Its been a year now. I have slowly but steadily evolved into this new me.
A side of me I never knew existed. It was exciting and at the same time a little scary.
How I had transformed from the guy who loved his life to becoming this person who decided to take responsibility on his shoulders.
In all these months, the one thing I realized was that the credit for this change was not solely mine. There were perhaps more factors that influenced this 'evolution' in me.
It was after a lot of thought that i was able to come with the answers. I realized that working here was a major reason for this change. The outlook of people here was what I was inculcating in me.
The need to save up, the want to live a simple yet healthy life style and the desire to grow in terms of profession were a few of the things that I was beginning to develop.
I guess it would be unfair and un-just for me to not mention the one man who played a major part in this change.
He wasn't my father, not my brother, not a close friend and neither a relative. All that he happened to be was my direct reporting manager.
This one man gave me a whole new perspective to the life here. I'm not sure of what he saw in me or what he conceived of me. But I was sure of one thing. He did see some hope in me!.
To this date he continues to mentor me not only professionally but also personally. Through various examples of people he knew and some of his own, he passed on a few messages that stuck to me like glue.
I still remember the first time I made a goof up at work. This guy was furious. He thought I was some kind of a joker who by accident got his engineering degree.
I remember him asking me to make a report on something that ideally he would have done just to show me who was boss.
I remember sitting in my room with sweaty palms, desperately trying to type out that report in the best possible manner.
The expression on his face when I submitted the report is still as fresh as a photograph in my head.
He looked at me, read the report, and then asked me to sit down. He then began explaining through one of his own stories on how he had messed up the lives of several other junior engineers when he asked them to write reports like these.
I still remember him saying " Normally I would reject the entire report, make a new one, and keep a few lines written by the junior engineer just to keep his heart. In your case, I can confidently submit this report as it is".
That one sentence was like a turbo boost to my morale. I actually wanted to jump with joy on the achievement.
Change for me was nothing more than the literal meaning. I never cared to see why I should change in the first place. I was happy for who I was.
In-spite of these small morale boosts, I definitely had trouble changing from the lazy ass I was to someone who understood responsibility and diligence to work.
I have had a lot of up's and down's in this past one year. It has been nothing less than a rough ride on a small boat in the open ocean.
I have been through a stage where my employment was questioned. I have seen a phase where my manager has walked out on me saying that we can never work together.
What I have understood from these various experiences, is that life has never been, and probably will never be an easy ride. The objective is to face the hurdle, analyse the shortcomings and work a way out.
I'd like to share a very simple statement that my manager made one day while we were searching for something. I being my lazy self, had almost given up the search when he said, " Dhoondega to Milega".
That sentence did hold good for that one instance but what I came to believe was that this sentence applied to everything you do in life! You seek happiness, search for it. You'll find it. You want to be rich, search for richness. You'll find it.
What I believe my manager wanted to convey to me was that if ever you need something in life, you need to need to work for it.
Nothing comes served on a platter. It might happen in a Bollywood movie or in a cartoon, but not in real life.
Another reason for this change that I was accepting was my manager making me realize my own capabilities.
Strengths I never knew I had were been highlighted for me to see. We were discussing some contractual issues one day at work and my boss tells me; " I have seen a lot of regional heads, directors and senior managers goof up when it comes to contracts. You seem to have the knack. work on it and it will do you good"
If your thinking that all is good when my manager says these "sweet" things to me, your mistaken. There was one other thing that he keeps reminding me even now. The attitude.
That's the one thing he has been talking about from day one. He understands where I come from and that I'm new to this field but what he keeps saying is that unless you have the attitude you'll go nowhere.
I happened to share this one slogan from one of my old t-shirts with him and he did agree to it as well. It read; " I do not have an attitude problem, I have The ATTITUDE, you have the problem!"
It might sound strange for most but all along, its been these small things in my life that have actually made a difference.
The pitfalls and hurdles have always taught me something in life; To never give up. The harder you try, the further you go.
I have always been the guy with a million emotions. But experiences like these tend to toughen you up. Not physically of course!, but mentally.
These lessons learnt in my my short tenure here have been life altering. My perspective to life has changed and the need to want more out of life has grown in leaps and bounds.
I might be on a low pay scale, working for a significantly small firm. But the knowledge that I have gained has been enormous.
I did plan on moving out of the job and perhaps out of the country.
