Find your true calling before the drudgery drives you insane
A job cannot be the end-all, be-all of your life.
A job is something that offers the young graduate fresh out of his college years a chance to get into the adult mode of life. But it doesn’t mean you have to live in a 9–5 framework forever. Yes, you’ve got to mature up, get a place of your own and become an adult. But that is mutually exclusive to a job. At the end of the day, there’s only so many years one can work in the same job in the same role before realizing the pointlessness of it all. For all intents and purposes, these are the most important years of your life. It’s during these years, when you have the financial and emotional security which a job offers, that you have the luxury of developing and honing your very own skills. It maybe your own passion; something you’ve always been good at right from the start, or something you’ve picked up while doing your regular job.
So start taking advantage of the time you have now, and make full use of the comfort cushion your current job provides. You’ll have to hone your innate skills or develop a new skill, something which will pay off very dearly in the future. Start doing that today instead of wasting time taking more loans that further tightens the collar which your current company has around your neck.
Find your passion
Taking myself for example. I got into the IT industry not knowing who I was. I worked the shifts, pulled the levers and functioned like the cog in the chain of the company that I was. But during the course of my stint there, I had plenty of time on the weekends to do what I like and find my own passion. And that’s when I found my passion for trekking and writing. Today it really doesn’t matter whether I’m employed or not. Because I know how to spend time productively by working on my very own passions. I found out how good of a photographer, writer and video creator I am. I found a passion writing catchy and witty Instagram captions for my posts. And it’s based on those skills which I could develop over the weekends at that previous job, that I landed my current job.
You must also have some traits that you can call your own without having to look up to others. There must be some individuality in you. Else you will end up becoming another slave for a giant corporate engine like Amazon. As long as you don’t make yourself a slave of something (your passion), you’ll be forced to become a slave of something or someone else.
This process will continue interminably, as long as you don’t find your true calling.
The next bad company, the next insensitive manager, the next bad city. The grass will always look greener on the other side, as long as you don’t grow your own garden. And it better be prettier. What I mean is, you’ll always be a slave to advertising and social media algorithms as long as you don’t indulge and lose yourself into what makes you a better person, how you can better contribute to the world, and everything else in between.
Pay a deaf ear to advice (if you know your stuff that is)
Find a calling that suit your quirks and moods. Don’t let yourself be a football of other people’s opinion. You’ll always be tossed around and hurt like one. There’s always someone advising you to get married. There will always be someone nudging you to start dating. Then there’s the family guys asking when you’re going to join them. In order to not be the football of other peoples opinions tomorrow, you’ll have to start planting the seeds for your own garden today. Then it really wont matter how green the grass is on the other side. In fact, you won’t be able to see the other side, because tall hedgerows of your well tended garden will always obscure the view. That’s how it should be. You’ll be inside your own precious dome of sanity, protected by a force field of knowledge and experience. No insults, comments, unsolicited advice or “words of concern” will ever be able to penetrate and get to your decision making self.
When you know what you’re doing by heart, you’ll easily be able to view the opinions of others from an observational standpoint, rather than looking like an innocent schoolkid with a lollipop in hand, waiting for the world to lift him/her up.
Money matters
Only when it comes to matters of money, will you finally realize that no one cares (try borrowing money from someone). They never cared to begin with. All those fancy, schmoozy clothes, all those expensive perfumes, all the gym work.
All of that was the surface layer paint!
To make someone else’s party look good. To make the host look like he hasn’t invited anyone from the ghetto, lest the privileged start shitting their pants and going home. Dress up how ever you want. Don’t wonder if you’ll offend anyone. Because, for the people you think you’ll offend, couldn’t care less whether you’re alive or dead.
Eat what you like. Be lazy for a while, if that’s what motivates you. Don’t let someone else’s version of success paint your own story. That’s for you to decide.
