Previously, Charu commented on one of my post, she left four years of career in Investment Banking behind her and mentioned that was one of the toughest decisions she had to go through. I have invited her to pen down the below guest post.
Enjoy!
Are you sure about this? I wish my life were different. Is this the best I can do with my life? Am I really happy?
Thoughts like these would cross my mind several times. Mostly I was highly pre-occupied with my work as Investment Banking is an engaging and erratic work profile but still my conscience doubted me.
Sure, I was working in one of the highest paying jobs with a respectable organization, in four years I reached a decent position too, there were no work place issues, and I used to leave my home at 8.15am in the morning and reach back home by 9.00pm. Life was terribly busy and I had no time to slow down. But so was the life of thousands and thousands of people around me. Everybody was running for work and doing quite okay it seemed.
I was no different. I was also part of this mechanical corporate rat race.
Why was I not happy? Is this the perfect life I imagined for myself?
Back in college, I remember, I always wanted to be different; I had inclination for drama and dance. I wanted my work to be extension of my vibrant personality. But I couldn’t pursue the career I really wanted and settled for more money generating profile. My parents did not want me to experiment either. I always used to get good grades and was topper in almost all subjects, so going for higher studies felt rational. I completed my Masters (MBA) in 2010 and started working. Got in the vicious circle of corporate world soon and the designation ladder appeared as the ultimate goal of life. With increasing years the quality of life suffered. I had less time to spend with my beloved and even lesser for myself. I felt like a robot working around the clock.
Four years passed by, somewhere I kept forcing myself to be content with the corporate life like all of my acquaintances (showcasing their window dressed profiles on LinkedIn) but my heart refused to give in. Finally I decided to give a shot to my dreams. I decided to leave – my job, the 9 to 9 weekdays, working for someone else; and terrible metro travel (India has the one of the worst road infrastructure, traffic everywhere is maddening!!!).
I felt free and super happy.
But with freedom came multifold responsibilities
Sure, I was well aware that now I need to start from scratch, the fear of not being able to generate enough money, the fear of failure, the fear of unpredictability was setting in, the anxiousness that I no longer will have a defined credit at the end of the month, I might have to work more now to ensure things get moving!!! Infinite thoughts like these perturbed me for days.
But it felt right, I was convinced that the three C’s i.e. company, clients and our cubicle will never be able to match-up to the most imperative ‘C’ – CREATIVITY; rather than spending whole life staying stuck in something I do not love it is better to make a change. Imagine the upside; if I succeed I will be able to live the life of my dreams. If I fail, I will learn from the experience and go back to my old life. So I figured the potential gain of taking this risk was huge J
So here I’m working on Untraveled Routes. Do visit to find out more.
I consider myself truly fortunate to have extremely loving and understanding partner, his relentless support gives me lot of courage and confidence to battle all odds.
Stay positive. Stay focussed.
For more of her works, do visit her creative and innovative posts at Untraveled Routes!
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