But now, I know one thing. Its all gonna change!
A side of me I never knew existed. It was exciting and at the same time a little scary.
How I had transformed from the guy who loved his life to becoming this person who decided to take responsibility on his shoulders.
In all these months, the one thing I realized was that the credit for this change was not solely mine. There were perhaps more factors that influenced this 'evolution' in me.
It was after a lot of thought that i was able to come with the answers. I realized that working here was a major reason for this change. The outlook of people here was what I was inculcating in me.
The need to save up, the want to live a simple yet healthy life style and the desire to grow in terms of profession were a few of the things that I was beginning to develop.
I guess it would be unfair and un-just for me to not mention the one man who played a major part in this change.
He wasn't my father, not my brother, not a close friend and neither a relative. All that he happened to be was my direct reporting manager.
This one man gave me a whole new perspective to the life here. I'm not sure of what he saw in me or what he conceived of me. But I was sure of one thing. He did see some hope in me!.
To this date he continues to mentor me not only professionally but also personally. Through various examples of people he knew and some of his own, he passed on a few messages that stuck to me like glue.
I still remember the first time I made a goof up at work. This guy was furious. He thought I was some kind of a joker who by accident got his engineering degree.
I remember him asking me to make a report on something that ideally he would have done just to show me who was boss.
I remember sitting in my room with sweaty palms, desperately trying to type out that report in the best possible manner.
The expression on his face when I submitted the report is still as fresh as a photograph in my head.
He looked at me, read the report, and then asked me to sit down. He then began explaining through one of his own stories on how he had messed up the lives of several other junior engineers when he asked them to write reports like these.
I still remember him saying " Normally I would reject the entire report, make a new one, and keep a few lines written by the junior engineer just to keep his heart. In your case, I can confidently submit this report as it is".
That one sentence was like a turbo boost to my morale. I actually wanted to jump with joy on the achievement.
Change for me was nothing more than the literal meaning. I never cared to see why I should change in the first place. I was happy for who I was.
In-spite of these small morale boosts, I definitely had trouble changing from the lazy ass I was to someone who understood responsibility and diligence to work.
I have had a lot of up's and down's in this past one year. It has been nothing less than a rough ride on a small boat in the open ocean.
I have been through a stage where my employment was questioned. I have seen a phase where my manager has walked out on me saying that we can never work together.
What I have understood from these various experiences, is that life has never been, and probably will never be an easy ride. The objective is to face the hurdle, analyse the shortcomings and work a way out.
I'd like to share a very simple statement that my manager made one day while we were searching for something. I being my lazy self, had almost given up the search when he said, " Dhoondega to Milega".
That sentence did hold good for that one instance but what I came to believe was that this sentence applied to everything you do in life! You seek happiness, search for it. You'll find it. You want to be rich, search for richness. You'll find it.
What I believe my manager wanted to convey to me was that if ever you need something in life, you need to need to work for it.
Nothing comes served on a platter. It might happen in a Bollywood movie or in a cartoon, but not in real life.
Another reason for this change that I was accepting was my manager making me realize my own capabilities.
Strengths I never knew I had were been highlighted for me to see. We were discussing some contractual issues one day at work and my boss tells me; " I have seen a lot of regional heads, directors and senior managers goof up when it comes to contracts. You seem to have the knack. work on it and it will do you good"
If your thinking that all is good when my manager says these "sweet" things to me, your mistaken. There was one other thing that he keeps reminding me even now. The attitude.
That's the one thing he has been talking about from day one. He understands where I come from and that I'm new to this field but what he keeps saying is that unless you have the attitude you'll go nowhere.
I happened to share this one slogan from one of my old t-shirts with him and he did agree to it as well. It read; " I do not have an attitude problem, I have The ATTITUDE, you have the problem!"
It might sound strange for most but all along, its been these small things in my life that have actually made a difference.
The pitfalls and hurdles have always taught me something in life; To never give up. The harder you try, the further you go.
I have always been the guy with a million emotions. But experiences like these tend to toughen you up. Not physically of course!, but mentally.
These lessons learnt in my my short tenure here have been life altering. My perspective to life has changed and the need to want more out of life has grown in leaps and bounds.
I might be on a low pay scale, working for a significantly small firm. But the knowledge that I have gained has been enormous.
I did plan on moving out of the job and perhaps out of the country.
But now, I know one thing. Its all gonna change!
