Recently, I was aksed to write something from my personal experience for the young entering worklife. I thought of 6 points as below.
1. Life is a mix of pressures and pleasures. With responsibility, come turning points in life as we respond to demands others have of us, so many of them without precedent. In early stages of career, explore as much variety as your responsibility will provide. In early stages of career, especially the first 3-5 years, skill acquisition and competence building takes prominence. Much later, towards the latter half of the decade your Purpose in life and sense of Specialization seem to converge better. A worldly knowing from the depth of concrete experience and a sense of adventure in accomplishing significant contribution takes time. It does not arrive pre-arranged. It is in the ways of the world, that youth are expected to take on more than the rest can!
2. Soak yourself in what you get to do. Immersive experiences are what gives you advantage in relating to the world around you. Like a child learns, absorb early tasks and make your mark in attitude. While that helps signal confidence in your team and superiors in the short-term; long-term benefits may seem removed in those moments. Later in life, interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems spring from vivid recall of such immersion. In short, value everything, discount nothing when it comes to experience you are offered at your doorstep in early career!
3. Seek out learning that others go through. Seek association with multiple generations of people, and watch your perspectives evolve. Keep a mix of online virtual networks, and real-time face to face social interactions on your schedule. Develop a set of questions that get others to share from their experience. Acknowledge learning from others so that they reciprocate their own. Blog or note such without compromising the dignity of people who share their learning with you. Recognize that human beings act in their own interest, and that even in the most stressful times, they have a positive intent beneath their behaviors. Uncover that intent with questions to know more about what makes people who they are. Strike rapport with them that makes them respond without fear of being judged or evaluated. Without pretence or resentment, consider yourself enough to deal with others and get through life, even if you may not get what you want early on in life.
4. Respond to requests for help and seek help when required. Let yourself be seen for your vulnerable areas too. Let not knowing prevent you from knowing what you may not have known before. A supple mind is a mark of resilience. When you are perceived as an ‘open’ person, it adds to your credibility. As social beings, we become more accessible and grow through learning when we spend time listening to the needs of others. You will find yourself sensing subtle signs in others that respond to your offer for time, perspective and assistance. Enjoy contributing when you are seen for who you are. However, watch yourself from being overbearing or prescriptive. They say a customer sold against his will – will be of the same opinion still!
5. Learn one more language in your twenties than you already know. A global world requires that you comprehend the fluid mix of meaning, culture and philosophy. Maybe Russian, Mandarin, Swahili or Afrikaans emerge as languages that give you a complementary edge in employability and worldly understanding. Maybe, Tamil, Bengali or Telugu are languages you can learn more easily. Explore the one language you will learn through various dimensions – dialects, poetry, film, literature, theater and news channels. The real benefit comes in alternate worldviews to your own. At the very least we broaden our minds and become tolerant of the world and human beings around us.
6. If you’ve not thought of a Career in a Profession, it may not be a spot of bother for many in this information intensive world. However, if you have not thought of a Purpose for your life, it is time to start thinking about it . Responsibility comes with a job, a role or a calling. Purpose sets you up for life in meaningful ways. It lets you know what your career is meant for. Purpose is about who you become in life, and what is the calling within that will most satisfy you. It is what you bring to your situation from your learning. Purpose is closely linked to your identity, and reflects your innermost values and the image in which others respond most to you. It is a period of restlessness that yields in an awakening at times, when your Purpose becomes clearer to you. Genuinely explore uncomfortable questions that relate to your purpose in life. None will own up to such answers but yourself.
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