or little clue about our talents, abilities,likes and dislikes. As if these problemes werent enough our fickle minds decide midway that "Hmm.. you know this seemed like a reallly good idea a few years back, but now.. THIS SUCKS! I want OUT!" So most of us stumble through life miserably, waiting for weekends like prisoners waiting for their weekly conjugal visits, and are released when we are too old to do anything. We try hobbies, vacations, and other things that clearly target the symptoms and leave the root causes intact.
<Why cant we change our career when we feel like? Society (that nasty bitch!) dictates that you ought to have a stable job, you ought to get these promotions at these times, you ought to switch jobs after a point so that your valuation goes up without giving two hoots about how happy you are. But society also keeps quiet when masses are murdered, when there is injustice all around us so she really really doesnt know what she is talking about. And this is a recurring theme in this blog- You always have to pick yourself over society, you have to pick desires over fear and you have to pick uncertain and interesting over certainly mundane. So, now that the mandatory society bitching is done, we can
get back to the point. >
If you have bothered to listen to other people and what they tell you- particularly those who arent scared of you, you should have a very good idea of what you are good at and what you arent. And pick a career choice based on that.
So I thought hard about all the feedback I have received in my life: And here are the things I am exceptionally good at
1) Being sarcastic
2) Being lazy
3) Being mean to people who are stupid ( or those who dont agree with me-SAME THING BITCHES)
And here are the things which are areas of improvement ( Corpo-speak for "You suck at these things")
1) People skills
2) Negotiation skills
3) Discipline
4) Being organised and smart
5) Decision making
6) Networking
Etc
So after analysing my strengths and weaknesses I have come to the conclusion that I should become a host for News Night on Times now. . SIGH! Apparently thats already taken!
Seriously though ( yes guys, I wasnt kidding when I said this is a serious post) I tried and tried to come up with a role that would fit my personality. There is just nothing feasible. So like a prisoner who decides to make the best of his conjugal visits ( pardon my analogy) I have decided to work on my hobbies, my vacations ( which will henceforth be referred to as travels to give the impression of it being less frivolous and more educated. In other words- more history, less drinking).
And in the footsteps of the past me that has declared the same thing multiple times and failed miserably most times and less miserably other times, I have decided to work harder on my blog. Fret not, dear readers! All your miseries shall end, for, I have decided to update this blog EVERYDAY. Yes, you heard that right- EVERYDAY. Like a dose of morning coffee that gives you nausea, like an early morning jog in a park filled with dog shit, this blog will be a part of your daily routine in ways you never thought possible ( and didnt really want, honestly)
But wait, this was supposed to be a career post no? YOU !!*angrily shakes fist at ADHD*
So I watched the last lecture by Randy Pausch and was touched (amongst other things) by the fact that he loved what he did for a living. And it shone through his speech. Wow, I wish I was that passionate about selling lightbulbs, I thought to myself. haha,you got me, no i didnt think that. I instead thought "oh god my life is a waste what am i doing oh shit i am going to die and the only thing that remains by way of legacy is... NOTHING oh shit oh shit" and so on. But after the waves in my brain had settled down a bit the question meekly resurfaced. " What is it that you should be doing, as a career"
I distilled the wealth of blogs and articles I read and came to these few points: What you love, your hobby, that which makes you feel like you arent working (Translates to you dont crib on monday morning and you arent depressed sunday night), that which makes a difference to other people's lives significantly in a positive way.
Of these, the last point was the easiest- Pretty much every decent job affects others positively- you arent a waitress- you bring coffee to many people before they get to work. And to realise how important that is, just meet them on a morning they have been denied coffee. You arent simply laying bricks on a road- You are enabling trading and industry and so on.So pretty much anything that doesnt involve murder or drug dealing you can put a positive spin on. The only group which escaped this is the finance industry- Seriously, what DO you guys do?. But then, why are so few waitresses happy with their work despite knowing that they are so important in the grand scale of things? I have a theory that you think your contribution is significant only if you bring your personal touch to the work you do. If there is just one way of pouring coffee or laying bricks and you come to teh conclusion that anyone can replace you tomorrow, you will be unhappy with your work. WHich is why I presume professors and researchers are the happiest- they are irreplacable. They might be wrong but they are wrong in a way only they can be.
So, that leaves us with the harder bits. How do you figure out what you do? Some people are extremely lucky to have their talents jump at them at a very young age. They know that they want to be a painter, a pilot, a car mechanic- whatever. The majority of us have to figure out what we want to do with absolutely no or little clue about our talents, abilities,likes and dislikes. As if these problemes werent enough our fickle minds decide midway that "Hmm.. you know this seemed like a reallly good idea a few years back, but now.. THIS SUCKS! I want OUT!" So most of us stumble through life miserably, waiting for weekends like prisoners waiting for their weekly conjugal visits, and are released when we are too old to do anything. We try hobbies, vacations, and other things that clearly target the symptoms and leave the root causes intact.
<Why cant we change our career when we feel like? Society (that nasty bitch!) dictates that you ought to have a stable job, you ought to get these promotions at these times, you ought to switch jobs after a point so that your valuation goes up without giving two hoots about how happy you are. But society also keeps quiet when masses are murdered, when there is injustice all around us so she really really doesnt know what she is talking about. And this is a recurring theme in this blog- You always have to pick yourself over society, you have to pick desires over fear and you have to pick uncertain and interesting over certainly mundane. So, now that the mandatory society bitching is done, we can
get back to the point. >
If you have bothered to listen to other people and what they tell you- particularly those who arent scared of you, you should have a very good idea of what you are good at and what you arent. And pick a career choice based on that.
So I thought hard about all the feedback I have received in my life: And here are the things I am exceptionally good at
1) Being sarcastic
2) Being lazy
3) Being mean to people who are stupid ( or those who dont agree with me-SAME THING BITCHES)
And here are the things which are areas of improvement ( Corpo-speak for "You suck at these things")
1) People skills
2) Negotiation skills
3) Discipline
4) Being organised and smart
5) Decision making
6) Networking
Etc
So after analysing my strengths and weaknesses I have come to the conclusion that I should become a host for News Night on Times now. . SIGH! Apparently thats already taken!
Seriously though ( yes guys, I wasnt kidding when I said this is a serious post) I tried and tried to come up with a role that would fit my personality. There is just nothing feasible. So like a prisoner who decides to make the best of his conjugal visits ( pardon my analogy) I have decided to work on my hobbies, my vacations ( which will henceforth be referred to as travels to give the impression of it being less frivolous and more educated. In other words- more history, less drinking).
And in the footsteps of the past me that has declared the same thing multiple times and failed miserably most times and less miserably other times, I have decided to work harder on my blog. Fret not, dear readers! All your miseries shall end, for, I have decided to update this blog EVERYDAY. Yes, you heard that right- EVERYDAY. Like a dose of morning coffee that gives you nausea, like an early morning jog in a park filled with dog shit, this blog will be a part of your daily routine in ways you never thought possible ( and didnt really want, honestly)
But wait, this was supposed to be a career post no? YOU !!*angrily shakes fist at ADHD*
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