You Had One Job!

On average, a human spends one-third of his/her lifetime, working. It approximately translates to 90,000 working hours. 90,000 hours! 

Don't you think it's a staggering figure?

As a child when someone asks what we want to become, the child knows no bounds and says that he/she wants to become something that absolutely fascinates him/her. The twinkle in those children's eyes, the absolute commitment, and contentment in those words can make us absolutely enthralled. Why do we lose that sparkle as we grow up?

'You'll earn over $200k a year if become XYZ,' they said. ' You must learn Python to survive through the next decade,' they said. 'Become a data scientist,' they said.

THEY SAID.

If you don't feel excited to describe your job role to someone, or you do your job just to make a living or just working for the role or brand of the organization that you can put up on your resume expecting it to help you land into another job you don't really want, what are you actually working for?

By the time a human decides to work or start earning, s/he develops a personality and a set of traits over the years. Yet, we tend to ignore what we became into and what the traits we developed would lead us to and keep pursuing something that someone suggested would be good for us. Because we believe in them than we believe ourselves. We don't even try to listen to what our inner voice says as we fear that it might demand something that the society regards atrocious. The society decides what's good for you to do with your life, society gets to decide the stature of professions. The inner urge to feel belonged and to feel accepted by society makes us feel rather secure by accepting the norms. What a trap to fall for! How fair is it to ignore your own personality to become a person others defined?

Example of rules to become successful:

If you earn $XYZAB a year, you will be accepted. If you work for PQR organization, you are smart. If you are working for PQR organization making $XYZAB a year, you are successful. 

We assume that we define the work roles. 

But the truth is...

We are defined by the professions we take.

You are not just defined by the status people give you based on the profession, you also define yourself based on it. Since your inner-self knows your personality, it will not let you be at peace if your personality doesn't match your profession. We keep ourselves convincing that the money we earn through our respective job will help us fix all our problems. But that's where the problem begins. 

We assume that we are creating jobs.

But the truth is...

We are actually creating humans to take up jobs we think are required.

'The future belongs to Big Data,' they said.

'The future belongs to engineers,' they said. 

The whole world runs after you to become a data scientist after studying engineering. Somebody who envisions the future says that there will be demand for a specific job role. The whole world tries to align itself to cater to that individual's vision. Even if you escape to get personal advice to become a data scientist from your uncle, you cannot escape the claws of societal beliefs or of an educational system that is inclined to making you a data scientist or of a family that will push you to become a data scientist or of the fame and acceptance that the respective profession receives. We fall for it. We become ready to pick the profession people would justify doing, leaving behind our charm. You not choosing that profession will not create a dent in the world. The worst thing that will happen is the decline of supply to the demand forecasted or the decline of demand itself. Perhaps this is how we can get to alternative futures. Or else, it's just like leaving oneself to fate rather than taking the charge. We might be all prone to one fate if we become what others chose for us including a fate that could be perilous to the existence of the human race. ( I'd like to discuss it in coming articles)

Life would have been simpler and happier if we chased whatever it takes to do the things to become what we want from deep within rather than the title itself. If you are on the pursuit of a  title or a salary, life is no more exciting. Fixing everything else apart from your career will never help you to fill the void that the profession-you-don't-enjoy-doing creates.

You had one job. To lead a fulfilling life. To do whatever you love to. To live on the terms that will make you happy. To be you. To be a HERO!